Wheeling & Dealing in MCMC? Part 3 – MoF said “NO” to direct award of contract but …

 

A week has elapsed and the MCMC Chairman, Yg Bhg Dato’ Mohamed Sharil Mohamed Tarmizi, is still exhibiting his elegant silence on the issue of MCMC awarding the Programe Marketing office (PMO) to Orenda Kuantum Digital Sdn Bhd (Orenda Kuantum Digital) by way of direct award.  What is the point of employing so many officers in MCMC and none was able to defend and/or justify the direct appointment of Orenda Kuantum Digital?

 

After the publication of these two postings, HERE and HERE, the propagandist/mercenary for that certain mighty officer in MCMC has also exhibited his elegant silence by his abrupt stop to defend the mighty officer.  Most probably it was due to the fact that he had barked up the wrong tree and he now realised that he was too eager to carry out his “duties” blindly.

 

Rumour has it that a certain mighty officer of MCMC was trying to justify the direct appointment of Orenda Kuantum Digital in the presence of people and officers of MCMC that the said appointment was due to certain instructions from “the power that be”.

 

The chronology of events below might just shed some light on the matter.

 

1. On 18-10-2012 Orenda Kuantum Digital was incorporated and its current status is still “DORMANT”.  Please see the incorporation date in HERE;

 

2. In December 2012/January 2013 that certain mighty officer of MCMC has proposed to the Ministry of Finance (MOF)  to appoint Orenda Kuantum Digital to be the consultant for the Digital TV Project, which is another subject to be discussed at a later date;

 

3. The original proposal for this PMO contact was a whooping RM95 million;

 

4. From February – July 2013 a series of meeting took place between the interested party and MCMC/Ministry of Information and the proposed contract price of the PMO was reduced to RM73, 970, 820.00, representing an immediate saving of rakyat monies in the sum of RM21,029,180.00 (Malaysians ought be grateful for this great saving, thanks to MCMC);

 

5. In August 2013 MCMC sent a letter to MOF requesting for the direct appointment of Orenda Kuantum Digital, contract value of RM73,970,820.00 for the 11 streams of works and, of course, MCMC will use its existing funds for the said appointment (by the way MCMC has plenty of money via USP Fund* which has been contributed by all telcos – 6% from its gross revenue, mind you!);

 

6. In early September 2013, the MCMC’s said request in August 2013 was tabled before ““Mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Perolehan Kementerian Kewangan” (MJPKK) and the MCMC’s request could not be considered at all because appointment of consultant should be done through open tender so as to enable companies registered with MOF to participate in order to provide options to the government to select the best and the tender is subject to the actual required scope of services and approved budget allocation;

 

7. At the end of September 2013, despite the clear cut rejection by MOF the persistent mighty officer of MCMC saw it fit to to send to appeal to the MOF to reconsider its decision due to the following “reasons” i.e.

•  The short time frame of the digital tv project implementation
• Need for specialized skill sets for this project
• Orenda Kuantum Digital will bring in foreign expertise from UK and Italy

 

8. In November 2013 MOF sent a letter to MCMC to reaffirm its position not to consider the direct appointment of consultant for the said project which was its decision in September 2013;

 

9. In February/March 2014 another consultant company with experienced local broadcast engineers proposed to MCMC to be the consultant for the digital tv project at a cost less than RM10,000,00.00 and, of course, this proposal was rejected by MCMC.

 

10.   In July 2014 mighty officer in MCMC with his power of persuasion he was able to get “the power that be” to support the direct appointment of Orenda Kuantum Digital (yours truly is just curious whether the full facts including the two rejections by MOF was laid before “the power that be” for consideration.); and

 

11.   In August 2014 the Letter of Award was issued to Orenda Kunatum Digital.  With such an expeditious act, MCMC should be accorded with the highest KPI by Pemuda.

 

*USP Fund stands for Universal Service Provision Fund.  Please read HERE,  HERE & HERE.

 

It is mandatory for Telcos to contribute 6% of its gross revenue to the USP Fund, which is under the control of MCMC.   For 2013,  total revenue of Celcom  was RM8.025 billion and its 6% USP Fund contribution was about RM481 million. Maxis‘ contribution was RM545 million, TM RM637.8 million and Digi RM402 million.  For 2013, the total contribution of the said 6% toward the  USP Fund by these four telcos alone was RM2.066 billion!  Now we know that MCMC is a CASH COW!

 

It is of paramount importance to have a clear understanding of the objectives of the USP Fund in order to see the deviations and/or abuse.  Please read: The objectives of Universal Provision Fund &   “Contributors To USP Fund Want To Know How The RM5bil Is Spent”.    

 

Actually we, the consumers are contributing to the USP Fund because it must have been factored into our telephone charges.  If there is no USP Fund, our telephone charges may be much lower and we will be getting more service than now.

 

Stay tuned for the “Coming Soon / Akan Datang” Part 4!