YOURSAY | ‘The shocking part is nobody is responsible and accountable.’
PAC on ventilators: We ordered an apple, but got something else
Ventilators not up to specs, RM505m loss from expired vaccines – PAC
BobbyO: A RM 505 million lesson. Who are they kidding?
The paperwork is there for your reference of who ordered the items. What was done to check on the procurement? Were the items according to specifications?
Who ordered the payment to be released?
Nothing but excuse after excuse is given for such a huge sum paid out and cannot be recovered. What a shame!
You can be assured that millions went into the pockets of politicians, agents who work in between, and suppliers.
All the government can say is sorry, that it was a technical problem. Nobody is responsible.
No wonder this nation is in such debt and those in positions of power have trillions saved away somewhere in the foreign countries.
Traitors all of them. Betrayers of the nation.
OCT: The beautiful part of any failure in any government project, the money spent was never recovered.
The shocking part is nobody is responsible and accountable. The blame is always on standard operating procedures (SOP) failure or incompetent and inexperienced officers.
The government has been losing vast sums of money from littoral combat ships (LCS), offshore patrol vessels (OPV), 1MDB, Scorpene submarines, and Cowgate, to name a few.
There is no way to plug any leaks when the corruption or leakages have reached the highest level of the government.
Nobody can arrest a sitting government minister or VVIP.
The auditor-general exposed so many high-profile leakages every year but no arrests had been made based on the reports.
Solo: This is a supply and demand issue. During the early pandemic phase, the demand was astronomical and many suppliers were cheating and making a killing.
The Chinese suppliers obviously knew their equipment was defective but still sold them at enormous profits.
This was after the worldwide community helped China when the Wuhan cases exploded by sending real supplies to them. This happened to many countries.
Next, the company the Health Ministry asked for the ventilators from did not have experience in buying this equipment. They should have asked the usual suppliers but might have been told there were no supplies worldwide.
This was happening elsewhere too. Most of the suppliers were from China since they were the main producers.
We cannot blame the central government, since it was the individual companies that were behaving like criminals.
YellowGecko9040: Yes, the Health Ministry gave the specs to Pharmaniaga Logistics Sdn Bhd, who then got the supplies from various providers. They (providers) sent machines and they were found to be not as per specifications based on testing.
Was testing not done at the point of receiving or after signing off on all documents?
As far as I know, because I have been involved in procurements, once the item reaches us, we have to check every specification that is noted as per the requirements of the technical committee to ensure that the received item fulfils the requirements.
If it doesn't, we don't sign the papers. Was this done?
There is always a paper trail. The question is, is the Health Ministry going to reveal it? Who signed it? Or was that important part even skipped? Please name names.
So much waste. Don’t protect wrongdoers. Name them, shame them. Get MACC involved if there is suspicion of kickbacks or any improper conduct.
Nadanx641: The question here is why there wasn’t any rejection, either at the point of receiving or during use. I am sure not all were delivered on the same day.
Were they just given a blank cheque whether the product complies with our procurement spec?
What about a warranty? The right to return and refund if it didn't meet our specifications? Who accepted it?
Who waived it through or overridden the discrepancy? Did Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) look into this as well?
RimauTongkatAli: You don’t need Sherlock Holmes to figure out why the hospitals got lemons when they ordered apples.
Just like all the Malaysian government dealings, they are always using intermediaries and in this case, it was Pharmaniaga.
These intermediaries don’t add any value other than take their cuts and then mess up the order. Nothing new here.
JusticeNow!: Half a billion ringgit gone to waste and no one is responsible! How is it possible to overestimate vaccines by 8.5 million doses?
And why were delayed supplies not immediately cancelled? At least save some money. Malaysian Civil servants are never unaccountable, no one has ever been sacked no matter how many millions and now billions are wasted, they seem untouchable!
Falcon: Malaysians are only interested in one thing, will those behind this scam be arrested, charged, convicted and jailed, and the money recovered?
Anything else is a betrayal of trust and we have seen far, far too much of it!
We have real-life Ali Baba and more than 40 thieves alive and living bourgeoisie lifestyles doing this across the Malaysian procurement ecosystem.
YellowPhoenix6900: The calibre of the then health minister is apparent. Did the chaos of the pandemic cause him to make chaotic decisions?
Was he unable to perform under pressure or was he taking advantage of the situation?
Whatever the case, taxpayers’ money was squandered and the rakyat are the ones who have to pay the price.
Andersonian: The truth came out early. Normally, these types of cases only come to light when the auditor-general announces their findings.
We demand accountability. Sack those responsible and strip them of their pension. They must pay compensation.
It's criminal. Shame the ventilator supplier too and bring them to court. This equipment has to come from a reputable maker unless what is delivered is fake, obsolete rubbish for show.
Aisyalam: No one in this world pays for something that is not according to the buyer’s specifications and or does not work unless the hidden hands are at work.
Bornean: So now the most important question is, how many lives could have been saved if the ventilators were not faulty?
Who is responsible and how do we get the money back?
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