BUKIT Mertajam MP Steven Sim on Dec 2 repeated his questions directed at the federal government over the purchase of computer tablets for school teachers throughout the country at highly inflated prices.
According to Sim, he first raised the issue in Parliament on Nov 30 when it was revealed that Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd was awarded the contract by the federal government to be the supplier of computer tablets to 430,000 teachers which cost a whopping RM340 million.
“I posed three questions to the federal government. Number one, why is it that an Umno owned newspaper can be appointed as a supplier of computer tablets? Two, why is a newspaper company which is making losses every year since 2013 until it amounts to RM220 million is awarded the contract? And thirdly, why is there no open tender for a project which is worth RM340 million?” Sim said.
“The reply I received in Parliament from the deputy education minister was that a total of 182,712 computer tablets have been distributed (to the teachers) which incurred a total cost of RM152 million. In other words, each computer tablet supplied by Utusan to the government was priced at RM832.
“A teacher in Negri Sembilan gave me information that the supplied computer tablet he received was the Lenovo Tab3 7 Essential which, if searched on the popular shopping website Lazada.com.my, can be bought at RM388. This actually means that each single computer tablet supplied to the federal government had been bought at 114% higher than the market price,” noted Sim.
“It must be remembered RM388 is the online retail price. As the federal government is making a bulk purchase which involves a total of 430,000 computer tablets, I’m sure a better deal can be made if an open tender is conducted. Every year, the National Audit Department brings up the issue of purchases by the federal government at highly inflated prices but this is still repeated almost every year,” he added.