PUTRAJAYA — The Ministry of Finance (MOF) is still detecting irregularities in tenders for government procurements despite having stopped direct negotiations, said Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Johan Mahmood Merican.
MOF is finding instances of tender specifications tailored to favour specific vendors, with incidents showing that while the tender process initially appeared competitive, the set specifications were skewed toward a particular vendor, Bernama reported him saying at the 2026 Malaysian Statutory Bodies Conference here today.
“Now, almost all procurements are executed via tender. However, as we all know, Malaysians can be quite creative when all tenders are implemented.
“We are seeing many incidents where the tender looks good on paper, but after financial and technical evaluations, only one bidder remains because all the specifications were tailored toward a single vendor,” he said, adding that this has been detected repeatedly across several agencies.
“I wouldn’t mention this if it had only happened once.
“The MOF tracks these matters, and this is happening across various agencies, including the MOF itself. On this issue, the Prime Minister is taking a strict stand as part of the agenda to reform government procurement governance,” Johan said in his opening speech at the conference.
He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar had Ibrahim halted the practice of direct negotiations for government tender procurements, and the Government Procurement Bill 2025 had been passed last year to strengthen accountability and enforcement actions.
Under the law, etired civil servants found involved in irregularities concerning government procurements can be liable for action.
“Previously, government procurement issues were treated merely as administrative matters; if someone had retired, no action could be taken against them. But now, with the Government Procurement Bill, even I am not safe after retirement.
“I could also face punitive action if I commit any irregularities in government procurement. That is among the approaches to enhance procurement regulations and governance,” Johan said.
Also present were Public Service Department (JPA) Deputy Director-General (Development) Datuk Dr. Mohd Bakhari Ismail and Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (KUSKOP) Secretary-General Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud.
Others in attendance included Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Vice-Chancellor and President of the Association of Statutory Bodies of Malaysia (PBBM) Prof. Datuk Dr. Shahrin Sahib @ Sahibuddin, and Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) Director-General Datuk Dr. Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir.
The conference was themed “Statutory Bodies & National Aspirations: Shaping the Future” and organised by PBBM in collaboration with MPOB and the Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA). – June 15, 2026