Alarming lack of transparency in Selangor state govt’s award of multi-billion project

[superadmin]

“Alarming lack of transparency in Selangor state govt’s award of multi-billion project to Hannah Yeoh’s husband”

IT IS the same old story regardless of administration. A complete lack of transparency and seeming abuse of process where connections rule.

This was the scathing observation by the United Rights of Malaysian Party’s (Urimai) secretary-general Satees Muniandy over the award of two transit system projects by the Selangor state government through direct negotiations instead of an open tender process.

More damningly, the former DAP Bagan Dalam state assemblyman pointed out that one of the companies is Asia Mobility Technologies Sdn Bhd whose CEO is the husband of Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh – Ramachandran Muniandy. The other companies offered the project was Badan Bas Coach Sdn Bhd.

Satees claimed this was unbecoming for the Madani administration which had previously championed the open tender process to promote greater transparency.

In a media statement, he urged Selangor Chief Minister Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari to launch investigations into the entire tender process and whether any favouritism was involved.

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This is a serious allegation and is against PM's plea of no more "Negotiated Tender" under his leadership. MACC should investigate.

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Asia Mobility explains why direct nego is preferred in its award of the controversial DRT service project

ASIA Mobility Technologies Sdn Bhd, the company linked to Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh’s husband Ramachandran Muniandy, has clarified that an open tender in a highly specialised new service with only two qualified companies in Malaysia would have created a monopoly situation in the Selangor state.

Such situation would then stifle competitiveness and robbed the opportunity for the state to pilot the Demand-Responsive Transit (DRT) service for the public in a real-world setting or to assess the performance of the service providers over a reasonable period of time.

As such, the project was offered to both companies – the other being Badan Bas Coach Sdn Bhd – to prove themselves in the designing of a new service for the state which is arguably the first of its kind state-programme in Southeast Asia.

“It must be noted that the appointment is only for a period of nine months but required extensive investment from both service providers in terms of procuring vehicles, hiring drivers and continuous optimisation and development of the technology that powered the service,” Asia Mobiliti pointed out in a media statement.

“The success of the Selangor Mobility programme has also led to Prasarana and the Transport Ministry announcing the adoption of DRT as a replacement for conventional feeder bus services with RapidKL running a wildly successful pilot in May 2023 with Trek Rides in UM (Universiti Malaya)-Bangsar South which we continue to operate independently.

As a company committed to its responsibilities towards its clients and shareholders, the Malaysia Digital (MD)-status company farther warned that it takes recent accusations seriously and will exercise its legal options where necessary in safeguarding its reputation and credibility.

This comes about as the company claimed that it has found itself being subject to online campaign by certain unidentified parties that have casted doubts on the process by which it was appointed by the Selangor state government to operate the DRT service for the public.

“We view this as an unsubstantiated attack against a Malaysian technology start-up,” noted Asia Mobility which is jointly founded in 2018 by Premesh Chandran and Ramachandran (Yeoh’s husband).

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Asia Mobiliti mulls legal action against ‘unsubstantiated’ attacks

ASIA Mobility Technologies Sdn Bhd (Asia Mobiliti) today defended its involvement in Selangor’s new demand-responsive transit (DRT) service, saying only two companies in the country are qualified to provide the service it provides.

In a statement today, it said its appointment was done publicly nearly a year ago.

“An open tender in the appointment process for the Selangor Mobility programme would have created a monopoly in the state.

“This would have stifled competitiveness and robbed the state of the opportunity to pilot the service in a real-world setting and assess the service providers’ performance over a reasonable period,” it said.

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[superadmin]

Is PH becoming tone deaf?

Recent events have deepened widespread suspicion that Pakatan Harapan (PH) is no longer the coalition it once was — one that fought for integrity, press freedom and ethics.

The recent award of a state government contract to the spouse of a minister and a perceived decline of press freedom in Malaysia have not helped its cause.

Many Malaysians will remember PH leaders yelling for heads to roll whenever government contracts were awarded without open tenders to family members or cronies of those in power.

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[superadmin]

“Selangor should just cancel transit system project awarded to company of Hannah Yeoh’s hubby”

Letter to editor

I AGREE with Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) that the Selangor state government and some related federal agencies should not have awarded the transport related project to two companies on the basis of negotiations. An open tender system should have been opted for.

The CEO of the controversial company Asian Mobility Technologies Sdn Bhd, Ramachandran Muniandy, happens to be the husband of the Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh. The other company awarded the project is the Badan Bas Coach Sdn Bhd.

I don’t understand why the Selangor state government with the approval of the relevant federal bodies did not call for an open tender in the award of the project to these companies. An open tender system – the mantra of the Madani government – would have rendered the awarding of the project transparent, competitive and free from cronyism and favouritism.

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[superadmin]

No contract awarded to Asia Mobiliti Technologies for DRT project, says Fahmi