PAC suggests govt ensure full ownership of MySejahtera

KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has suggested that the government ensure full ownership of the MySejahtera application to protect users' personal data and to ensure that the data is not misused by any party.

PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh in a statement today said the government also needed to review the propriety of awarding the application contract via direct negotiations made through a Cabinet decision on Nov 27, 2021.

The government should also take over the entire application through the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) as well as take a more prudent approach in all procurement processes, he said.

"All offers through CSR (corporate social responsibility) are welcome. However, the terms related to the CSR offer should be clearly stated, and should not be used as an alternative way for direct negotiations. Guidelines should be established for the governance of CSR offerings," he said.

Earlier, the PAC released a report on MySejahtera application development and procurement under the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Ministry of Finance (MOF), and the Prime Minister's Department.

In addition, Wong said the government needed to continue efforts to make MySejahtera a national public health management tool in line with the digitalisation plan for health services.

He said PAC had held two proceedings regarding the issue on April 14 and 21 and called up eight witnesses including Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.

It was found that the appointment of KPISoft (Entomo) as the developer of the MySejahtera application on March 2020 was not in accordance with the procedures for government procurement and there were no minutes of meetings or supporting documents on the appointment.

"The only document in existence is a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) signed by the National Security Council (MKN), on behalf of the government, and KPISoft.

"The CSR concept proposed by KPISoft (Entomo) caused uncertainty about the true direction of the acquisition of MySejahtera. The government was confused about the appointment of KPISoft, the CSR concept, and its duration as well as the ownership of the MySejahtera application," he said.

Wong said the CSR concept was perceived as being a mechanism to obtain a government project without going through the necessary procurement procedure and there was also no document stating that the CSR period would only be for a year.

He added that the MOF had set a RM196 million ceiling price to procure MySejahtera over two years (RM98 million a year), but the amount was high and went against the concept of CSR.

As of April, the government had yet to register the intellectual property (IP) for the application under the Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation (MyIPO), which could lead to the developer claiming ownership over MySejahtera.

Wong said the developer did suggest commercialising the application, but the government made the right call in rejecting the proposal to protect users' private data.

The full report can be downloaded from the PAC website at www.parlimen.gov.my/pac.

-- BERNAMA