Liow asked to explain, direct award of JB-SG VEP Project 
Dec 6 2018, 05:49 PM, updated 8y ago
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 6): Pakatan Harapan lawmaker Lim Lip Eng wants former Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai to explain as to why the ministry issued the contract for the Johor-Singapore Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) system on a direct award basis in 2015.
The contract should have been awarded via open tender, Lim [PH-Kepong] told reporters at the Parliament lobby.
Lim also said the outsourcing of a portion of the VEP system by its main contractor TCSens Sdn Bhd to Dagang Nexchange Bhd (DNex) is in breach of the original contract issued by the MoT.
Lim also called for Datuk Seri Ismail Ahmad, who was the Road Transport Department (JPJ) director general at the time, to clear the air on the matter.
"I will file a complaint [against Liow and Ismail] if they do not respond in the next few days," he said.
Lim also questioned whether TCSens was a crony of the previous government, noting 25% of the firm’s shares were held by MCA lawmaker and former deputy youth and sports minister Datuk Wee Jeck Seng, when the contract was issued.
The contract was worth RM149.45 million, comprising a RM45.15 million capital expenditure portion and RM104.3 million operational expenditure (opex) portion.
The opex portion was subsequently sub-contracted to DNex on Jan 13, 2017, according to a filing at the time.
DNex's 51%-owned DNeX RFID Sdn Bhd was contracted by TCSens to operate and manage the VEP and Road Charges (RC) System Project for five years.
The issue revolving around TCSens gained traction earlier this week, after the VEP project was highlighted by the auditor-general in the second series of the 2017 national audit report.
The AG questioned the direct award and sub-contracting approaches towards the contract, as well as other weaknesses, including uninstalled equipment worth RM4.07 million.
TLDR version;
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018...ut-open-tender/
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QUOTE
The Auditor-General's Report 2017 (second series) questioned the manner in which the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) system between Johor and Singapore was implemented in 2015.
Besides a drastic hike in operational expenditure, the RM149.45mil collection charges system was awarded through direct negotiations instead of open tender, the audit revealed.
The report was presented in Parliament on Monday (Dec 3).
This follows after Najib was given assurance by the former transport minister that the contractors were capable and had the expertise for the project.
However, it was later found the contractors had no experience in the field.
The contractors were also found to have only RM35.54 in their accounts instead of the required RM2.3mil.
Following this, the contractors produced written proof that they had RM3mil in their account and gave an undertaking that they would bear the project cost until the system goes operational two months after its launch.
The project involved two separate contracts, namely Capital Expenditure Contract (Capex) worth RM45.15mil and Operational Expenditure Contract (Opex) worth RM104.3mil.
The contractors were found to have sub-contracted out the Opex to a third party although not allowed to do so.
Other weaknesses found were that equipment worth RM4.07mil such as cameras, barrier gates, fix readers were left uninstalled.
The audit concluded that there were weaknesses in the selection of contractors for the project which affected the effectiveness of collection system.
Besides a drastic hike in operational expenditure, the RM149.45mil collection charges system was awarded through direct negotiations instead of open tender, the audit revealed.
The report was presented in Parliament on Monday (Dec 3).
This follows after Najib was given assurance by the former transport minister that the contractors were capable and had the expertise for the project.
However, it was later found the contractors had no experience in the field.
The contractors were also found to have only RM35.54 in their accounts instead of the required RM2.3mil.
Following this, the contractors produced written proof that they had RM3mil in their account and gave an undertaking that they would bear the project cost until the system goes operational two months after its launch.
The project involved two separate contracts, namely Capital Expenditure Contract (Capex) worth RM45.15mil and Operational Expenditure Contract (Opex) worth RM104.3mil.
The contractors were found to have sub-contracted out the Opex to a third party although not allowed to do so.
Other weaknesses found were that equipment worth RM4.07mil such as cameras, barrier gates, fix readers were left uninstalled.
The audit concluded that there were weaknesses in the selection of contractors for the project which affected the effectiveness of collection system.
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