Procurement Scandal: The face of extreme greed, gambling lives for profits, say Gerak
SHAH ALAM - Citing the face of extreme greed being prevalent in allegations over the RM20 million procurement and disbursement of non-spec facemasks that put the lives of frontliners handling Covid-19 cases in April 2020, the Malaysian People's Movement for Change (Gerak) has put its voice behind calls for authorities to act on it.
Echoing former Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye's call for Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa to investigate the matter, Gerak secretary general Syed Putra Syed Isa said the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) should also reopen and complete investigations into the case which had been halted since last year. "It shows the greedy and irresponsible nature of certain quarters who went to the extent of putting the lives of frontliners battling Covid-19 on the line for the sake of profits," Syed Putra said.
"They had gambled the lives of the frontliners who were already at high risk of infection coming into close-contact with Covid-19 patients daily." Syed Putra also backed Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) deputy president Datuk Ezam Md Nor's call for the MACC to act without fear and bring those responsible to justice, as the people, especially the frontliners deserved an explanation.
"The government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has promised to expose the multi-billion ringgit procurement scandal in which he said various irregular procurements and contracts had been signed off by the previous government," said Syed Putra.
"We should also get to the bottom of allegations such as these, where if true it also displays extreme greed without regard for the lives they had put at risk," he added. Sinar Daily has revealed that an RM20 million procurement of N95 facemasks in April 2020 were supposed to have been retracted from use by frontliners handling Covid-19 cases after the Health Ministry issued a circular citing they had failed tests the National Infection Control and Antibiotics Committee and did not meet required safety standards to protect against Covid-19 infections. They were not N95-spec masks.
The April 12, 2020 circular had stated that the masks were only suitable for use in regular medical service and not for those in close contact with Covid-19 patients. However, it was discovered that the circular had been retracted and the masks disbursed to be used by frontliners, putting them at severe risk.
Ezam had highlighted that the MACC had issued a statement on investigations, but then alleged political interference could have forced them to be halted.
Dr Lee stated yesterday that there were two serious issues in such cases. Firstly, how the Health Ministry had gone against their own committee which ensured standards were met and secondly, the irregular procurement itself, whereby the Ministry would have ordered N95 masks but delivered sub-standard masks. Gerak urged Dr Zaliha to act on information and conduct investigations, citing impending tabling of the white paper on the procurement irregularities during the pandemic in parliament. "If there are influential politicians or high ranking Ministry officials involved, they should not be protected. The Minister should act without fear and bring them to justice," said Syed Putra. "The people, especially the frontliners who put their lives on the line for the sake of the country deserve answers to the various questions that have surfaced and they deserve justice."
