Yesterday, we explored the possibility that Rafizi Ramli and Anwar Ibrahim had vested interests in seeing Balfour Beatty – Ingress consortium wins the Ampang LRT extension project.
In one of the paragraphs, it was mentioned that Halcrow was selected to be an independent evaluator of the tender bids eventhough it was shown in records that it had business ties with one of the bidders – Balfour Beatty.
The news in The Star today didn’t come as a surprise. It is self explanatory. One thing for sure, those who leaked the documents could face the law. As for Rafizi, he could have used the Whistleblower Protection Act and save himself from the trouble if all his allegations and exposure were proven to be untrue.
But instead, he chose to do the usual chest thumping, attention seeking, react first – think later kind of drama in order to gain political mileage. Every action has consequences. Unless of course, he and Anwar Ibrahim think they are above the laws. The public would thank them more if they are more sincere and guilt-free in exposing wrongdoings. We have no doubt that there are corruption in this country. But please don’t think everyone is involved in corruption just because you yourselves are doing it too.
Halcrow under probe
MACC checks for any conflict of interest, integrity of evaluation on bids
PETALING JAYA: British engineering company Halcrow is under investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for a potential conflict of interest and on the integrity of the evaluation process of eight bidders for the RM965mil Ampang light rail transit (LRT) job.
Halcrow, which was appointed independent evaluator of the eight bidders for the LRT job, was tasked with assessing the capabilities of the bidders which included a joint venture consortium led by George Kent (M) Bhd and other tenders by joint-venture companies involving companies such as Balfour Beatty.
The police have also started separate investigations into how classified documents were leaked, which has since been used to create a political storm over the award of the contract to the eventually winner of the tender the George Kent-Lion Pacific joint venture.
“The relevant authorities are investigating the matter,” said Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd group managing director Datuk Shahril Mokhtar.
Sources said the MACC and the police had interviewed officials in Prasarana on those two separate allegations, the first surrounding Halcrow in its role as an independent evaluator.
MACC director of investigations Datuk Mustafa Ali confirmed the commission was looking into the matter but declined to elaborate.
Halcrow, which was to assess the capabilities of the bidders on behalf of Prasarana, undertook a technical evaluation of all the companies involved in the tenders, including one by the Invensys-Balfour Beatty Rail-Ingress consortium.
The British-based company that provides major consultancy services for infrastructure developments was to have independently evaluated the bid submissions for the Ampang LRT extension and report its findings, had a prior working relationship with Balfour Beatty in a past tender.
A search of both companies revealed that directors and top officials of both Halcrow and Balfour Beatty had positions in joint-venture companies established by both companies to bid for the Hounslow Highways PFI contract in the UK. It did not win that bid.
Balfour Beatty and Halcrow were part of a consortium that won a £35mil (RM169mil) Porthmadog, Tremadog and Minffordd bypass in Wales.
Both companies had also formed a joint-venture company for a project in the Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone.
The relationship between both Halcrow and Balfour Beatty might have given rise to questions whether proper disclosure was made of their relationship prior to the appointment of Halcrow to independently assess the companies bidding for the project.
The scorecard of the companies bidding for the project has since been politicised by PKR’s director of strategy Rafizi Ramli. On July 3, he disclosed details of the Halcrow technical report which was critical of George Kent and questioned the award of the Ampang LRT project to George Kent.
The police are probing how the documents were leaked under the Official Secrets Act and have interviewed Prasarana officials on that matter.
Prasarana has since commented that the leaked details of the Halcrow report did not give the public a full picture of the entire tender and award process.
“Dated selective excerpts have been superseded by new information resulting from the clarifications. They did not do justice by labelling certain activities as interference’ when what were and are being done are due diligence processes by the Government,” Prasarana media manager Azhar Ghazali said in his comment on July 20.
The George Kent-Lion Pacific consortium has refuted allegations it was incapable of delivering on the Ampang LRT extension project.
“We strongly refute the baseless allegations that GKLP-JV (George Kent-Lion Pacific joint venture) failed the full technical and commercial evaluations. There were numerous criteria considered by consultants, the Finance Ministry and by Prasarana,” said George Kent executive director Dr Cheong Thiam Fook in a statement on Aug 2. George Kent is confident it would deliver the system works for the Ampang LRT extension on cost and on time.
jebatmustdie 
Rafizi could use the Whistleblower Protection Act no doubt, but not necessarily saving himself from getting into jail and/or fined, bro.
The law is the law, can be appealed right up to the highest court of the land. And Anwarul Al Juburi (title conferred by Mat Sabu the puri) has not really won the case for the 2nd Sodomi, and the case is before the Court of Appeal, blimey.
I hope to God that all cases involving Anwarul, Rafizi and such Opposition graffiti (the word rhymes for the morning’s attempted poem) will be pursued until they get the proper retribution.
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Some people say got Whistleblower Act, even Auditor General also blow whistle. So dia orang naik kepala lah.
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Those who may think that the Auditor General is in the Opposition camp are not correct at all.
The AG is a full fledged government department set up since British colonial times as a part of the administrative machinery, designed to check and bring to the attention of the powers that be the mistakes and weaknesses of the entire financial dealings of the government. In many instances, they make recommendations on what need to be done to rectify and improve systems and procedures that are in place at the various government departments and agencies receiving funds expended from the Budget.
The Ministry of Finance draws up the Budget, secure the approval of the political masters who table them to Parliament, and approved at the end of every year for spending the following year. The MOF authorizes the expenditure, monitors the spending. But it’s the Auditor General Department’s job to audit them. They are not whistle blowers because it’s simply their job to report on irregularities when they come across in the course of their annual inspection carried out throughout the year.
It’s like huge companies having “internal audit” sections, like in many of the GLCs. Their job is to monitor and report to the top management any irregularities as well as the weaknesses of the various departments in the company. In some cases, culprits may wet their pants upon knowing of surprise checks by the internal auditors. It may be the audit departments’ jobs to change procedures on purchasing, etc, in consultation with the various departments concerned. The avoidance of any hanky panky, for example, any commission that may accrue from any sales or purchases must be for the company’s, not any individual’s, account. It’s to ensure minimizing losses and maximizing profits – the long established motto of progressive companies world wide. .
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So long as the technical evaluation doesn’t say the winning bidder was technically unqualified, I’d support the lowest bidder any time. I want the rakyat’s money saved.
I understand that the successful bidder’s price was several hundred million Ringgit lower than the Rafizi-defended bidder’s price. So, to hell with Rafizi and PKR trying to make an issue out of it.
We’ll just disabuse and pooh pooh their propaganda abuse here and there, each time they come out.
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Good that “The police are probing how the documents were leaked under the Official Secrets Act”. The bloke responsible for the leaking must be brought to court and dealt with until conviction is secured and punishment meted out to the bugger.
Laws must be respected. Never mind the Opposition propaganda about so-called draconian and antiquated laws. Their leaders are draconian and antiquated themselves. For not knowing, for example, while we have repealed the ISA, the USA still has detention without trial in Guantanamo Bay. 10 years already and still there.
Governments cannot run the country properly and effectively if everything that transpired behind closed doors are made public. Ask the British and other governments of advanced countries about that and see if they allow their public to know every discussion and decision made and if their government servants are free to divulge secrets or confidential information. USA is supposed to be the most liberal country in the world but they still have prohibitive and freedom-curbing laws like the Patriot Act that was enacted in the aftermath of the New York Twin Towers debacle. Try to enter or move about within USA with a Muslim name or dress, see if you get the freedom enjoyed by the non-Muslims there.
When the normal procedures have been followed, no bloody reason for the Opposition to politicise the matter. Tender announced, bids received, evaluation made, decision made on the basis of lowest price in this case. Rafizi is being exploitative, trying to find each and everything the Opposition blokes can hoo haa about. Ridiculous. Must be brought to book.
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It cannot be strategic calling acts to ensure proper steps in the tender process as interference. Just as it was unstrategic accusing Shahrizat of being involved in the NFC loan etc. It has landed the Rafizi fellow in Court not just on the count of the Banking Act, also on being sued by Shaharizat, the case being heard now.
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Buat mereka2 yg kerja dgn kerajaan, tapi membenci kerajaan sepenuh hati, anda ibarat babi yg makan tahi…. Tahu najis tak elok, tapi tetap nak jugak…
Kalau tak suka kerajaan, stick true to ur heart lah… Quit the job, sebab babi-babi ni lah yg menyebabkan kualiti dan prestasi yang disasarkan tak tercapai…
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Damn F****** agree with ur statement.
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Ya, berhentilah. Dan duduk di kandang babi. Jangan campur dengan khalayak ramai. Tak mahu yang lain terpalit tahi babi, Nanti busuk sama.
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Jebat Must Die got mentioned by Free Malaysia Today –
‘In defence of Najib, Umno blogs like “Sangkakalajari9″ and “Jebat Must Die” dismissed opposition allegations that the prime minister had interfered with the contract award process while one blog, “The Unspinners”, claimed Fauziah was the opposition’s informer.
(Dato Fauziah was said to be head of the Ministry of Finance Procurement Committee and favouring Balfour Beatty).
Jebat Must Die claimed the firm’s partner, Ingress Corp Bhd, is helmed by Anwar’s high-school friend Rameli Musa. He was also said to be a fellow trustee of a foundation headed by the opposition leader.”
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These fellows are probably following Richard Branson’s style – see The Telegraph UK report below –
“Branson attacks Government ‘insanity’ as Virgin loses rail deal
Sir Richard Branson hits out after Virgin Trains loses control of the signature West Coast rail line that it has run for 15 years.”
These blokes like Beatty – or perhaps their local promoters here in this country – probably think a bigger company simply cannot lose a tender, irrespective of the RM1.4 billion (or is it RM1.8 billion?) price they quoted, when the lowest was even below RM1.0 billion. Crazy.
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Pingback: Skandal LRT Ampang: Umno wajar hentikan ugutan terhadap pegawai kerajaan - KeadilanDaily.com | KeadilanDaily.com
That link to Keadilan Daily provided by that comment using the name “Skandal LRT Ampang” – who wants to read those stupid accusations.
Sori la, the moment I was led to that, I closed it immediately. Stupid bloke putting it here, unable even to write and give even a simple comment. That’s what the bulk of the Pakatan blokes are made of. Pathetic.
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“A search of both companies revealed that directors and top officials of both Halcrow and Balfour Beatty had positions in joint-venture companies established by both companies to bid for the Hounslow Highways .. Balfour Beatty and Halcrow were part of a consortium .. bypass in Wales .. a joint-venture company for a project in the Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone .. ”
I think it mattered not whether proper disclosure was made of their relationship prior to the appointment of Halcrow as consultants to evaluate the LRT bidders. One would have thought that the British, often spoken as “uncorrupt”, proper and full of ethics, would have not taken on a consultant’s role if they are also a contractor elsewhere, especially when one bidder was a partner of theirs. Where has the British decency gone? But, come to think of their colonial days records, they didn’t have much of it anyway.
Well, of course they can always say the local Malaysians have made them do it. Yes, those interested to get a share of the project. Or the hefty commission, since their horse was bidding at at least RM500 million above the lowest bidder. One account said RM1.8 billion – that’s RM800 million higher than the lowest. Now these blokes want to raise a hue and cry against awarding to the lowest bidder. Damn Rafizi and the PKR blokes.
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British Virgin boss Richard Branson asked David Cameron to “get some sense” into the Department for Transport’s decision to hand the West Coast rail franchise to FirstGroup, as he vowed to fight it “until there’s no longer a fight to be had”. (Telegraph UK report).
Like the Malaysian LRT project bid, the winning bid’s price was many hundred million pounds different from Virgin’s price. See the arrogance of this Tony Fernandez kind of fellow.
But the noise made by the LRT bid loser was by Rafizi and gang. These people show arrogance of a different kind.
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