THE Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) must investigate Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration for alleged abuse of power in awarding a fleet management contract, Taiping lawmaker Wong Kah Woh said.

Wong, who once chaired the Public Accounts Committee, said MACC must look into why the government in 2020 had cancelled a letter of intent to a new provider, and gave the supply contract back to its old supplier at a higher rate.

He said billionaire-tycoon Vincent Tan had sued the Finance Ministry and fleet management company Spanco Sdn Bhd over a multi-million ringgit vehicle fleet concession deal.

“The issue of the termination of the letter of intent (LOI) offered to the Naza-Berjaya consortium came about after Muhyiddin took over as the eighth prime minister in March 2020.

“Tan, in his suit, also claimed that the contract awarded to Spanco was RM700 million more (than the contract awarded to Naza-Berjaya). 

“Tan’s allegation is very serious. What is alleged clearly shows non-compliance in the tender process by the (Perikatan Nasional) government in 2020 led by Muhyiddin,” Wong said in a statement today. 

Yesterday, it was reported that Tan, Berjaya group’s founder, filed the suit after his consortium was denied the contract.

He said the administration led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad had picked Naza-Berjaya to manage the fleet concession through a LOI issued in 2018.

Berjaya formed a 49:51 consortium with Naza in 2018 to jointly bid for the lucrative contract, which reportedly involved around 12,500 vehicles worth an estimated RM300 million annually starting after the fifth year.

Aside from the Naza-Berjaya consortium, other bidders included Sime Darby, DRB-Hicom, Samling Group, Comos and Go Auto as well as incumbent provider Spanco.

Tan said the Naza-Berjaya consortium had won the bid with the lowest offer.

Tan said their LOI was terminated unfairly before the actual award was set to be announced.

Based on the claims made, Wong said questions arise as to why the LOI was cancelled, what was the tender committee’s decision at that time, and why the result of the tender by the government in 2019 was not complied with.

He also questioned the justification by the Muhyiddin-led government to give the contract back to Spanco at a higher price.

Spanco was originally awarded the contract to manage end-to-end fleet management of government vehicles in 1994. Its 25-year concession came to an end in December 2018, but the company was given two extensions of six months each in 2019 to continue managing the fleet until the end of that year, with a third extension reportedly given until June 2020.

The government’s fleet, all leased through a five-year replacement cycle arrangement, includes vehicles used by ministers and top civil servants, as well as police patrol vehicles. The five-year replacement cycle was meant to ensure the government’s fleet stayed current, with the maintenance cost of each of these vehicles capped at predetermined limits. – July 18, 2023.