“Telekom Malaysia (TM) had pleaded with the government to have the broadband project awarded to the company as they had wanted to be a part of this important project” says Second Deputy Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yacob, when questioned by the opposition in parliament as to why the RM 11.3 billion project was awarded to TM.
I just could not believe the answer given by the the Deputy Minister. It sounds stupid to me. How could a RM 11.3 billion project be awarded just because of pleading by the company i.e. TM. I just wonder whether 'pleading' is part of a tender requirement by the Finance Ministry. How simple it is to be awarded a multi billion ringgit project by the Malaysian government......just by pleading. I certainly like to do just that in my bid for a government contract in future, and not only will I plead, I will shed tears as well.
At a time when the government says that they do not have money, this multi billion ringgit project being awarded to TM through direct negotiation, shows otherwise. Had not the opposition raised this in parliament, the project would have proceeded, and god only knows who profits from it.
And can someone make a simple calculation, and tell me how many Eurocopters can we purchased for the amount spend on the broadband project? I think it is certainly more than 50 Eurocopters; more than the 12 required by the RMAF. And what about the planned replacement of Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicles for the Army (AIFV) that had to be shelved to 10th Malaysia Plan? With RM 11.3 billion, we can get more than three regiments of AIFV; I suppose more than what is needed by the Army. And which is more important to the country.......broadband or equipping the Armed Forces? I would like to leave the answers to my readers.
CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION
Posted at 7.03 on Nov 11,2008
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2 comments:
Dato,
I believe broadband penetration is now treated as an economic indicator like GDP, unemployment figures, CPI, industrial productions, share prices etc.
Economic indicators are used to analyse present economic performance and predictions of future performance.Hence broadband penetration is an important engine of econmic growth for our country.
I think the government is wise to award the broadband project to TM for strategic reasons.
The Armed Forces must be fair to the government by having its priorities in the correct order.
I am told billions of RM have been committed to implemnt projects which have lesser priority (from military point of view)compared to the NURI replacement and AIFV projects.
Who should we blame?
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