He said the re-examination of the case was necessary because Perwira Ericsson was one of the bidders for the RM2.07 billion Telekom Malaysia Bhd. contract. In 1997, Perwira Ericsson was accused of "discrepancies" when it was awarded a portion of the contract.
The other successful bidders were Pernas-NEC on behalf of NEC Japan, Alcatel CIT of France, Marubeni Corporation on behalf of equipment supplier Fujitsu, Japan and Sapura Holdings on behalf of Nokia, Finland.
Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun said Mitsui & Co. had landed a portion of the contract by giving kickbacks amounting to RM10.6 million to Telekom Malaysia.
While the ACA has the right to re-open a case which it had investigated and closed, there must be new evidence to warrant such an action. I am not opposed to the re-opening of the ACA investigations into the Perwira Ericsson, but it would be wrong and irresponsible if any such re-opening is meant to deflect public attention and ACA efforts into the specific allegation of RM10.6 million Mitsui kickbacks to Telekom Malaysia.
Unless ACA has new evidence to warrant a re-opening of its 1997 investigations of Perwira Ericsson, the ACA should focus all its investigative resources and energy on the current and specific allegation of RM10.6 million Mitsui kickbacks to Telekom Malaysia, especially as the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau had fined Mitsui for such "kickbacks".
Meanwhile, the ACA investigation report in 1997 into Perwira-Ericsson in connection with the RM2 billion tender for the digital switch exchange contract should be tabled in Parliament for public information, inviting new information to warrant a re-opening of the case.
The allegations against Perwira Ericsson first surfaced in January 1997, when the then Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim revealed that he had received information about alleged improprieties in the award of the contract and both Telekom Malaysia and the ACA conducted investigations.
On 29th July, 1997, when replying to the question by the then DAP MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Guan Eng, in Parliament on the outcome of the ACA investigations into Perwira Ericsson, Anwar said that all the tender regulations of the government and Telekom Malaysia were complied with and that Ericsson got most of the contracts out of the five companies because the company offered the lowest prices and met the technical requirements.
The time has come for the Minister for Energy, Telecommunications and Multimedia, Datuk Leo Moggie, to give all information about the RM2.07 billion Telekoms digital switch exchange contract, including details as to what each successful company was awarded, including their contract performance record.
(26/2/2000)