Indian firms to Najib: Help us get TM jobs

MITCA says 1Malaysia is meaningless if the discrimination continues.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Indian Telecommunication Contractors Association (MITCA) has decided to seek Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s help to stop the alleged sidelining of its members by Telekom Malaysia (TM).

MITCA president L Puganesvaran told FMT that TM had not entertained any request made by Indian contractors in the last 20 years, and the association was seeking redress by banking on Najib’s promise of fairness to all Malaysians.

He said Najib could prove his sincerity by pressuring TM to stop the discrimination.

“There is no point talking about the 1Malaysia policy if giant companies like TM don’t support it,” he said. “We hope Najib will cater to the plight of MITCA.”

Puganesvaran said MITCA’s members were especially keen to take part in the national High Speed Broadband (HSBB) project that TM is spearheading, but added that the government-linked company had virtually ignored Indian contractors. “Are Indian companies not good enough for the HSBB projects?”

According to him, TM last year awarded RM1.18 billion worth of contracts to four foreign companies and RM600 million worth to 200 bumiputra companies.

The entire HSBB project is estimated to be worth RM11.3 billion.

“It is a lavish project,” Puganesvaran said. “What’s wrong if TM channels, say, RM1 billion worth of projects to Indian companies?”