By B Nantha Kumar - Free Malaysia Today,KUALA TERENGGANU: How did a pre-approved budget of RM30 million for e-books for 25,000 primary school pupils balloon to RM90 million in two years? That is the question bugging Batu Burok assemblyman Syed Azman Syed Ahmad.
While the disclosure is firing up the blogs and news portals in the country, another piece of gossip involving a “mystery woman” who collected a cool RM7.9 million for school uniforms, from Menteri Besar Ahmad Said through “direct negotiation”, is also making its rounds.
According to Syed Azman, the RM90 million billing was discovered when the Terengganu branch of the National Audit Bureau audited Top IT Industries Sdn Bhd,a government-linked company which was contracted to provide the e-books.
“There were a few major issues about the e-book project. For a start, there was no agreement drawn up between the state government and the company which was the supplier of hardware and software.
“Secondly, there was no insurance and there were also problems over delivery delays, quality of the e-books and incompatible software due to negligence.
“The audit review for 2009 found that of the 1,857 units of e-book delivered (to the schools) between January and March 2010, some 1,532 pieces were damaged and had to be returned to the factory for repair.
“About 609 students were asked to pay between RM69 and RM200 for damage which incidentally was not included in the e-book’s one-year warranty,” Syed Ahmad said.
He added that it was also shocking to discover the poor quality of the e-books considering that RM90 million was paid out.
“Some 14% of the 24,431 e-books delivered were defective. This is too high a rate considering the amount paid out,” he said, adding that a group of PAS supporters had lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission last Saturday on this matter.
Wasted uniforms
Meanwhile, a source in Terengganu PKR revealed that the “mystery woman” linked to the RM7.9 million school uniform deal was one Mek Hawa Abdul Rahman.
Mek Hawa was believed to have by-passed the tender system and secured a letter directly from Ahmad who awarded her company Hamie Enterprise the contract to supply 53,000 school uniforms.
According to the source, sometime in November 2008, Hamie Enterprise sent a letter directly to Ahmad, claiming that it manufactured and distributed school clothes under the brand name “Ganu Kita”.
There was no indication in the content of the letter that Hamie Enterprise was requesting a contract to supply school uniforms to the state government.
The letter was signed by one Azreen Ami Nordin who was neither a partner nor owner of Hamie Enterprise, according to a search at the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM). The source, however, said the problem arose when the uniforms failed to meet the student specifications.
“The contract was given in haste and because of time constraint, they (Hamie Enterprises) just bought the uniforms from China without actually checking the size and material.
“Two years now and the uniform sets, including socks and shoes, cannot be distributed because the sizes were not appropriate,” the source said.
The source said that on Oct 5, 2009, a review by Hulu Terengganu education office confirmed the stock remaining in the district education office included 5,402 pairs of shoes, 5,066 pairs of trousers, 4,222 piecs of shirts, 4415 pieces of baju kurung, 936 pieces of blue sarongs and 2,910 pieces of headscarves.
The source said PAS had raised the issue at the state assembly during the last sitting but received no answer.
Meanwhile, the trail of easy money continues. The source said Mek Hawa had also just received a new timber contract from Ahmad.
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