Media Statement By Violet Yong:
A couple of weeks ago, Sarawak Metro SdnBhd awarded a RM122 million contract to a joint venture company comprising SKS Coachbuilders Sdn Bhd and Sun Credit Sdn Bhd for the supply of 55 units of hydrogen powered feeder buses. That means each hydrogen bus costs RM2.2 million. What a great deal!
SKS Coachbuilders SdnBhd a West Malaysia company has teamed up with Sun Credit SdnBhd a local company to meet the tender requirements set by Sarawak Metro.
What’s truly shocking is that this RM122 million contract could be awarded to Sun Credit SdnBhd, a company whose main business is general trading and has a paid-up capital of only RM100. Can you imagine how a company valued at just RM100 managed to secure a contract worth RM122 million from Sarawak Metro.
After conducting a company search on both SKS Coachbuilders and Sun Credit SdnBhd, I found that, for the past three financial years (2020, 2021, and 2022), both companies reported negative profits. For SKS Coachbuilders, they had a loss after tax of RM4,550,553.00 in 2020, RM4,845,794.00 in 2021, and a bigger loss of RM6,631,874.00 in 2022.
As for Sun Credit, the losses were RM3,916,000.00 in 2020, RM2,880,000.00 in 2021 and RM3,207,000.00 in 2022.
I have gone through the tender conditions published by Sarawak Metro, and in Paragraph 4(g), it clearly states: “Average net profit for the last three financial years—2020, 2021, and 2022—must be positive, and for a joint venture, a minimum of two partners, including the lead partner, must show positive net profit.”
It is obvious that these two companies failed to meet the requirements stated in of Paragraph 4(g) of the tender conditions. My question is how then did the Tender Panel Board approve and award a contract worth hundreds of millions for hydrogen buses to these companies that are financially struggling? This raises serious concern about the competency of Sarawak Metro’ Tender Evaluation Panel. Something is very wrong here.
Moreover, under Paragraph 4(h) of the tender it states that “the tender shall have at least one working hydrogen bus Protopype and /a working hydrogen bus developed and/or manufactured and/or supplied/sold within the year 2016-2023”. Sun Credit being a general trading company, does not meet this requirement. As for SKS Coachbuilders, their company profile shows they only deal with electric and conventional buses. So, how did they qualify under Paragraph 4(h)? The entire process seems deeply flawed and raises serious doubts about transparency and accountability of Sarawak Metro.
In any government tender process, if a bidder fails to meet the conditions outlined in the tender documents, their bid should be rejected outright. What is strange here is that despite both companies failing to meet the requirements, they were still able to be awarded with the contract by Sarawak Metro. Any reasonable person would question the integrity of this tender process.
I urge MACC to act swiftly and launch a thorough investigation into this case along with all other contracts awarded by Sarawak Metro to uncover any misconduct or corruption. Public funds are involved here and MACC has the authority to investigate without needing the official report. This RM122 million hydrogen bus contract and all other contracts awarded by Sarawak Metro must be scrutinized.
If Sarawak government truly upholds good governance and transparency, it must intervene to correct the wrong of Sarawak Metro. The state government should cancel this contract immediately and initiate a new tender process especially since it was reported that six other companies participated in the bidding. Otherwise, it may apprear that the State government is endorsing this joint venture as a way to profit from the purchase of 55 units China-made hydrogen buses.
Why hasn’t the State Integrity and Ombudsman Unit (UNION) initiated an investigation into this case? Is UNION aware of the situation, or have they been kept in the dark as well? Or perhaps UNION knows what’s happening but is unable to act due to interference from powerful individuals? These are the questions Sarawakians deserve answer to.
Let me bring to the attention of this August House some information about Sun Credit Sdn Bhd. The company search reveals that one of its shareholders and directors happens to be the Chairman of Sibu Rural District Council and the Chairman of PRS Dudong division. This raises the question: was this contract awarded based on political connections? It now seems that holding a chairman’s position in SRDC and PRS can lead to highly favourable ‘kantau deal’!
This issue certainly deserves further scrutiny to ensure that the contract was awarded fairly, with proper due diligence and competence.
On another note, what has happened to the three hydrogen buses that were introduced for Kuching City and Damai loops back in 2021. Why are they kept suspended from service? It’s a real embarrassment for Sarawak.
If Sarawak Metro is already struggling to manage just three hydrogen buses, I can’t imagine how they will handle a fleet of 55 or more.
