PMO directives dictated Jana Wibawa contractor selections, High Court told

The Jana Wibawa program's contractor recommendations and procurement decisions were driven by directives from the Prime Minister’s Office, the High Court heard today in Kuala Lumpur. The evaluation committee, chaired by the Ministry of Finance’s Government Procurement Division secretary, only assessed contractors referred by the PMO through the Finance Minister’s Office.

Letters of interest submitted directly to the Finance Ministry did not carry enough authority to begin the evaluation process. Deputy public prosecutor Iman Nurhidayah Ezani questioned the procedures, asking about the weight of letters of interest submitted directly to the Government Procurement Division versus those coming through the Finance Minister’s Office.

The secretary explained that only the latter would be processed, as the department had no authority to conduct evaluations on its own. For the RM62 million Felda Bukit Jalor-Gemas road project, the company KCJ Engineering initially failed the evaluation due to unsatisfactory work performance and existing "sick" projects. However, after receiving an updated list of contractors from the Prime Minister’s private secretary in February 2021, KCJ Engineering was reassessed and cleared all three evaluation criteria, leading to a memorandum recommending the project be awarded to the company through direct negotiation.