KUALA LUMPUR – The Health Ministry is holding talks with the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) on further action against Pharmaniaga Logistics Sdn Bhd (PLSB), the company that procured 104 faulty ventilators during the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to deputy minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni (Sibuti-GPS), consultations with the AGC were initiated after PLSB declined to comply with a letter of demand issued by the ministry in September.
“On September 13, the Health Ministry handed over a letter of demand for a reimbursement of RM15.3 million and gave PLSB 14 days to respond,” Lukanisman said during today’s Parliament’s Special Chambers session.
“However, in their response to the ministry, PLSB requested that the ministry withdraw the letter (as) they are ready to negotiate on the remaining RM1.07 million payment (from the government to PLSB) to upgrade the (defective) ventilators.
“At this point in time, the Health Ministry is obtaining the AGC’s views on the next step of action that should be taken following PLSB’s response,” he added.
Lukanisman said this when responding to queries posed by DAP’s Lim Lip Eng (Kepong-PH) on whether the government would consider taking strict action against PLSB or the ventilator suppliers in China.
PLSB is a wholly owned subsidiary of the government-linked pharmaceutical firm Pharmaniaga Bhd.
Previously, Datuk Seri Norazman Ayob, the health ministry’s deputy secretary-general (finance), told Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that PLSB had insisted it would not be able to pay the reimbursement sought by the government.
“They (PLSB) said they would provide information stating that they were just acting as agents based on the Health Ministry’s instructions,” he said on August 22, as recorded in minutes of meetings detailed in PAC’s report on the government’s Covid-19 outbreak management.
PAC’s report was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on October 30 and is available on the Parliament website.
In transcripts of PAC’s meeting with health officials and PLSB appended to the report, PLSB chief operating officer Mohamed Iqbal Abdul Rahman told the committee about the ministry’s letter of demand and that it would “really impact us”.
Meanwhile, Lukanisman said today that the ministry is considering suggestions on how to better monitor its future transactions to prevent dealings with “incompetent” suppliers.
He also said the ministry is now aware that the methods utilised during the process of purchasing the ventilators, including referring to brochures and communicating via WhatsApp, should be reconsidered for future procurements of equipment vital to sustaining life.
The 104 faulty ventilators make up the bulk of the 136 ventilators purchased by PLSB on behalf of the government at a cost of RM24.07 million. The cabinet was first informed of the pressing need for ventilators in public health centres in March 2020.
The 136 units were delivered in stages to public health institutes in April and May that year. Problems with using the ventilators were then made known by the ministry to PLSB in early June.
It was earlier reported that of the 136 procured ventilators, 104 were inoperable, and PAC found that no party could be held accountable because there was no written agreement between the Health Ministry and PLSB on the procurement.
PAC also found that there were conflicting testimonies from representatives of the Health Ministry and PLSB on warranties for the 136 ventilators, with the inconsistent information leading to the committee being unable to verify the existence of a warranty for all the ventilators.
Subsequently, graft watchdog Transparency International Malaysia and the Malaysian Medical Association raised their concerns about PAC’s findings on the lack of proper documentation behind the procurement of faulty ventilators.
Dr Kelvin Yii (Bandar Kuching-PH), who is also special adviser to Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa, said those responsible for procuring unusable ventilators without a purchase agreement should be identified and held accountable.
Yii also said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission should step in to investigate if there was undue influence in the selection of suppliers from China. – November 15, 2023