CONTRACTS to supply meals to boarding schools, which took effect in January last year, were awarded to a tenderer that falsified its bank statements, revealed the Auditor-General’s Report 2018 Series 3 today.

The report said the Education Ministry issued a letter of acceptance without verifying the authenticity of the statements submitted.

“The tenderer falsified the bank statements in order to bag the government contract.”

Checks with the bank in question showed that 359 of the tenderer’s 793 statements are fake, said the report.

It carried the ministry’s response that the contracts to supply food to SMK Sultan Ibrahim (1) and SMU (A) Darul Ulum Al-Muhammadiah were subsequently terminated on August 14 and 16, respectively.

“A report was lodged by the secretary of the ministry’s procurement division on August 14, 2019 at the Putrajaya police headquarters.”

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has engaged the ministry to ensure no repeat of the incident.

The Audit Department checked 71 contracts for 42 schools, with those still in effect worth RM3.645 billion.

Another shortcoming highlighted in the report is the poor management of contracts, whereby delays in their signing led to 33 schools paying extra even after the acceptance letters were acknowledged.

Sixty-seven of the contracts to supply meals were signed late, with delays of up to 446 days.

The high volume of contracts and delays stemming from the preparation of bonds are identified as among the reasons for the issue.

Payments made without a contract can affect the government’s interest, said the Audit Department.

The ministry said it has written to the relevant departments to prepare contract documents within the stipulated period.

Expired food items and those without the halal logo, as well as poor hygiene, are among the other problems discovered in the meal programme. – July 14, 2020.