A-G Report: Selected pre-qualified tenders in three ministries failed to speed up procurement, opened doors to abuse
According to the Auditor General's Report (AG Report) 2/2025 tabled in the Dewan Rakyat today for the KKR, the implementing agency audited was the Sabah Public Works Department (JKR).
Based on the audit conducted, the implementation of the Selected Pre-Q Procurement in the three ministries should not be continued, among other things due to the existence of room for manipulation and lack of transparency in the selection of companies, where only certain companies were approved to participate in the tender.
'In addition, market competitiveness is reduced because the ministries or departments involved do not have a database related to the list of reputable and high-performing companies that have previously received contracts from the ministries or departments.
'The Pre-Q Selected Procurement Method does not set a maximum period for the second-stage invitation process and the overall procurement period but only sets a minimum period, causing the procurement process to take a long time, between 152 and 553 days,' according to the report.
In this regard, the audit is of the view that the Pre-Q Selected Procurement method should not be continued and the open tender procurement method is more suitable to be implemented to ensure accountability and transparency in the procurement process.
However, if the government chooses to continue with Pre-Q Selected Procurement, it is still relevant for large-scale or high-impact projects that require certain technical and financial capabilities from companies participating in the tender, including conducting initial screening on companies.
To ensure the objectives of the Procurement Selected Pre-Q are achieved, the audit recommends that the projects offered under the procurement method consist of specific projects that are targeted and require immediate implementation and do not involve specific expertise for their implementation.
In addition, the report also recommends clearer and more transparent terms and criteria based on the needs according to the type of project can help ministries or departments screen faster at the initial stage to avoid wasting time and cost in evaluating participation from ineligible companies.
The audit also recommends that the integrated company database of the ministries or departments involved refer to a central company database such as the Centralised Information Management System (CIMS) of the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) or other systems that need to be developed comprehensively.
Another recommendation is to harmonise open and selected tender procedures and create comprehensive guidelines covering technical and financial evaluation. — Bernama
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