It is encouraging to note the statements made by Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi relating to future arms purchase as reported in the Malay Mail dated October 13, 2009, under the bold headlines that reads ‘Arms purchase review on the cards’.
What strikes me are two significant statements, firstly quote “ We will make sure that the funds allocated to the Armed Forces are spent wisely and arms procurement and other contracts are delivered on time and within the budget” unquote, and secondly quote “As long as I am Defence Minister I will make sure that the Armed Forces will not be the victim of greedy people who only want to make quick buck” unquote.
My personal comment on the above statement (if it were to be adhered strictly) is that it is going to cause a ‘commotion’ and ‘uneasiness’ among the many agents/vendors/commission seekers/cronies/cohorts etc, etc, that have been doing a flourishing business with Mindef. I do not need to mention who they are because it is common knowledge, as they are frequently seen loitering along the corridors of Mindef, and are continuously at the behest of the top bosses (Armed Forces and civilian alike), with some even listed in the entourage of the bosses during their foreign visits.
Someone did say to me sometime ago that doing business with Mindef is like you going on a fishing spree, whereupon having found the ‘lubuk’, you are assured of a good catch. But in order to continue enjoying a good catch, you are expected to also feed the small fishes as well, that loiters around the ‘lubuk’.
I am also told that the small fishes are littered all over, beholden to their bosses, prowling like hawks waiting for a bite at anything that moves. That’s the way to do business with Mindef, and I have said enough in my earlier postings concerning the corrupt practices of some of the bosses, that I only hope to see one day, one handcuffed and dragged to prison.
I am glad that the Defence Minister has made his position known to all, and my only hope is that the tender system for a contact with Mindef is fair, transparent and void of cronyism and special favour. And most of all, that all bidding are through the open tender system, and not the direct negotiation that was so common in the past.
CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION
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15 comments:
My dear friend,
1. It is great that the Defence Minister has spoken on giving the AF the best for the money to be spent on purchases.
2. Is the procurement system and procedure fool-proof and transparent enough to avoid corruption and the jacking up of prices? Does MINDEF employ watch-dogs or detectives or good quantity-surveyors to monitors the transactions. Are the tenders and valuation-reports really transparent, made known and well publicised and reported, without fear and favour. I hope for the welfare of the Officers and men of the AF, everything is in order, especially now when the public is having doubts on government tenders.
Well done, Defence Minister.
Fabian Wong
Kuching
017-851-5225
Dear Jeneral,
Does not the statement by the DM an admittance and confirmation by him as a DM that all (previous?) contacts given out by Mindef were tainted by corruption?
So will we see our great MACC lash onto this statement and start investigation?
Dear Dato' Arshad Raji,
In reality the authority on procurement lies with Minister of Finance or any other person exercising the delegated power which is vested under the Financial Procedure Act.
Thus the statement "..as long as he is the Defence Minister.." is a lot of bull. In the past, the Chairman of the Mindef Tenders Board rests with the TKSU, but I do not know whether the practice is discontinued. As I have mentioned somewhere earlier, whatever system is employed in the tendering process involving huge sums of expenditure rests finally with the operators. Corruption is almost a way of life so to speak in our system. If at all it can be minimised, the chopping block must start from top down, just as what is happening in Indonesia when SBY became President. Otherwise we are just " Main Wayang Kulit " as many would see it happening too often.
The War on Corruption must begin with educating our younger generation on the evils of the scourge, and we might only be able to see results very much later.
My dear friend,
1. Now that you have exposed, in brief, the methodology on how the "bosses and small fishes" conduct their businesses with the agents and lobbyists like fishing spree, the DM and his staff should devise preventive measures to stop or reduce the scourge or corrupt practices, if any.
2. Employment of MP personnel, detectives (intelligence personnel) and high-tech CCTV, etc will at least deter, if not catch the culprits.
3. Better still, let the MACC special unit be stationed or deployed in MINDEF, as and when necessary.
4. Special rooms for visitors should be provided for meetings. Loitering on MINDEF corridors must be stopped.
5. As suggested, decisions and actions must come from the highest authourity and implementation and actions taken against culprits-starting from the top, clearing the area (MINDEF) from corruption, real or perceived, until it is declared a white area, like how we fought the CTs. Of course fighting corruption is much harder but it is less likely to cause kills and wounds or loss of limbs.
6. We had employ intelligence- operations, search and destroy operations, ambushes, cordon and search or attack and preventive actions, besides educating our personnel in the knowledge on how to defeat the Enemy. Doctrines were developed and new equipment purchased. If we could defeat two insurgencies, surely the present AF can defeat corruption. It only takes the WILL and it starts with the DM. MAF boleh. MINDEH boleh. 1MAF. 1MINDEF.
Fabian Wong
Kuching
017-851-5225
Fabian
Speaking is one, implement and walk the talk is another. Similiarly Najib said do away with corruption, but he has a baggage full of it.
The honest one will not last in Mindef both the army and civil staff...will get posted out or put in cold storage.
As long as you walk in the corridors of power, MACC will not touch you. Macc is part and parcel of the system and follows instruction like a good office boy.
If MACC or its predecessor were effective, through their intelligence section would have detected the poor quality and worthless equipment purchased all these years.
Who do we blame???
The DM may sound good on speaking out, but how long will he be that good... given another two years or so, he will follow in the footsteps of corruption.
The DM should examine the the structure and mechanism of Mindef existing procurement system.Please improve it if the DM is serious about eliminating corruption.
Look at other countries' military procurements systems such as the UK, France and Singapore.They have separate Procurement System which are totally independent from their own Ministry of Defence control.The DM should satisfy himself whether this kind of sructure would eliminate corruption.Be sure to get the public response and inputs on the kind of Procurement Structure the DM wants to put in place.
The people should insist on the government to make sure major military purchases be done on government-to-government basis rather than government-to-manufacturer in order to minimise price inflation.The people must do their parts to pressure the govrenment to adopt the correct procurement policy for the nation.Please do not just leave it to the civil servants and politicians.
My dear friend and fellow-commentators,
1. I believe what Dato wants is for us to voice out and do our part for our beloved country - we fought for and won - and now to defend it in another form.
2. Fighting corruption is a people war. We help to provide intelligence and the good Members of Parliament and MACC fight their own wars in Parliament or in court and do their big parts. As there is a great leader out there who can provide a strong voice for AF veterans, there is also a great anti-corruption politian out there too. When would he surface, I do not know. What I know is, Dato' in his crusade against corruption wants us to do the best we can. Have faith, we can move mountains and make Malaysia and AF a better place. Never give up our fight.
3. We can at the same time encourage the up and coming MPs to cooperate with us and the DM to make his words come true.
4. I am sure the DM will take immediate actions and measures and instruct his staff and ministry accordingly to make things happen, walking the talk and stopping corruption.
5. I assess within six months his directives and instructions issued to his secretary general and service chiefs and all departments in MINDEF will be out and made public. Everything will be put in place to stop corruption, true to his words.
6. Be patient and on the look out.
HAPPY DEEPAVALI!
Fabian Wong
Kuching
017-851-5225
My dear friend,
1. As a reader and fan of your blog, I am keen to continue making comments. I believe others also wish to continue making comments, the more the merrier.
2. If I may suggest, for the benefits of certain target-groups, that you be kind enough to do a summary of our comments that come in bits and pieces into a useful intelligence or sort of report. In this case for the attention of the DM or his MA, a busy man who may not have the time to put the bits and pieces into an executive summary.
Fabian Wong
Kuching
017-851-5225
Dear Fabian,
Thanks for your last comments. I would rather consolidate the comments and direct it to the person(s) directly related to the issue concern, rather than have it posted in the blog. I feel that this is the better option since the consolidated comments would now become the personal affair of the person(s) concern that will require his/her personal attention. It is no longer our concern, if the comments are acted upon or not.
My dear friend,
Well done, Dato'. Please do that. Your choice is more appropriate. Thanks.
Fabian Wong
Kuching
017-851-5225
Tuan,
Your's article might hurt "SATANG JAYA" as well .... hehehehe
Buy the best and use the best!
Do not buy hopeless and useless equipment which is dirt cheap and the end use suffers!
Penny wise pound foolish attitude must go.........!
Dato'
Seriously, there are two other persons above the DM that call the shot. You can easily guess!!. Anyway, let's monitor all procurement projects at the Ministry of Defence and see the outcomes or it is just another 'cakap tak serupa bikin"
WHY THE PAKATAN RAKYAT GOVERNMENT WAS BROUGHT DOWN IN PERAK
http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/27901/84/
Pak Chad,
What the Def Minister said has now been proven to be absolute bullshit. Tell him to explain why the Underwater rescue Service Contract for the RMN submarines is still being pursued through the direct nego method. Everyone knows that the company proposing the service is connected to Pekan and that their monthly price (for 7 years)for the service is 3 times that of another contender.
Everyone should realise that the taxpayers money that the govt collects is not that mountanous to be chiselled away by such dubous service contracts. Looking at the ammount and the length of the proposed contract, it would not be far fetched to classify this impending fiasco as daylight robbery.
Who gets robbed? The taxpayer. Robbed by whom? Contractors who directly support people at high places. (The Lembu cerita is a case in point) If the said company is still awarded the contract, then we can safely dubb
the RMN Submarine project as "the tali lebih mahal daripada berok" project
Another service contract done on a direct nego that is slowly drawing public scrutiny despite denials by Zahid Hamidi is the ACMI (aircraft combat manouvering instrumentation). I believe this has something to do with combat air range that is really required by the RMAF to sharpen the flying skills of its fighter pilots.
As I have been made to understand, there were several interested parties eager to participate in this project. They include one supplier from Germany, one from South Korean and one from the US. To everyone's surprise, including that of Treasury officials, this contract was awarded to Aero3 on a direct nego basis. Why one wonders? Whether true or not, rumour has it that Noridah the person who co-owns the company is very pally with Rosmah. (they were seen together shopping in London recently)
Why not open tender? If done in that manner as stipulated in the Treasury Instruction, the US ACMI system is sure to lose out. It is believed, like the outdated Colt Carbine that the Army is expected to get, the US system is the 4th generation system that is being phased out by the USAF. Currently the USAF is phasing in the 5th generation ACMI and selling the 4th generation ACMI pods destined for the scrap yard to Malaysia for cheap...So apa lagi, Aero3 ambil kesempatanlah
Apa ni T S Azizan, hang kata system US tu baik sekali.. tapi siapa yang buat penilaian dan siapa yang draf surat sokongan tu? La ni dia berkerja dengan Aero3... Siapa yang terkena? How can you be so gullible? Hang loklak, RMAF rugi, termasuk pembatyar cukai.. Sign aja kontrak, Norlida dan rakan2 akan bergelak 'all the way to the bank'.
Just for everyone's info, the Republic of Singapore Air Force is using the EHUD 5th generation ACMI supplied by Israel. A similar system has also been bought by India (22 pods plus one full control system ) The RTAF ACMI located at Korat which the RMAF frequently leases is believed to be the 3rd generation US design.
In finality, what the RMAF is expected to get is inferior to that of Singapore and India but slightly better than the Thai's.
However, if the problems rumoured being encountered by the service provider in regard to interfacing the Western software driven system with the Russian system on the SU 30s is true, then the RMAF is sure to receive nothing more than a 4th generation ACMI with 3rd generation output capability.
The big question is why was the project not opened for tender?
Maybe T S Azizan and Dato A Bakar can answer this question.....
So Dato Zahid, the ball is in your court.
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