Saturday, May 1, 2010

PUBLIC PERCEPTION IN THE AWARD OF ARMY CONTRACTS BAFFLING

I would like to once again raise the much talked about issue regarding the award of two army contracts that is believed to be mired in corruption and abuse by the winning bidder, working in cohorts with certain individuals that has influence in supporting the bidder win the contract. The contracts in question are the supply of Ballistic Helmets (BH), and Bullet Resistance Vest (BRV) for the army. I had in an earlier posting questioned the rational of why does army need 30,000 pieces of BRV; an amount that I think is nonsensical. I had also talked about the defective BH supplied by the contractor, but yet it was deemed acceptable by army. The latter issue is well exposed in public domain.

As far as I know, and having been a staff in the Trial & Development Wing of PULADA at two different periods, I am aware that there are stringent international rules governing the issuance and approval of safety equipments to members of the Security Forces; and both BH and BRV are categorized as safety equipments. I believe too that local companies that are suppliers or manufacturers of such equipments must be in possession of a police permit to deal in both these equipments. I am told too that the plates used in the BRV are restricted items requiring police and import permits.

The recognized international body that governs the issuance of approval for security related equipments for use by the world’s Security Forces is the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), which is a research and development agency of the US Department of Justice. The NIJ issues the classification and categorization of various equipments depending on its level of resistance, purpose etc. If NIJ is the authority, then what has the army trial team got to do with the trials of such equipments, or is the army trial team superior to NIJ? I would like to know the nature and level of tests that they conduct, and whether the team members are technically proficient in conducting such trials. What army should have done was to verify the source and manufacturer of the equipment (be it imported or local manufactured), and whether the equipment has the prerequisite NIJ classification and categorization. Verification status can be easily accessible via internet.

I am told that there is an existing government policy that gives preference to locally manufactured products, and that the company has ready been manufacturing such products either for exports or for domestic use. In the above two issues, the company that was awarded the contract is believed to neither have the manufacturing facility, nor has been manufacturing such equipments for exports or for domestic use. But yet, I am told that there is already a local company that is manufacturing the BRV with export capability, and yet the company failed the army’s test. If it is true that the winning bidder does not have a ready manufacturing capability, than one can assume that the equipment that was presented for trials has been brought in from a foreign manufacturer, without verifying the NIJ status of the manufacturer itself. What is even worse is that neither has all other bidders who have failed in their bid, be given access to the trial reports conducted locally, which in itself can be a source of abuse and manipulation by the trial team, and I believe this happens most of the time. Now, where is the transparency that one talks about? This has been the general complaint by bidders, with some having lost the desire and confidence to do any further tender dealing with Mindef.

I am still puzzled as to how the two contracts were awarded out, and I do hope someone from within Mindef itself will be bold enough to open up an investigation into these two tender awards. Will the new army leadership that is scheduled to take over the reins of the Army in the next few days be willing to do this? I hope they do.

Let us all take a cue from the submarine deal where the case of kickbacks is still open to investigation by the French government.


CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION

21 comments:

maurice said...

Dato,

As I understand it the French Government is only interested to determine whether corruption had been committed by DCNS and whether PERIMEKAR SDN BHD (where a former Deputy Chief of Navy now works as a MD} had channelled parts of the Euro115 miilion commission it received from DCNS back to French officials as kickbacks.I don't think the French prosecutors are interested in 'local players'.

FMZam said...

The submarine, the helicopter, the Polish tank, the 8X8 APCs, the MRLV, the women soldiers' shoes, the M4, the uniform, the helmet, the armoured vest and what other else? The soldiers are equipped, fed and armed from head to toe with corruption. Of course the public is baffling when the more the people talk against corruption this government is doing it even more!!!

Akuromeo said...

Well
Take five... Kopi Tongkat Ali satu.
I luv ur blog more than i luv Obama

Anyway s-au pierdut de la FMZam a latrat raul aici

Unknown said...

dear dato, (sorry maybe my english is not very good) i am very pleased of you to highlight the matters on those 2 security item, i rather not wearing it if both of the item does not have the certification by NIJ, USA. And i guess the person who eargely approved it will not wear this 2 item into war zone, either they know or do not know because they are not going to be on the front line, our soldiers will have to wear it. End user can look through this website: www.justnet.org and the company that have their model for the bullet prove vest or ballistic body armor comply to the NIJ standard as follows: http://www.justnet.org/pages/BallisticCPL.aspx

1. ANXO Body Armor
2. Armor Designs, Inc
3. Armor Express, Inc.
4. ArmorShield USA LLC
5. BLACKHAWK Armor LLC.
6. Composite Armor Services, LLC
7. First Choice Armor Inc.
8. ForceOne, LLC
9. Galls
10. GH Armor Systems
11. HighCom Security, Inc.
12. Mine Safety Appliances
13. PACA
14. Pacific Safety Products Inc.
15. Point Blank Body Armor
16. Protective Products Enterprises
17. PT Armor Inc
18. Survival Armor
19. The Burbank Group LTD
20. Velocity Systems LLC.

Unknown said...

dear dato,

this is how the test carried out by NIJ (National Institute of Justice) USA

(The Office of Justice Programs' National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is a research and development agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. NLECTC is a program of NIJ's Office of Science and Technology)

Threat Levels IIA

Compliance at Type IIA requires that new and unworn armor samples protect against 9 mm Full Metal Jacketed Round Nose (FMJ RN) bullets with a specified mass of 8.0 g (124 gr) and a velocity of 373 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (1225 ft/s ± 30 ft/s) and with .40 S& W Full Metal Jacketed (FMJ) bullets with a specified mass of 11.7 g (180 gr) and a velocity of 352 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (1155 ft/s ± 30 ft/s).

Compliance at Type IIA also requires that conditioned armor samples protect against 9 mm FMJ RN bullets with a specified mass of 8.0 g (124 gr) and a velocity of 355 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (1165 ft/s ± 30 ft/s) and with .40 S& W FMJ bullets with a specified mass of 11.7 g (180 gr) and a velocity of 325 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (1065 ft/s ± 30 ft/s).

II
Compliance at Type II requires that new and unworn armor samples protect against 9 mm FMJ RN bullets with a specified mass of 8.0 g (124 gr) and a velocity of 398 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (1305 ft/s ± 30 ft/s) and with .357 Magnum Jacketed Soft Point (JSP) bullets with a specified mass of 10.2 g (158 gr) and a velocity of 436 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (1430 ft/s ± 30 ft/s).

Compliance at Type II also requires that conditioned armor samples protect against 9 mm FMJ RN bullets with a specified mass of 8.0 g (124 gr) and a velocity of 379 m/s ±9.1 m/s (1245 ft/s ± 30 ft/s) and with .357 Magnum JSP bullets with a specified mass of 10.2 g (158 gr) and a velocity of 408 m/s ±9.1 m/s (1340 ft/s ± 30 ft/s).

IIIA
Compliance at Type IIIA requires that new and unworn armor samples protect against .357 SIG FMJ Flat Nose (FN) bullets with a specified mass of 8.1 g (125 gr) and a velocity of 448 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (1470 ft/s ± 30 ft/s) and with .44 Magnum Semi Jacketed Hollow Point (SJHP) bullets with a specified mass of 15.6 g (240 gr) and a velocity of 436 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (1430 ft/s ± 30 ft/s).

Compliance at Type IIIA also requires that conditioned armor samples protect against .357 SIG FMJ FN bullets with a specified mass of 8.1 g (125 gr) and a velocity of 430 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (1410 ft/s ± 30 ft/s) and with .44 Magnum SJHP bullets with a specified mass of 15.6 g (240 gr) and a velocity of 408 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (1340 ft/s ± 30 ft/s).

III
Compliance at Type III for Hard armor or plate inserts requires that samples be tested in a conditioned state with 7.62 mm FMJ, steel jacketed bullets (U.S. Military designation M80) with a specified mass of 9.6 g (147 gr) and a velocity of 847 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (2780 ft/s ± 30 ft/s).

Compliance at Type III for Flexible armor requires that samples be tested in both the “as new” state and the conditioned state with 7.62 mm FMJ, steel jacketed bullets (U.S. Military designation M80) with a specified mass of 9.6 g (147 gr) and a velocity of 847 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (2780 ft/s ± 30 ft/s).

IV
Compliance at Type IV for Hard armor or plate inserts requires that samples be tested in a conditioned state with .30 caliber armor piercing (AP) bullets (U.S. Military designation M2 AP) with a specified mass of 10.8 g (166 gr) and a velocity of 878 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (2880 ft/s ± 30 ft/s).

Compliance at Type IV for Flexible armor requires that samples be tested in both the “as new” state and the conditioned state with .30 caliber AP bullets (U.S. Military designation M2 AP) with a specified mass of 10.8 g (166 gr) and a velocity of 878 m/s ± 9.1 m/s (2880 ft/s ± 30 ft/s).

Do we have this type of testing inside our STRIDE Dato. QUESTION MARK ?

Mohd Arshad Raji said...

Dear Bambam,

Thanks for the info, and that is the very reason why I brought out this issue again in this blog. I do not believe the army trial team did their job properly. It was a 'fake trial' to suit someone for someone...simple. Dare they show us their trial report? No way. It is only for the eyes of someone. I damn the army trial team and challenge them to expose the trial results of all the other bidders.

maurice said...

I am keen to find out the reasons for the Greek serious financial problem following Prof Danny Quah's (Malaysian Professor at London School of Economics))statement that Malaysia could be the next Greek tragedy.

Now here is what the BBC has to say today:

Why is Greece in so much trouble?

"Greece has been living beyond its means in recent years, and its rising level of debt has placed a huge strain on the country's economy."

"The Greek government borrowed heavily and went on something of a spending spree during the past decade."

"Public spending soared and public sector wages practically doubled during that time."

"However, as the money flowed out of the government's coffers, tax income was hit because of widespread tax evasion."

"When the global financial downturn hit, Greece was ill-prepared to cope."

"Greece's budget deficit, the amount its public spending exceeds its revenues from taxation, last year was 13.6% of its gross domestic product (GDP). GDP is the value of all its goods and services. This is one of the highest in Europe and more than four times the limit under eurozone rules."

"Greece's high levels of debt mean investors are wary of lending it more money, and demand a higher premium for doing so."

"This is particularly troublesome as Greece must refinance more than 50bn euros in debt this year."

"The country is asking for as much as 45bn euros in emergency loans from eurozone governments and the IMF this year. To make matters worse, German MPs involved in the talks with the IMF have hinted that Greece might need as much as 120bn euros over the next few years."

What the BBC has not said is that Greece is a CORRUPT country too.

Malaysians BEWARE: High Spending and Corruption are the seeds of our own future destruction.

FMZam said...

And Dato',

As we all can expect, the army would use the excuse as high as OSA for not releasing the trial report if there is any, and so too if there was any tender board at all that had decided upon the award. These had always been the tools to protect corruption from the public knowledge.

maurice said...

Here what the International Herald Tribune today says about the Greek taxpayers:

" In the wealthy, northern suburbs of this city (Athens) , where summer temperatures often hit the high 90s, just 324 residents checked the box on their tax returns admitting that they owned pools."

" So tax investigators studied satellite photos of the area — a sprawling collection of expensive villas tucked behind tall gates — and came back with a decidedly different number: 16,974 pools."

" Some of the most aggressive tax evaders, experts say, are the self-employed, a huge pool of people in this country of small businesses. It includes not just taxi drivers, restaurant owners and electricians, but engineers, architects, lawyers and doctors."

The Greek taxpayers evaded tax because the Greek Government is CORRUPTED.No point paying tax when taxpayers money are abused and misused by the Government in power.

Our Government must realize they could lose billions (if they are not already losing) in tax revenue if the taxpayers' money is not well spent for the benefit of all Malaysians.

FMZam said...

EngkoRomeo,

You sure is one LOST soul now that you started to BARK in Romanian? What happened to your balls? All been socked in your mouth? Good dog Romeo, good dog boy!

Mohd Arshad Raji said...

Dear Maurice,

Hope I will not be losing my dear pension.

Dear FMZam,

Just ignore that fella. He does not speak English and neither does he understands Malay.

Unknown said...

dear dato,

From my experience, is the mistake of the army procurement who make the blunder by putting 1 code 050299 (membekal, menjahit dan menghantar pakaian seragam siap) just for the purpose of a particular company and kill other supplier and this proposal what i was told that come from the army officer also for the benefit certain company no name mentioned.ok. If we look at the procurement code by the MOF there is 4 categories of code until the uniform is been supplier. And I just wonder how the MOF accepted the MOD request but not other government agency.

MOF code 05 KELUARAN JAHITAN

0200 – PAKAIAN DAN KELENGKAPAN
0101 - BAHAN TEKSTIL
0102 – BARANG-BARANG BERJAHIT TAK MELEKAT DIBADAN
0199 – PEMBUAT BAHAN TEKSTIL
200900- MENJAHIT PAKAIAN

This 5 code has been endorsed by the Ministry of Finance (http://home.eperolehan.gov.my) you can download the code given by the MOF.

I was told by somebody in MINDEF in early 2000 if I’m not mistake that only Ministry of Defence requested special requirement to MOF not to use those code but merge it to become only 1 code that is 050299 (One Stop Station). First when we talk about the code 050299 inclusive of those codes i mentioned and question no.1- 050199 is considered to be together with 050299 as "One Stop Station". How many Bumiputra Company has the facilities as the Textiles manufacturer what happen to a few manufacturing company closed down as what i gather information from MOF that this item is OPEN which mean the fabrics or textiles can be obtained from any part of the world as long as it is cheap, good quality and follow the specification. Company that specialize in fabrics they won’t bother to supply uniform because that is their expertise on fabrics and they only concentrate on textiles or fabrics and what ever requirement from the government specification they can follow. I have visited 5 big textiles manufacturing company in China and ask them how much it cost to setup a full stretch of manufacturing producing uniform fabric and they told me at least required RMB 20,000,000 or our money RM 10,000,000, so when we talk about code 050299 which include the producing of textiles for that purpose, does this company have that capacity and does the factory only rely on government order beside exporting to oversea and can they beat the price from China and Indonesia and if they can beat the price offer by this 2 countries than it is reliable for them to establish that facilities.

page 1

Unknown said...

Cont.

This means when a company has the code 050299 they must have the following:

As a manufacturer under code 050299, they must have their own weaving factory, dying factory and also they must have the stitching factory to make uniform, that only can be considered fully and complete uniform manufacturer if not where does they get the fabric from, if they buy or import from oversea can it be considered as a MANUFACTURER ? Just imagine how much the capital needed to setup this type of factory, must be million of ringgit and for example 1 weaving machine cost nearly RM 300,000 per unit and does 1 unit sufficient to accommodate the demands ?

So let the end user calculate themselves whether it is One Stop Station or not. (KONON-KONON LA).

Sorry this paragraph in Bahasa Malaysia

“ Orang lain buat kita nak buat tetapi kita tak berkeupayaan’. Kalau mengikut arahan yang dikeluarkan oleh Kementerian Kewangan kalau dibaca dan perhatikan memang prosedurnya amat cantik dan professional. Umpamanya untuk membekal uniform ada bidang pembekal kain, ada bidang pembekalan pakaian kalau tidak boleh dapat dalam Negara, ada pembekalan pakaian dan juga ada bidang menjahit pakaian, bayangkan berapa ramai syarikat yang boleh mengambil bahagian dan bayangkan sekiranya ini berlaku berapa banyak wang dan masa pihak Kementerian Pertahanan boleh dijimatkan wang pembayar cukai dan berapa banyak syarikat yang boleh berkembang. Kalau hanya diberikan kepada ‘favored’ syarikat bagaimana syarikat lain nak cari makan dan berkembang !!!!

page 2

Unknown said...

Cont.

And also I was wondering how can the Ministry of Defence do the checking for the delivery uniform if there manufacturer use 2 or 3 kind of material to make the uniform when it ready to be delivered and does it need the test result from STRIDE every time before delivered and how long time taken by the STRIDE to give for each test report, as far as i know the maximum time the test result can be out from STRIDE, the longest is 15 months and does this 15 months period, can the manufacturer wait before the uniform can be delivered. So if the material been purchase separately so the STRIDE department won’t have to check the material every time it will be delivered. Because they have already check before the material been accept by the army. If in that case so every time the uniform to be delivered than the STIRIDE department have to check and test just imagine if there is 100 time of uniform delivery, woooo the soldiers wont have the uniform to wear..right !!!!!

But if the requirements come separately i.e the supply of textiles will be done before goes to the stitching factory, the relevant agency will have to check the fabric and endorsed by STRIDE first before the fabrics will be accepted, so i think this is much more safer and trustfully because as the fabrics or textiles supplier for sure they do not want their fabric to be rejected if not following the specification required. Right !!!

So the requirement of textiles can be fulfilled within 60 days or earlier depend on the quantity required and you can ask the manufacturer sometime to supply the quantity of uniform takes almost a year stretch.

For the matters of camouflage uniform what I gather the information is, not that the companies who bidding for the tender not producing according to the specification maybe a few but the same thing happen because they are waiting for the favored company who also bidding still does not pass the test, so that is the game and that is why they are delay it just to buy time so that, that particular company fulfilled the sample and you can see the tender will be proceed as usual within a very short time or maybe the contract will be sign 1-2 months after it closed as already been waited almost 1 year.

The same thing happen way back in 2004 if I’m not mistaken, the tender to supply tracksuit for the army, there is roughly 50 companies bidding for this tender and I was told that this 50 companies has already submit the tender together with the physical sample as per the specification eventhough there is no exhibit sample to follow and the tender closed on the date and time stated in the tender form, but to their surprise the tender was cancel because a particular company complained to the top brass that the army procurement does not have the exhibit sample for them to follow and this tender has already closed. So when it was cancel and open again to our surprise MINDEF Procurement change the code to 050299 so the 50 companies bidder who sent in earlier would never get the chances anymore to enter the tender bidding again. Just imagine how much they have spent their money to make sample. (You people in MINDEF Procurement so called officers and PTD, you get your salary every month without failed but we are the contractor who suffer following your requirement, put yourself in our shoe.) What so nasty these people making out of it. And once the new bidding come out it take only few months for the signing of the contract, just imagine ‘la’ if item from other company sometime it take 1 year for contract negotiation.

And my conclusion is that the camouflage uniform maybe in the same case as per the tracksuit.

Walllahualam, only Allah knows.

page 3

Unknown said...

Wow, so mind boggling.
The Vietcong wears only black pyjamas and sandals and they beat the shit of the US forces.
To think that before all this bruhaha, Malaysian Army Pers were only clad in cotton PD Green shirts and slacks and flop hats. Pun boleh berkhidmat dengan cemerlangnya.
All these high tech specs for soldiers uniform mean only mean one thing----opportunities. He who can wiggle his way around them the fastest is sure to win the day. Of course after applying a lot of grease to the hands of those involved in the procurement proccess.
Dato', Dalam procurement proccess ATM, semuanya boleh. Umpamanya dulu yunit hendak 'draw' spare-part kenderaan tentera cuma perlu keluarkan indent sahaja (Direct Internal Sourcing Precedure), Ordnance Depot akan keluarkan.
Sekarang tak boleh. Stok di Ord Depo madang tak ada aja...Kena keluarkan 'Purchase Order" (LPO)kepada kontractor dulu baru demand tersebut macam silap mata akan tiba ke perhatian pihak tertentu di Depot di mana pengeluaran akan dibuat. Sekiranya barang tersebut benar2 tiada stok , sparepart tsb akan dicuri dpd kenderaan Tentera yg baik untuk memenuhi demand.
Siapa untung..Kontractor kerana menerima pembayaraqn LPO tanpa keluar modal. Pihak tertentu Depo dan Wksp yg Kong-kali-kong.
Siapa rugi? TD yang terpaksa membeli balik sparepart dpd stor sendiri.
Takkan Kol Fauziah atau Ketua Kumpulan JLJ tak tahu perkara ini berlaku....
Dulu KKK ini berleluasa di dalam Tentera Laut dan Tentera Udara. Sekarang dan menjangkit dalam TD pulak....
'Bapa borek anak rintik'.

Mohd Arshad Raji said...

Dear Bambam,

I like your write-up. I do not mind raising it to the higher authorities in Mindef, if you seriously think that this policy is not fair and flawed.

To do the aforesaid, I need to sit with you to fully understand the problem, and I will take it on henceforth.

Unknown said...

dear dato,

Well i am serious Dato', i giving all the information based on fact that i have got it from reliable source and via internet, reading and understand what they are producing and their technology. It is not that we are left behind but it seem that those people are " terlalu 'RANGKUS' dengan kepingan kertas bernilai didepan mata". If they really want to become or to feel as a businessman please retired and join the business world like us.At least they have the guts.

Unknown said...

dear dato,

for a meeting ok no problem, just let me know when and i be there but please sms and inform me using my satelite phone ..ok

Unknown said...

dear dato,

I am serious about the matter Dato' at least to be fair to everybody i mean every contractor and our Prime MInister also talk on TRANSPARENCY so everybody have to abide to the concept. But !!!

Sorry this have to be in Bahasa Malaysia

Kita mesti ingat rezeki datang daripada Allah S.W.T bukan daripada manusia yang fikirkan mereka ada kuasa dan setiap manusia atau individu ada tanggungjawab masing-masing kepada Allah S.W.T, kalau satu-satu tender itu termaktub kepunyaannya walaupun tidak tertulis dimana-mana tapi sudah berada didepan mata yang ianya berada diatas sekali iaitu No.1 macam mana pulak pembida No.2 atau No.3 yang dapat, ini yang tak faham. Janganlah memberikan rezeki orang itu kepada orang lain..faham maksud saya (untuk orang tertentu saja). Mereka ini akan menjawab dengan Allah S.W.T ". Balasan Allah akan terjadi sendiri kepada orang itu tanpa disedari olehnya.

So if either closed tender or open tender is been done, the words “ THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT OBLIGE TO ACCEPT LOW PRICE”, I think this words shouldn’t be exercise anymore and I think it is already obsolete.

Another transparency required in a tender, if I may suggest when the result of bidding been announced manually or by EPEROLEHAN the next day by EP and about 7 days manually , I suggest to add another column whether the tenderer submitted the sample or not. In this case we know automatically the tenderer who did not submit the sample with the tender document will automatically disqualified as always mentioned in the tender document (without sample will be disqualified). So from the result we know how many company sent in with the sample and how many company sending without the sample and also we know where our company stand and the chances. This is because there is companies submitted the tender document with sample and some without sample but towards the end maybe the company without the sample get the award. We do not know whether our sample submitted is secured or not or maybe along the PLUS highway our sample is lost or been hijacked by another company before it reach STRIDE, well it happen Dato’, I think Dato’ also know about it.

Another matter is when the tender is about to closed, if the tender document required 2 or 3 samples to submit together with the document and if the tenderer submit only 1 sample I wonder why, just wonder why CTMP still accept the sample for that particular tender whereas requirement is 3 not 1, this also questionable on the principal of the tender document. They come out with the tender document but they also do not know how to follow. right.

I feel pity to a few Bumiputra Company who participate with the MOD tender ‘MENGELUH' because they have spent a lot sum money to prepare the sample, submitted along the highway it lost because it fly to other destination and landed at different PORT.

So I hope Ministry of Defence will look into this matter seriously to avoid ‘reasonable of doubt’ by the tenderer who participate in that particular tender or in any tender involved the requirement of samples.

Mohd Arshad Raji said...

Dear Bambam,

My HP No. is 012-3876061. Pse call me at anytime. I will be pleased to meet you. Regards.

Unknown said...

Dear Dato,

91 DPO Small Tender (Sebutharga)

Have a nice journey and comeback Dato’, with more material what ever you can get. “I KNOW WHERE YOU >>>>>>>>>>>THAT TIME” anyway have fun and breeze yourself.

I am writing the article now is regarding the small tender from 91 DPO, initially when Col Mazlan was the Commanding Officer, I think everybody or contractors was very happy with the way he conduct the small tender at 91 DPO. All the registered tenderer with 91 DPO have the chance to participate in all the small tender requirement , whether they got it or not, “ itu belakang kira” but I forsee that the transparency that he has done was to professional , COL MAZLAN, SIR I SALUTE YOU, you have help a lot of ex-servicemen to survive in business world. Sometime maybe the word says” IT TAKES A THIEF TO CATCH A THIEF” is true in other words that it takes a serviceman to help the ex-servicemen. And also during his time there is sometime 30-40 small tender is been published and posted on the notice board on the right side near the gate before entering 91 DPO compound every Friday of the week or twice a month. But nowadays the notice announcement does not exist anymore for the past 2 years.

But…..i was wondering why for the past 2 years i.e 2008 and 2009 there is nothing been publish to inform the contractor as what we as usual will check with the Procurement Department (tingkat 2 atau tingat 3), but when we check the answer everytime no small tender come out but items been purchase and sent to the store, so where this come from. I think maybe there is few trees infront of the 91 DPO office where a few contractor with the small umbrella waiting for somebody to shout at them ‘Oiiii encik…ada sebutharga keluar, naik la cepat’ sorry it just a joke but I think it happen.So i think after this all company must appoint a person to stay under the tree everyday from 8pm to 5 pm...YA KOT. Even if they post electronically through EP, I have seen only 2-3 small tender been publish that also meant to the authorize contactor using the ticket from the Ministry of Finance.

And I was wondering again, don’t tell me that 91 DPO has not done any purchase for the past 2 years or more for one off item to accommodate the soldiers need from time to time where there is no permanent contract tender for it. So I feel something fishy, so I say AH! nevermind LA knowing ‘who is sitting on the CO chair’ everybody knows…… OR the CO has no power anymore..maybe.

I would like to suggest to the Ministry of Defence to fully use the facilities given by MOF through EPEROLEHAN so that the transparency is there and only eligible company who registered is allowed to participate, I think this is much more appropriate because WE pay for the EPEROLEHAN service. It seems that a lot of government agency has practice this to avoid favoritism.