Call for suspension of JPJ�s
15-year e-Kesihatan monopoly concession to Supremme Systems Sdn.Bhd to
conduct annual medical tests for commercial drivers to ensure that it is not
the latest example of parasitic rent-seeking rip-off in the region of
hundreds of millions of ringgit at the expense of the public for the benefit
of a handful of cronies of the system ________________
2008 Budget Speech (6)
by Lim Kit Siang
___________________
(Dewan
Rakyat,
Tuesday):
The medical profession is up in
arms against the latest e-Kesihatan scheme which was officially announced
by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) deputy director-general Solah Mat
Hassan yesterday, requiring drivers of commercial vehicles from next month
to pass a medical test done at clinics appointed by an associate company
of Fomema Sdn. Bhd, Supremme Systems Sdn Bhd.
Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd has been awarded a monopoly to carry out such
medical tests which would enable it to make profits in the region of
hundreds of millions of ringgit in the 15-year monopoly awarded by the
Transport Ministry.
This appears to be the latest example of a parasitic rent-seeking rip-off
at the expense of the public as there is already a system in place to
provide medical tests for commercial drivers involving medical
practitioners with the JPJ directly, which can be further improved to deal
with abuses or weaknesses instead of creating a new system which is more
rent-seeking in nature than entrepreneurial.
I have received an email from an infuriated medical practitioner on the
letter of registration sent by Supremme Systems Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of
Pantai Holding Sdn Bhd to primary care doctors in the Klang Valley to pay
RM 100.00 as registration fee and requesting particulars of each clinic.
The letter states that to participate in the medical examination of Goods
Drivers Licence (GDL) and Public Service Vehicle (PSC) licence renewal
annually by commercial vehicle drivers, the private doctors must use their
ICT. This letter demands reply and payment within 10 days.
The email continued:
�This company is a monopoly and has infringed on patients confidentiality
and also on the security of this data.
�Currently, the annual renewal is done using a gateway which is linked to
e-kesihatan of JPJ. A user friendly gateway system was proposed to
Ministry of Transport .This gateway which protects the Malaysian citizens
of their confidentiality and the doctors Hippoctaes Oath of secrecy and
only payment of Ringgit Two is traffic charge to transmit the medical
certification with an encryption code used by each doctor to JPJ via the
gateway. There is a breach of medical confidentiality of patients medical
records to third parties when Pantai Supremme becomes a third party to
collect the data and there is a breach of the Malaysian citizens human
right.
�The proposed system demands payment of RM 80 at the post office by the
driver. Pantai Supremme charges a service fee of RM 30 per driver,
Laboratory test for urine cannibinoids, ATS and Oppiates RM20. Payment to
doctors for medical examination RM 30.00 after 90 days.
�There are 1,200,000 commercial vehicle drivers and the active drivers are
approximately 1,000,000 in number. Pantai Supremme will be entitled to
siphon off RM28 million per year after deducting RM2 Ringgit per driver as
their overhead cost expenses.
�We are perturbed about the status of the drivers vis a vis the laboratory
report. The verification of these results and the poor standards of batch
entry and quality control used by laboratories to conduct the urine for
substance abuse test is questionable. The laboratories use this method to
save cost. Is there a mechanism to rehabilitate these driver and how long
will these drivers be suspended and what is the grievance mechanism?�
At present, commercial drivers have to pay RM50 for new applications and
RM20 for renewals for medical tests, which will now go up RM80 for
renewals under the Supremme Systems monopoly.
I understand that Koperasi Doktor Malaysia Bhd had submitted a
comprehensive proposal to the ministry last year with two scales of fees,
much lower than the Supremme Systems monopoly.
Instead of giving the Koperasi Doktor Malaysia Bhd proposal serious
consideration, the Supremme Systems has come into the picture and been
awarded a monopoly, which seems to be institutionalizing a system of
rent-seeking middle-men system to add to the costs of doing business and
making a living in the country.
I call for the suspension of JPJ�s 15-year e-Kesihatan monopoly concession
to Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd to conduct annual medical tests for
commercial drivers to ensure that it is not the latest example of
parasitic rent-seeking rip-off in the region of hundreds of millions of
ringgit at public expense to the benefit of a handful of cronies of the
present government system.
2. Civil service best practices and culture of high performance are
just empty slogans like the National Integrity Plan which are never meant
to be taken seriously
In his budget speech, Abdullah said raising the level of performance of
the civil service is critical in sustaining the competitiveness of the
nation, especially in the context of globalization. He said it is timely
for best practices and the culture of high performance to be adopted in
the civil service to drive further improvements in performance. (para 120)
However, the 2006 Auditor-General�s Report on the third full year of the
Abdullah premiership with its litany of waste and abuse of public funds
running into tens and hundreds of million of ringgit shows that far from
an improvement, there is probably a worsening, in public service culture �
with Parliament being reminded constantly with the disgraceful leakage
despite RM200 million renovation, with a small waterfall at the media room
yesterday.
Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said on Sunday that
ministries must answer for the instances of mismanagement disclosed in the
Auditor-General�s Report and the Second Finance Minister, Tan Sri Nor
Mohamed Yakcop ordered all departments in the Treasury to check cases
highlighted in the Auditor-General�s Report.
One Minister after another is trying to rebut he strictures contained in
the Auditor-General�s report, like the payment of RM224 for a RM32 set of
screwdrivers, paying RM1,146 for a set of pens costing RM 160, paying
RM5,700 for a car jack worth RMN50, the National Higher Education Fund
Corporation (PTPTN) paying RM5.59 million in advance to 4,183 students who
did not apply for a loan and other horror stories.
All the reactions by Ministers are not only locking the stable door after
the horses have bolted, but empty public posturings � including that of
Najib as he is also Defence Minister who has to fully explain the largest
single case of misuse of funds in the 2006 Auditor-General's Report � the
RM6.75 billion scandal of six Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) that have
either not been delivered or not operational and the increase of their
contract price twice from RM4.9 billion to RM6.75 billion or 38 percent.
In actual fact, the 2006 Auditor-General�s Report was completed on 28th
June 2007 and would have been submitted to the government shortly after.
Why are Cabinet Ministers only beginning to wake up now to the gross
mismanagement, waste and abuse of public funds more than two months of the
completion of the Auditor-General�s Report?
Would the Ministers reacted to these gross mismanagement of public funds
if no publicity had been given to the Auditor-General�s Report?
Were all the Ministers aware of and had approved the explanations which
the various government departments had given, some most ridiculous and
most unacceptable, to the strictures of the Auditor-General�s Report and
which had been tabled in the House?
Is every Minister prepared to appear before the Public Accounts Committee
to personally assume responsibility for the mismanagement of public funds
highlighted in the Auditor-General�s Report?
The proposal announced by the Prime Minister that Secretaries-General of
ministries and Heads of Services will be offered three-year contract and
their performance rewarded based on KPIs sound good on paper, but from the
abysmal failure of the government to �walk the talk� of its commitment to
efficiency, excellence and integrity in the past four years, there is
little confidence that any major changes in civil service performance,
accountability and integrity would ensue.
The reason is very simple � if the Cabinet can be so irresponsible and
unaccountable as to approve a RM4.6 billion bailout of the Port Klang Free
Zone scandal, without the former Transport Minister Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik
and the present Finance Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy having to
assume any responsibility although both of them had unlawfully without
Cabinet authority and Treasury approval given government guarantee for
RM4.6 billion bonds issued by Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd � the beneficiary of
the exorbitant land transaction as well as turnkey contractor � and
causing the Cabinet recently to give retrospective approval for the
�unlawful government guarantee�, the mismanagement of millions or tens of
millions of ringgit by public officials in the various ministries were
mere �chicken-feed�!
How could any action be taken against errant public officials when
Ministers enjoy a culture of impunity for their crimes and misdeamnours?
If Abdullah wants to send a clear message that there should be no more
hanky-panky with public funds in government, then charge and prosecute
Liong Sik and Kong Choy in court for their abuses of power in forcing the
government to bailout the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal with
their unauthorized and illegal issue of implicit government guarantee for
RM4.6 billion bonds without Cabinet authority and Treasury approval.
Otherwise, the horror stories of abuse and mismanagement of public funds
running into tens and hundreds of millions of ringgit in the
Auditor-General�s Report will continue to be an annual national shame and
tragedy.
(11/9/2007)
* Lim
Kit Siang, Parliamentary
Opposition Leader, MP for Ipoh Timur & DAP Central Policy and Strategic
Planning Commission Chairman |