KUALA LUMPUR – Official explanations on the Selangor government’s award of a project to a company run by the husband of Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh have not clarified the issue of alleged nepotism, a state Bersatu legislator said.
Jeram assemblyman Datuk Harisson Hassan said the explanation given by Selangor exco Ng Sze Han did not fully answer questions about possible nepotism in the RM25 million Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) pilot project awarded to Asia Mobility Technologies of which Yeoh’s husband, Ramachandran Muniandy, is co-founder and CEO.
“The crux of the issue is how approval obtained from the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) can be used as a justification for the appointment, as Apad is under the Minister of Transport who is from the same party as Yeoh, and they are ministers together in the cabinet.
“For the sake of a clean administration that has integrity and is free from conflict of interest, I call upon the Selangor state government, especially Ng who is also from DAP party, to withdraw the decision to appoint Asia Mobility Technologies as the DRT service operator under the Selangor Mobility initiative,” Harrison said in a statement.
The Selangor opposition assemblyman also said an open tender should be held fairly to all capable companies for the DRT project.
Yesterday, another Selangor opposition lawmaker, Gombak Setia assemblyman Muhammad Hilman Idham, said the state should make public the contract details of the DRT pilot project.
Ng, who is Selangor’s investments, trade and mobility exco, said Asia Mobiliti was selected for the DRT pilot project as it had been approved by Apad on December 20, 2022.
After Apad’s approval, Selangor then invited Asia Mobiliti and another company, Badan Bas Coach to present their capabilities and proof of concept (PoC) to the state for the DRT project, Ng said.
“The committee decided to appoint these two companies based on the approval given by Apad at that time, in line with the administration’s commitment to meet the standards set by the authorities and ensure the safety of DRT service users.
“Following this decision, the letter of intent was submitted to the service operator company on June 15, 2023, with the appointment letter issued on September 20, 2023,” Ng said.
DRT is a shared transportation service that groups passengers based on their locations and sends vehicles accordingly. This system can adjust routes on-demand, unlike traditional services that follow fixed routes and schedules.
It is part of the Selangor Mobility project under Menteri Besar Selangor Incorporated (MBI). It is also supervised by the Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec).
The public launch was held in October, and news on the event was highlighted again recently by a social media user with the handle Aduan Rakyat, who questioned the merits of the company’s selection and asked if it was awarded through an open tender.
The user also highlighted Asia Mobiliti’s links with Yeoh via her husband.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief, Tan Sri Azam Baki has said the agency had no issue with the appointment as the contract to Asia Mobiliti did not come from Yeoh’s ministry.
The company itself, meanwhile, has said there are no other qualified companies capable of handling the DRT other than Asia Mobiliti and Badan Bas, and an open tender would have resulted in a monopoly. – May 29, 2024