DAP dares gov't: Bare all on George Kent LRT award

The DAP today challenged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to provide documentary proof that pipes and meters manufacturer George Kent is the prudent choice to build the LRT line extension over other companies with complete track records in rail projects.

This follows claims that the contractor was also chosen despite its bid being priced significantly higher than that of the others.

"Syarikat Prasarana Negara must immediately declassify all tender documents and minutes of evaluation meetings to prove that the George Kent-Lion Pacific consortium's is the most worthy bid for the Ampang Line LRT extension, both technically and financially," DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua said.

This, he contended would be the only way to banish all accusations of cronyism and favouritism made about the deal with George Kent-Lion Pacific.

Pua (right) called for the declassification of all documents related to the award of the project, from tender documents and submissions to evaluation papers conducted by Prasarana and its panel of consultants as well as the minutes of meetings on decisions made by the Ministry of Finance.

Such declassification of documents, he argued, would also be completely in line with Najib's Government Transformation Programme that calls for full transparency and accountability in government procurement processes.

In fact, he said, this would be the only way for the government to improve, considering the study by Pemandu where 71 percent of the corporate players polled claimed "no transparency and openness" in the award of government contracts.

“We hereby challenge Datuk Seri Najib Razak to convince us with physical proof that the manufacturer of water pipes and meters, George Kent is indeed the best choice to build the LRT system over other companies with complete track records in rail projects,” he said.

It was been reported earlier that George Kent-led consortium had already won the project despite not being the lowest bidder, and having not met the technical requirements to undertake the project.

“No one is questioning the ability of George Kent to deliver a RM100 million hospital building. Neither is anyone questioning the competence of the company to manufacture and supply “control instrumentation, telemetry, pipes, valves and fittings….

“The issue is, was George Kent the best consortium in terms of technical expertise and experience in rail projects and with the best price to deliver the LRT project for Prasarana, among the various parties that had bid for the project?” Pua asked.

The project will extend the current Kelana Jaya and Ampang LRT lines, with both lines meeting at an integrated station at Putra Heights, which for construction purposes has been placed under the purview of the Ampang Line.

Meanwhile, responding late today, George Kent said that it cannot comment on purported official documents on the technical and financial evaluations as it is not privy to them. 

Its executive director Cheong Thiam Fook in a brief statement said that the company stands by its view that it can successfully deliver the project. 

“(George Kent) would like to emphasise that it is now fully focused on delivering the project for the Malaysian public in accordance with the levels of governance and transparency expected of a public-listed company.”