COMMENT | Build the people's trust with Govt Procurement Act

COMMENT | We urge the Selangor government and all state governments to institutionalise transparency in public procurement including those awarded via restricted methods.

One way to institutionalise transparency is by subjecting the states to legislation on government procurement.

This comes after allegations of conflict of interest in appointing Asia Mobiliti for the Proof of Concept (POC) of Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) services in Selangor.

Ideas welcomes the explanations given by state executive councillor Ng Sze Han that the DRT is a new and highly specialised field with few companies currently registered to provide the service, and another company, Badanbas, is involved in the POC trials and that the companies were selected through a Request for Proposal (RFP).

We also note that Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari offered to provide complete details under Selangor’s Freedom of Information Enactment, including meeting minutes involving the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad).

However, the explanation...