[UPDATED] PAC to present report on MySejahtera deal to Dewan on Tuesday

KUALA LUMPUR – The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will present its full report on the procurement of health app MySejahtera in Parliament on Tuesday.

PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh told Utusan Malaysia that all proceedings and the report have been completed after a series of meetings in the last two weeks.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz were called by the PAC as witnesses on April 14 and 21, respectively. 

Wong said others called up were National Security Council (NSC) director-general, NSC senior officers and the Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu) director.

“I cannot reveal the summary of the report drawn up by the PAC. Questions brought up in the report have to be answered in Parliament when the report is tabled next Tuesday,” he said in a press conference in Ipoh.

He added that the first aspect of the probe was on the appointment of KPI Soft Sdn Bhd as MySejahtera’s app developer and the second issue is the corporate social responsibility timeframe as announced by the prime minister previously.

Wong said the third issue is related to data ownership, intellectual property rights and app procurement.

As for the littoral combat ship (LCS) procurement, Wong said the PAC will summon Defence secretary-general Datuk Seri Muez Abd Aziz next Wednesday.

“The senior government officer has to provide feedback from his ministry on the LCS report that was tabled on August 4.”

He added that the PAC proceeding on the offshore patrol vessel procurement by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency will take place but no date has been set.

In March, PAC released a report where senior civil servants summoned before the committee said the government was studying whether it should sign a contract of service with the company that developed MySejahtera.

The idea was for the developer to manage the software, or outright buy the company to secure full rights over the application.

The report revealed that the cabinet had decided to transfer ownership of MySejahtera from the developer to a special purpose vehicle called MySJ Sdn Bhd, which was appointed through direct negotiation.

This subsequently drew public outcry with concerns being raised over the app’s alleged ownership of personal user data by a private company.

However, Khairy later clarified that the application and all the data it stores are owned by the government. 

As for the LCS issue, the PAC recommended last month that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) take prosecutive action against those behind the multi-billion-ringgit LCS scandal.

PAC also recommended the Defence Ministry review all options and determine the best course of action for the LCS project, as well as ensure that public money is spent appropriately and responsibly.

The ministry has to submit its progress report for the LCS project every three months to the PAC until the project is completed. – The Vibes, September 30, 2022