KUCHING: The Works Ministry will set up a Monitoring Unit in collaboration with the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Sarawak Public Works Department in efforts to curb the “Ali Baba” practice among Bumiputera contractors in the state.
Its Minister Baru Bian said the proposed unit would assist his ministry with information on any malpractice pertaining to the procurement of government tenders in the state.
“I am very concerned and my ministry wants to help Bumiputera contractors in the country but there are many problems because the system is abused. Based on feedback, the “Ali Baba” practice is very common and not only occurs in Sarawak,” he told a media conference after a dialogue session with 31 Sarawak Bumiputera contractors at the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Centre here on Saturday.
At the dialogue, he said it was also proposed that Bumiputera contractors who were being given government tenders be required to sign a pledge not to transfer their contract to non-Bumiputera contractors or risked being blacklisted if there were proofs against such errant Bumiputera contractors in Sarawak.
On the issue of tolls imposed on highways in the peninsula, Baru said his ministry would look into various alternatives for road users in the next two to three months, including discussing with the stakeholders on toll rebates, lowering tolls or zero toll hike to ease public burden.
“We are weighing all these options with the concessionaires concerned within the next two to three months,” Baru said in clarifying a recent portal news report that quoted him as saying decisions pertaining to the abolishing of tolls would be known in two to three months.
He said the scrapping of tolls was not viable at the moment and the Cabinet had already made a decision that the matter would be postponed until the country’s economic situation recovered.
Meanwhile Baru, who is also Sarawak PKR chairman, said Sarawak would be among the last states to vote on November 10 at the party elections, which saw prime minister-in-waiting Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as PKR president elect. “Everyone is given a chance to campaign openly and I also don’t hinder anyone from coming here to campaign. This is democracy,” he said.
Regarding Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s statement yesterday on the need for a mechanism on the funding of political parties, he said a proper legislation and guideline as advocated by non-governmental organisations and social activists should also be looked into.