MOH assures more firm, effective procurement processes, even in emergencies

Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said the MoH will take appropriate action in line with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) warnings via its report titled “COVID-19 Outbreak Management Report: Expired Vaccines, Unusable Ventilator Equipment and Surplus Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)”, published on the PAC website on Monday.

"The MoH will take a more firm and effective approach in the procurement processes even in emergencies. It will be done according to proper procedures… this is the ministry's stance," she told a press conference at the Parliament building here today.

The PAC report revealed that there was no contract or agreement drawn up between the MoH and Pharmaniaga Logistic Sdn Bhd (PLSB) for the procurement of ventilators when the country faced the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.

The report also found that the MoH legal adviser was not consulted during the process of preparing the PLSB appointment letter.

As there was no written agreement between MoH and PLSB, no party could be held accountable for the failure of the 104 ventilators to function.

The 120-page report also revealed that discussions, evaluations and decisions related to the procurement of ventilators had to be carried out outside of the norm, which was through the WhatsApp application due to constraints during the Movement Control Order (MCO) and urgency of the situation at that time.