Kuching MP: Lives could’ve been saved from Covid-19 if RM13m not wasted in Pharmaniaga’s ventilator scandal

Syed Jaymal Zahiid
·2-min read
Malay Mail
Malay Mail

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 — Bandar Kuching MP and DAP Socialist Youth chief Kelvin Yii today called for “serious action” against Pharmaniaga Logistics Sdn Bhd after an audit indicated that the company had supplied defective ventilators at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The defective machines not only resulted in a loss of RM13.07 million of public funds but could have contributed directly to possible loss of lives, Yi suggested.

“Such life-saving equipment was so vital during the Covid-19 pandemic, and such negligence not only caused wastage of public funds, but more importantly may have compromised the quality care of patients which may have even caused loss of precious lives,” the DAP leader said in a statement.

“This caused not only an estimated loss of RM13.07 million of precious funds, but more importantly, contributed directly to possible loss of lives that could have easily been avoided if the healthcare workers had the required medical equipment during that period of time,” he added.

The matter was first raised in the recently-released Auditor-General report that said 108 out of 136, or nearly two-thirds of ventilators supplied by a company to Ministry of Health (MoH) facilities between 2020 and April 2022 could not be used.

Pharmaniaga Logistics was chosen to buy 500 ventilators during the crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic but the company only managed to supply 136 ventilators, of which only 28 were usable and the remaining 108 ventilators were found to be unsafe for use, according to the audit report.

The audit also found that the federal government could not recoup the losses “because there were no documents on the appointment of the procurement of ventilators between the company and MOH, Yii noted.

No agreement was signed with Pharmaniaga Logistics because the procurement of ventilators was done under “emergency procurement protocols”, it added.

“It begs the question that even though it is an ‘emergency procurement’, why weren’t proper documents prepared and signed especially when it involves millions of ringgit of public funds?” Yii asked.

“Wouldn’t that have given better legal protection for the Ministry of Health and the different parties that are involved against liability or incidents such as this?” the DAP leader added.

The procurement was done during the Muhyiddin administration, whose leaders now face allegations of misappropriating public funds meant for the government’s pandemic management.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, whose tenure as prime minister lasted just 17 months, denied any wrongdoing and said all Covid-related spending was done “according to procedure”.

“The ones responsible must be held accountable as such actions would have also directly jeopardised the quality of care of patients especially during the pandemic,” Yii said.

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