CORRUPTION-MALAYSIA: Ceiling Collapses on Public Works Minister

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Anil Netto

PENANG, Malaysia, Oct 20 2004 (IPS) - Cracks on a highway overpass, a serious fungal problem in a newly opened hospital building, a defective multi-storey building, shoddily built school computer labs, design flaws and landslides along major highways – suddenly Malaysia’s usually lacklustre Parliament has come alive, as fingers start pointing at those responsible for these fiascos.

The target of the finger-pointing has been Works Minister Samy Vellu, a colourful veteran politician who leads the Malaysian Indian Congress, a ruling coalition partner. A minister since 1979, Samy Vellu is the longest-serving current cabinet member.

But Members of Parliament showed scant respect as they lashed out at the veteran politician and urged him and the ministry to take responsibility for a series of infrastructure scandals over the last few months.

What raised eyebrows was the fact that the roasting came from government back- benchers, including those from the ruling coalition’s dominant party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

The back-benchers pointed out that shoddy work would lead to a loss of lives and tarnish the government’s reputation.

”Do not defend contractors for your own interest,” said government backbencher Bung Mokhtar. ”If there is a need to sack those responsible, please sack them for the sake of the credibility and the reputation of the government,” he added, as other back-benchers shouted ”corruption” repeatedly.

The fury in Parliament was sparked by an Oct. 11 landslide along the North-South highway, forcing the closure of one side of the highway for three months. The landslide damaged three beams of a bridge along the affected stretch and a motorcyclist had to be pulled out of the rubble, suffering a broken leg.

The disaster occurred only a few hundred metres from a previous landslide in 1996, which killed a lorry-driver. In 1992, Samy Vellu had famously referred to a nationwide power breakdown as an “act of God” – comments that came back to haunt him as other breakdowns followed at periodic intervals.

So far, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who won a landslide victory in a general election in March on an anti-corruption platform, has stood by his minister. ”It is not proper for Barisan (ruling coalition) MPs to demand or force a minister to resign,” he said. ”They must understand that they are in the Dewan (Parliament) and the only right they have is to debate the issues.”

The government backbenchers, led by veteran UMNO member Shahrir Samad, widely regarded as a “Mr Clean” for his refusal to indulge in money politics, remain unrepentant.

”I don’t think they have been destructive by pointing out that the minister has not been doing his job and deserves to be transferred elsewhere,” he told the press.

The uproar in parliament comes on the heels of allegations of money politics and vote- buying in UMNO, which tarnished the recent party elections. Shahrir, who pointedly refused to use money, finished bottom of the heap among seven candidates vying for the three hotly contested posts of vice-president – which were up for grabs.

Samy Vellu meanwhile has briefed Abdullah about the problems faced in six infrastructure projects. Even if he wanted to, Abdullah would find it hard-pressed to remove Samy Vellu from the cabinet. By tradition, the MIC president has been allotted a post in the cabinet as part of a power-sharing understanding among the main ethnic- based political parties in the ruling coalition. And there is no obvious MIC leader who can succeed Samy Vellu in his cabinet position.

So why did the government back-benchers speak out? ”I think it’s a straightforward issue,” says political analyst Maznah Mohamad. ”Even though collapsing infrastructure is now something of a ‘normal’ occurrence, some people are definitely going to make use of it to phase out Samy Vellu,” he told IPS.

The veteran minister is widely seen as part of the old guard, a staunch supporter of former premier Mahathir Mohamad until the latter stepped down last October. The Works Ministry handles huge infrastructure projects, including lucrative multi-million dollar tolled highway projects.

Now that Mahathir has stepped down, Samy Vellu appears more vulnerable to criticism. “It makes it easier with Mahathir not around,” notes Maznah. ”It would have been harder if he had been still prime minister. It’s the right opportunity (for critics)..”

Samy Vellu’s woes, however, mask deeper problems that lie at the heart of government policy. Many question the award of government contracts to those who lack the ability or resources to complete major projects or, if they do, tend to cut corners. Critics say poorly thought out affirmative action policies, cronyism and the absence of open tenders for many contracts contribute to the scandals.

Mahathir himself in a recent interview hinted at deeper underlying causes. Referring to the ”great debacle” over shoddily built school computer labs, he said his administration tried to help as many people as possible because it had been accused of giving contracts to only a select few.

”But every one of them sold their contracts,” he complained. ”Sold and sold and sold until finally the last man could not sell and had to do the work. He then found he would make terrible losses and so he tried to cut corners, used bad materials and the labs collapsed.”

Out of 600 computer labs built in the eastern region, 574 failed to meet building specifications.

Critics say there is more to the shoddy work than meets the eye and that the problem extends to other ministries as well. ”Why did the government award the contracts to build the first phase of 2,135 computer labs to companies which were mainly computer equipment suppliers?” asked Mahfuz Omar, youth wing leader of the opposition Islamic party. ””Why didn’t the government refer first to the Public Works Department to establish whether the contractors had the ability to undertake the projects?”

High-level corruption comes under the jurisdiction of the Anti-Corruption Agency in the prime minister’s department. But critics point out that premier Abdullah must set the tone and act if he wants to stamp out this societal malaise.

Says Lim Guan Eng, secretary general of the opposition Democratic Action Party: ”The government should lead by example to show the private sector how to conduct business with honesty and transparency by taking action against government contractors who fail in their responsibility.”