PETALING JAYA: The Selangor government must quickly intervene and provide clarity on whether or not the Demand-Responsive Transit (DRT) pilot project has been awarded to Asia Mobility Technologies Sdn Bhd, says the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4).

Its chief executive officer Pushpan Murugiah said the contradicting statements made by several parties regarding the issue are creating more confusion than clarity.

“This whole issue is not looking good for the government,” he said.

“As far as we know, Asia Mobility Technologies was awarded the project last year and there were pictures of the award with the Selangor Mentri Besar on stage (but) now the explanation is that no contract has been awarded.”Pushpan said this in response to the recent issue surrounding the awarding of a pilot phase project by the Selangor government to Asia Mobility Technologies, a company run by Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh’s husband, Ramachandran Muniandy.

On May 24, Selangor executive councillor for investment, trade and mobility Ng Sze Han issued a statement explaining that Asia Mobility Technologies, founded in 2018, was appointed in October last year to provide DRT services because it had the necessary credentials.

However, yesterday Ng and government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil clarified that there was no award given to Asia Mobility Technologies and that it had merely provided a “proof of concept”.

Pushpan said the state government must intervene and provide clarity “on whether this is a nine-month contract or a test run”.

“It must also state the evaluation criteria to decide if Asia Mobility Technologies will continue providing the service once the nine-month period is over,” he said when contacted yesterday.Pushpan added that the Selangor state administration must also give clarification on whether the company would be given an automatic contract once the nine-month period was over or there would be further tenders.

Meanwhile, in an earlier statement C4 said the government must urgently enact procurement reforms to overcome dangers of conflict of interest and lack of transparency.

“Regardless of whether the Youth and Sports Ministry is involved, the fact remains that Yeoh holds a position as a prominent figure within DAP – and by extension Pakatan Harapan,” it said.

C4 said that the controversy was further compounded by the absence of an open tender for the appointment and disagreed with the statement by Asia Mobility Technologies claiming it would cause “a monopoly in the state”.

“By its very nature, an open tender process encourages competition and openness in the procurement process,” it said in a statement yesterday.

C4 also took Ng to task for failing to furnish any details pertaining to the list of criteria relevant to the approval.

“Though the Federal Government has shown a willingness to enact this piece of legislation (Government Procurement Act), the recent saga has laid bare the glaring need for any proposed law to be enforced in a manner that is effective in both federal and state governments.

“Without a clear grievance procedure in the procurement system, cases such as this will continue to raise suspicions of conflict of interest,” it said.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/05/30/c4-is-it-a-nine-month-contract-or-a-test-run