THE great irony of the Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd (Prolintas) ) bribery scandal is that the organisation was hailed as a pioneer in its efforts to work closely with Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) to stamp out illicit dealings.

It was as recent as September last year when the highway concessionaire was lauded for the publication of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Core Function Implementation Procedures guidebook designed specifically for the guidance of the integrity and governance unit of government interest companies (GIC).

The launch of the book was officiated by none other than the MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki on Integrity Day 2023 organised by Prolintas in collaboration with MACC, on September 4, 2023.

As reported by the New Straits Times, the initiative  is symbolic of the on-going joint venture mission between Prolintas and the MACC to promote transparency, integrity and effective governance within the scope of GIC.

The latest version of the procedure had been developed by the MACC Integrity Management Division led by its Director Datuk Nor Azmi Karim.

Fast forward several months, news of Prolintas CEO and associated personnel been detained by the MACC have become front page material/trending.

This is for alleged bribes reportedly given as a “reward” for the awarding of contracts for two expressways in the Klang Valley with one project valued at over RM1 bil and the other at over RM650 mil.

Following Tuesday’s (June 25) arrest, Prolintas Infra Business Trust which is touted as Malaysia’s first listed business trust fell and was sharply below its initial public offering (IPO) price yesterday (June 26) after the company confirmed the arrest of some of its directors by the graft buster.

Units of Prolintas opened at 86 sen, down five sen or 5.5%, at 10am after a one-hour suspension, according to financial portal The Edge. It then declined to as low as 81 sen before closing the day 3.5 sen or 3.9% lower at 87.5 sen, hence valuing the trust at RM962.5 mil on Bursa Malaysia. That compares with its IPO price of 95 sen just three months ago.

When ISO-certified system fails

To put these alleged wrongdoings into context, they were committed with a highly-touted ISO certified anti-bribery management system in place at Prolintas. The highway concessionaire proudly crowed on its website:

The above statement was updated a mere seven days ago on its website.

What are ordinary Malaysians to make of all the above in light of the latest arrests?

It seems farcical that such “rigorous” application of ISO-certified measures failed to detect the alleged abuses and seemingly systemic corruption.

Or did the accused use their close working relationship with MACC to their benefit? By publishing the guidebook, they are privy to “insider knowledge” or at least on the inner workings of the MACC.

Whatever the case maybe, this latest scandal will surely undermine the MACC and ISO standings in the eyes of the public. The previous measures just smack of lip-service if these latest allegations of corruption are true.

At 2.34pm, Prolintas Infra Business Trust was unchanged at 87.5 sen with 2.28 million shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM963 mil. - June 27, 2024

https://focusmalaysia.my/the-irony-of-prolintas-bribery-scandal-company-was-hailed-as-pioneer-in-graft-fight-9-months-earlier/