Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on January 21, 2019 - January 27, 2019

Despite starting school in January, pupils taking the dual-language programme nationwide will only get their textbooks in March. That is the consequence of the government’s move to bypass an open tender process in the procurement process and allow direct negotiation last September.

The rationale, according to a Finance Ministry statement on Jan 13, was to expedite the delivery of the learning materials.

However, the pupils now face an unfortunate delay in receiving the textbooks. Some of them will be sitting for the PT3 examinations by year end and it is important they have sufficient time to work with their learning materials. The delay is unfair to them.

It goes to show that expediency should not be an excuse for bypassing proper procedures, which not only includes seeking the lowest cost but also proper vetting of a contractor’s ability to deliver the job on time.

It is worth noting that for years, a group of smaller textbook printers have been able to meet the Education Ministry’s printing deadlines without much fuss.

If the government could not avoid direct negotiation, why were these printers not included in the procurement process? In fact, the whole direct negotiation process should be looked into for any possible impropriety to forestall any questions about potential cronyism.

Pakatan Harapan had promised voters better governance and transparency, including in government procurement, which it said would emphasise open tender processes.

So, it should avoid such textbook errors as not upholding its own promises undermines its credibility in the eyes of the rakyat.

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