Najib signed off on billion-ringgit solar project awarded to car rental company, says report

Updated 5 years ago · Published on 10 Jun 2018 3:21PM · 5 Comments

Najib Razak is reported to have bypassed regular procedures at the Education Ministry to get the project awarded without open tender to Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd in Bintulu. – The Malaysian Insight pic, June 10, 2018.

FORMER prime minister Najib Razak signed off on a RM1.25 billion project to outfit 369 schools in the Sarawak interior to use solar energy, said whistleblower Sarawak Report. 

Najib was reported to have bypassed regular procedures at the Education Ministry so that the project was awarded without open tender to a car rental company in Bintulu, Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd.

The report said ministry staff who expressed concern over the project were transferred and their police reports were ignored by the authorities. 

“Ministry of Education staff who raised concerns about quality control were transferred from their posts, according to our information, and reports to the police and MACC were ignored right up until the last election,” the report said.

The 18 months the project was to have taken to complete have dragged into three years and there has not been a single solar unit installed, said the report. 

The Jepak Holdings chief executive officer is Saidi Abang Samsudin, who is also the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Jepak deputy chairman.

Jepak Holdings currently supplies diesel to and maintains the 369 interior schools for a sum of RM21.8 million a month.

Najib purportedly signed two letters in July 2016 and November 2016, that enabled the requirements for a government contract to be waived for Saidi. 

“Najib wrote in his own hand at the top of the letter a note to Datuk Othman, Head of Procurement at the Ministry of Finance, after the letter was stamped as received by his office: ‘Dear Datuk Othman, I agree to give special clearence as requested. Please implement it. Thank You’,” the report said.

The second letter was written by Najib to then education minister Mahadzir Khalid to again waive requirements for Jepak Holdings. 

The company wrote a letter in April last year asking for “special prime ministerial assistance” for a 9.8% advance payment of RM130 million. 

Once again, Najib’s instructions were scrawled on the top of the letter, this time instructing then MOE secretary-general Alias Ahmad to make the payment and to “do it without delay”.

This was despite a letter of complaint from the Department of Education’s procurement head, Aedy Ramli, on the company company’s failure to deliver.

Jepak Holdings was reported to also have trouble procuring the supplies to outfit the schools for solar power with a supplier claiming Jepak had misrepresented the nature of the requirements which placed far more expense upon the supplier. 

It said that under the contract, at least 180 schools should have received solar panels by now, but none have been installed so far.

The supplier is said to have filed a suit against Jepak Holdings. – June 10, 2018. 

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Comments

  • Najib crime and fradulence is way way out of norms. Never in Malaysia do we have such criminal who is rampant in plundering aggressively the country dry and he will stop at nothing to achieve his objective. If Najib and all his partners in crime are found guilty on all the charges, he Najib should not be spared a life sentences as he fully deserved a capital punishment of death by hanging in public.

    Posted 5 years ago by Lee Lee · Reply

  • Holy shit, we work hard to bit for such projects paid company and personal income all gone to cronies to ripe the harvest of fellow Malaysian hardwork. Guess, Malaysian would 100% agreed on capital punishment to those involved swindling Malaysian ( Rakyat) money. PH govt should act fast to prevent ex govt politician from fleeing the country.










    Posted 5 years ago by Abdul Rahman Abdul Razak · Reply

  • Ah.. Old Malaysia - this is how it was done for decades..As Mahathir pointed out long time ago, otherwise, each of us would be richer than Singaporeans..

    Posted 5 years ago by Bigjoe Lam · Reply

  • A water meter manufacturer can be a MRT contractor. A car rental company can awarded a 1.25b solar project.

    I think my neighbourhood barber can qualify to be awarded a multi million Ringgit telecommunication project.

    Posted 5 years ago by Henry Mancini Jr · Reply

  • This is what heppen in the past. Projects were given to who they know rather than what they know. Use biogas products for electricity and cook gas - will cost cheaper.

    Posted 5 years ago by Chai Wun Chai · Reply