KUALA LUMPUR (March 30): The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament will commence proceedings relating to the development and acquisition of the MySejahtera application in mid-April, as it said the controversial matter should be explained transparently in the interests of the people and the country.
In a statement, PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh said the committee will summon the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health and the Prime Minister’s Department for these proceedings, starting off with two key witnesses — Minister of Finance Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, and Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin.
The government had previously stated in Parliament that the app was setup as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, with the one-year CSR period ended on March 31, 2021, and the government deciding to pay for the usage of the application starting April 1, 2021, Wong said.
“The issue of the MySejahtera application was included in the PAC’s report on Covid-19 vaccine procurement and its application to the people of Malaysia, which was tabled in Parliament on Dec 1, 2021.
“At the time, PAC concluded that the CSR concept was used as a mechanism to procure a government contract without going through the proper procurement procedure. PAC had recommended the government to not make payment for the usage of the MySejahtera application, as its development was a CSR initiative,” said Wong.
He added that the government must take over the operations of the app without incurring any additional costs, seeing as MySejahtera has become part of the public healthcare system.
On March 8, the committee conducted a proceeding on the follow-up action on the controlling officer, as per the recommendation of the PAC report.
Through the proceedings, the PAC was informed that the Cabinet had on Nov 26, 2021 agreed to give approval to the Ministry of Health (MOH) to appoint MySJ Sdn Bhd in a direct negotiation.
The PAC was also told that MOH has to undertake due diligence on MySJ.
“At the same time, the PAC raised the question of how the ownership of the MySejahtera application was transferred from KPISoft Malaysia Sdn Bhd to MySJ Sdn Bhd. The PAC is of the view that a new company should not be appointed via direct negotiation,” it said.
The follow-up action report was tabled to the Dewan Rakyat on March 24, which attracted widespread attention.
The PAC said the development and procurement of MySejahtera should be explained transparently before the committee, particularly on the appointment of a private company as the operator of the app through direct negotiation and the costs involved.
The issue also raises concerns surrounding data privacy, as there could be irresponsible parties that could take advantage of the pool of people’s private data.
“Therefore, it is very appropriate for the PAC to hold proceedings on the issue of MySejahtera application in accordance with the authority of this Committee under Standing Order 77(1)(d) of the Rules of the House of Representatives, which clearly states “... any other matter which the Committee thinks should be examined...”.
“In addition, the PAC will also use its sources of authority under Meeting Rule 83(2) and Article 11(b) of General Circular No. 2 of 1982 in handling these proceedings,” it said.
The PAC added it will be announcing the date and time of the proceedings in the near future.