Government’s agreement with Spanco detrimental to Malaysia, thorough investigation needed – PM Anwar
Prime minster Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has said the government is committed to combatting corruption amid the fleet project tender scandal involving Spanco for the supply, repair and maintenance of government vehicles.
In a report by NST, Anwar said thorough investigations will be conducted and decisive actions by enforcers will be taken against all parties involved in the case. He revealed that he had been vigilant about this issue during his tenure as finance minister during Tun Dr Mahathir’s administration.
“It seemed as though everyone remained silent, indifferent to the enforcement actions being undertaken. Some may label this an old political vendetta, but everyone was involved in utilising Spanco’s facilities. I have consistently voiced concerns about this issue since my time as the finance minister. I recognised irregularities in that contract, which proved detrimental to the country and disadvantaged civil servants,” said Anwar.
“However, there needed to be more urgency, and no concrete actions were taken, revealing a deficiency in political determination. “This is not the case now; I commend the inland revenue board (LHDN) and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for their steadfast commitment to fulfilling their duties and investigating those involved,” he added.
Spanco was established in 1988 and was given a 25-year concession agreement in 1993 to provide and lease vehicles with full maintenance services for the government. At the end of December 2018, the agreement expired and the government called for tenders in February 2019 for a contract to supply, maintain and manage its fleet of official cars for the next 15 years.
In the interim period, Spanco was given two extensions of six months each in 2019 to continue managing the fleet until the end of that year, with a further third extension reportedly given until June 2020.
According to the Berjaya group founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan, the Naza-Berjaya consortium was picked by the government to handle the fleet concession by the previous administration through a letter of intent (LoI) that was issued in 2019. A year later, the ministry of finance announced it has chosen a new concessionaire to manage the government’s vehicle fleet but did not name the company – it was widely believed it was the Naza-Berjaya consortium that won the tender.
In July 2023, Tan said the Naza-Berjaya consortium had its LoI terminated unfairly before the accrual award was set to be announced. A lawsuit was filed against the finance ministry and Spanco, with Tan claiming that the contract was awarded to Spanco despite the consortium winning the bid with an offer that is RM700 million less than Spanco’s. He also called for an MACC investigation on the issue.
In January this year, the MACC raided a residence of a businessman holding the title Tan Sri as part of an investigation into corruption allegations related to the procurement and management of the government’s fleet of vehicles valued at RM4.5 billion.
MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki announced earlier this week that individuals involved in the decisions to award contracts for the supply and management of government vehicles to Spanco will be summoned to assist in the investigation, including a former prime minister and finance minister.
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