Wong, who is also the Ipoh Timur lawmaker, said the matter is complicated because KPISoft bypassed the normal procurement process to take on the MySejahtera project as it was willing to work without taking any payment, reported CodeBlue.
“So now here, the problem is that when this contract was first given to KPISoft. Now suddenly another company comes in to take over the whole application; is it appropriate and necessary for the Cabinet to solely appoint MySJ through direct negotiation?” Wong questioned.
“So, that is a very big question. When we are talking about, we are going to pay — I mean pay for MySejahtera for a certain period of time — this could represent a huge contract.”
The DAP politician acknowledged that MOH will be conducting due diligence, but the ministry should have followed stipulated procurement procedures — whether it is by direct negotiations with approval from MOF or based on skill or contract value via open tender or quotations.
“Please bear in mind the procurement procedure needs to be [strictly] adhered to. And of course, KPISoft, from day one, if they are doing it as a CSR, they shouldn’t be charging. If they are charging and if we allow them to charge, they shouldn’t be selling the MySejahtera system to another company,” he explained.
“And now the government is telling us, look we are getting another company to manage, we are going to go by direct negotiations and so on. Of course, everyone in the business wants to make money, yes, but what kind of process that we need to go through, that is something very, very important in the eyes of PAC.”
Wong said if MySJ wants to get the project, it should not have gone through the “backdoor” and that the government should not have allowed KPISoft to sell the app to MySJ so that the latter can get the business and contract.