Prime minster Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has mentioned the federal government is dedicated to combatting corruption amid the fleet challenge tender scandal involving Spanco for the availability, restore and upkeep of presidency autos.

In a report by NST, Anwar mentioned thorough investigations shall be performed and decisive actions by enforcers shall be taken towards all events concerned within the case. He revealed that he had been vigilant about this concern throughout his tenure as finance minister throughout Tun Dr Mahathir’s administration.

“It appeared as if everybody remained silent, detached to the enforcement actions being undertaken. Some could label this an previous political vendetta, however everybody was concerned in utilising Spanco’s services. I’ve persistently voiced considerations about this concern since my time because the finance minister. I recognised irregularities in that contract, which proved detrimental to the nation and deprived civil servants,” mentioned Anwar.

“Nonetheless, there wanted to be extra urgency, and no concrete actions have been taken, revealing a deficiency in political dedication. “This isn’t the case now; I commend the inland income board (LHDN) and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Fee (MACC) for his or her steadfast dedication to fulfilling their duties and investigating these concerned,” he added.

Spanco was established in 1988 and was given a 25-year concession settlement in 1993 to offer and lease autos with full upkeep companies for the federal government. On the finish of December 2018, the settlement expired and the federal government referred to as for tenders in February 2019 for a contract to provide, preserve and handle its fleet of official vehicles for the following 15 years.

Within the interim interval, Spanco was given two extensions of six months every in 2019 to proceed managing the fleet till the tip of that yr, with an extra third extension reportedly given till June 2020.

Based on the Berjaya group founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan, the Naza-Berjaya consortium was picked by the federal government to deal with the fleet concession by the earlier administration via a letter of intent (LoI) that was issued in 2019. A yr later, the ministry of finance introduced it has chosen a brand new concessionaire to handle the federal government’s automobile fleet however didn’t title the corporate – it was extensively believed it was the Naza-Berjaya consortium that gained the tender.

In July 2023, Tan mentioned the Naza-Berjaya consortium had its LoI terminated unfairly earlier than the accrual award was set to be introduced. A lawsuit was filed towards the finance ministry and Spanco, with Tan claiming that the contract was awarded to Spanco regardless of the consortium successful the bid with a proposal that’s RM700 million lower than Spanco’s. He additionally referred to as for an MACC investigation on the difficulty.

In January this yr, the MACC raided a residence of a businessman holding the title Tan Sri as a part of an investigation into corruption allegations associated to the procurement and administration of the federal government’s fleet of autos valued at RM4.5 billion.

MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki introduced earlier this week that people concerned within the selections to award contracts for the availability and administration of presidency autos to Spanco shall be summoned to help within the investigation, together with a former prime minister and finance minister.

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