KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak rues over the squandering of RM338 million in government funds on immigration systems.
In a Facebook post today, he said Malaysia is still relying on a 28-year-old outdated system with many shortcomings in terms of cost savings, loss of government revenue and security threats to the country.
"The BN government during my tenure approved the Sistem Kawalan Imigresen Nasional (SKIN) project worth RM3.5 billion to replace the outdated immigration system, which is now over 28 years old.
"However, it was cancelled by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in 2019 under the PH1.0 government and replaced with the RM1.16 billion National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe) project.
"The NIISE project, which has already cost the government RM107 million, was cancelled by the Madani government last year to be retendered," Najib said.
He said the court yesterday ordered the government to pay RM231.5 million in compensation to the SKIN project vendor because the project was terminated without cause, resulting in a total waste of RM338.5 million in taxpayer funds.
He said the government now can only rely on the 26-year-old outdated Malaysian Immigration System (MyIMMS), which lacks centralisation and is incapable of effectively tracking criminals or managing foreign labour quotas, making it susceptible to exploitation by criminals and unauthorised visitors.
"Many may perceive the RM1.16 billion NIISE project as much cheaper than the RM3.5 billion SKIN project, but there is a major difference.
"SKIN is based on a concession model where the government has zero initial funding and implementation risk until it is fully developed," he said.
He said payment of a RM290 million annual concession fee only commences upon SKIN's operational readiness after a 3-year development period.
Najib said the supplier also continues to operate and maintain the system until the end of the 15-year concession period.
He said if the SKIN system does not function, the government does not need to pay anything.
Najib criticised the NIISE project, based on a 'turn-key' approach, wherein the government shoulders the entire development cost for 54 months from March 1, 2021, to Aug 31, 2025, exposing all risks if the project fails.
"Under this model, the government will also bear additional annual maintenance and operating costs if the system is successfully developed," he said.
He said it is regrettable that the SKIN project was cancelled, as the government would also benefit from increased savings from the implementation of SKIN as it would integrate all Immigration Department services such as biometrics, Mbikes, and MyIMMS maintenance costs.
Najib said SKIN has the potential to increase government revenue based on the integration of various services under it - services that were previously outsourced to private vendors.
"After six years since the 14th General Election, now we have nothing," he said.