|
 Is the treasury paying for computers made from rare kryptonite?
The Malaysian public is rightly aghast at the purchase of a laptop for RM42,320 by Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi Mara Balik Pulau in Penang. The college bought two units of the same brand for RM84,640, said the recently released Auditor-General’s Report. However, the cost cited above is small change compared to the some RM4 billion spent on computer hardware for the Math and Science in English (PPSMI) programme. On Oct 20, 2009 Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin replied in Parliament to a question about RM4.5 billion “washed down the drain” on PPSMI. Gombak MP Azmin Ali also asked about projected expenditure over the next three years for teaching Math and Science. Below is Muhyiddin’s reply as recorded in the Hansard: “We are still framing the entire programme gearing up to 2012 [scheduled year for PPSMI language switch]. Therefore, we have not yet finished calculating the costs implication but admittedly it will be a huge sum (“tetapi jumlahnya boleh tahan jugalah besarnya”). “As has been mentioned by Yang Berhormat Gombak just now, all our previous spending may seem like money burnt but it is not truly so. This is because the computers and language labs that we’re building under this new system [Math and Science in Bahasa Melayu] will utilize the hardware that has already been installed in almost all the schools, which actually involved a very heavy cost. The cost of the hardware is a large component of the RM4 billion referred to. This is something we will use. So it does not mean that our expenditure has been wasted as we will be using the hardware for a long time to come.” Highly inflated prices Now back to the Mara college in Balik Pulau. It purchased 450 units of computers for RM3.45 million. Each unit (with 17-inch monitor) cost RM7,500 while those with 19-inch monitor cost RM8,500. “A check with local companies showed that the market price for the latest model is between RM5,350 to RM6,500 each. Worse still the computers, Precision 390 Dell, that were supplied are no longer in the market,” the auditor’s report said. Thus we find that the Mara college not only bought computers which have been phased out but it paid much more for outdated models than what the latest ones would have been priced in open market. The public is understandably concerned when the Education Minister cannot or refuses to provide any idea of the expenses to be incurred in undertaking the PPSMI policy reversal. Indeed, Muhyiddin’s one-liner dismissal in Parliament “jumlahnya boleh tahan jugalah besarnya” creates grave misgivings. The pattern of expenditure displayed by the Education Ministry and education authorities is cause for justifiable concern. How does Mara-Balik Pulau explain paying up to RM2,945 for a comb-bound teaching manual, making a total of RM358,476 for 204 copies in all? These are prices more appropriately tagged to museum parchments with historical value, certainly not a sheaf of printed paper clipped together with comb-binding. Where’s the money going?  Gross mismanagement of public funds has ordinarily been hidden from scrutiny, unless one happens to be the purchasing officer sitting in that RM1,050 swivel chair – such chairs also to be found somewhere in the Mara premises.
It is hardly surprising then that the college in Balik Pulau should run up a bill of RM112.42 million for its procurement contract. The Star article quoting the auditor’s report added, “Mara also spent RM2.08 million buying computer software it didn’t need.” The same profligacy is noted in schools. Have our young pupils – twiddling their thumbs on RM4 billion worth of computer hardware – acquired greater competency in basic Math and Science compared to their counterparts taught using old-fashioned blackboards and workbooks? Indeed, experience has usually shown that shiny electronic equipment is often under-utilized. Furthermore, the country is known for its lack of a maintenance culture. Only full transparency on procurement budgets can assure the public that the scourge of corruption is absent from the management of the nation’s schools and national colleges. With the PPSMI flip-flop, there is now a new round of procurements – once again supposedly necessitated by the language reversion. The tenders and invoices must made available to an external watchdog body so that the government is held accountable to the taxpaying public for every sen going to these projects and purchases, or lining crony pockets.
|
Guest Columnists 
Share Link: 
Kita Cina mau cari makan lah jadi jangan kacau kita. buat projek ni mesti untung untung. Jika tak untung buat apa mau aku makan ? Jelaslah kita tak bunuh orang hanya cari makan sikit saja.Biar kita makan sikit inilah cara biznes.