21-07-2025
- Health
- Free Malaysia Today
Hospital gave RM25.6mil catering contract to company without halal cert
The 2025 Auditor-General's Report Series 2 found a company without halal certification won a tender to provide meals to patients at Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz from February 2024 to February 2027. (Website pic)
PETALING JAYA : A government audit has found that Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz (HCTM) awarded a three-year RM25.64 million catering contract to a company that did not possess halal certification from the Islamic development department.
The 2025 Auditor-General's Report Series 2 found the company, which was identified as 0267299-T in the audit report, won a tender to provide meals to patients at HCTM from February 2024 to February 2027.
The report said the tender was aimed at 'providing halal food to HCTM patients' in accordance with the status of its main kitchen, which had received halal certification from Jakim.
The report, which was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat today, found HCTM's technical evaluation committee did not recommend 0267299-T as it had failed the technical evaluation as it lacked both halal and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) certifications.
The committee said the company also failed the technical evaluation as it was inexperienced and did not have enough food servers and trolleys for patients' food.
The audit found the technical evaluation committee had evaluated 12 bidders, with the passing mark set at 85% and above. Only two bidders passed the technical assessment, with 0267299-T among the 10 companies that failed after scoring 53%.
Despite this, the company was ultimately selected based on meeting the financial evaluation committee's criteria, the audit reported.
In response to the audit, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, which oversees HCTM, said the previous company's contract to supply food to patients was about to end and the tender procurement committee agreed to proceed with the tender as the services could not be interrupted.
UKM also said that 0267299-T had applied for HACCP certification on Sept 24, 2024, but the audit process could only be carried out after renovation works at HCTM were completed.
However, the report did not include UKM's response to 0267299-T's lack of halal certification.
Delay in supplying medical equipment
HCTM also awarded a separate contract for the provision of medical equipment to a company not recommended by the technical evaluation committee, as its linear accelerator (Linac) machines – used for cancer treatment – failed to meet integration requirements with HCTM's existing systems.
As a result, several critical pieces of medical equipment, including the Linac machines, CT simulators (used in radiation therapy) and contrast injectors (used for enhanced imaging), were delayed.
These items were scheduled for delivery by Sept 18 last year. At the time of the audit, the Linac machines had still not been delivered, marking a delay of 122 days.
'The delay in the supply of (this equipment) within the stipulated timeframe has affected services at HCTM,' said the audit.
'The delay in starting treatment has had an impact on patient survival, with 20 patients experiencing waiting periods ranging from one to eight weeks.'
Earlier today, auditor-general Wan Suraya Wan Mohd Radzi said three UKM tenders worth RM58.45 million were given to companies that were not supported by evaluation committees.
Overall, the report found serious problems in how over RM460 million of public money was spent on land deals, university tenders and defence contracts.
A total of five audits involving seven ministries were conducted.
They covered programmes, activities and projects worth RM48.873 billion.
A total of 22 audit recommendations were submitted to the ministries, departments and companies involved.
