KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 4): The appointment of KPISoft (Entomo) as the MySejahtera application developer in March 2020 was found to be irregular and not based on government procurement procedures, said the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
There are no minutes or supporting documents that exist regarding the appointment, with the only document being the non-disclosure agreement signed between the National Security Council on behalf of the Government and KPISoft.
The parliamentary committee also noted that the Ministry of Finance (MOF) had set a ceiling price of RM196 million for the acquisition of MySejahtera for a period of two years (RM98 million per year).
“This amount was high and contradicted the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR),” said PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh in a statement on Tuesday (Oct 4).
These are among the eight conclusions as a result of two proceedings dated April 14 and 21 made by the PAC.
Earlier, the PAC released a report on MySejahtera application development and procurement under the Ministry of Health, the MOF and the Prime Minister’s Department on the same day.
Wong said that the CSR concept proposed by KPISoft (Entomo) had caused the Government to be unclear about the true direction of the acquisition of the MySejahtera application.
He added that the Government was confused in terms of the appointment of KPISoft, the concept of CSR and its duration, and the ownership of the MySejahtera application.
“The concept of CSR is seen to have been used as a mechanism to secure government projects without going through proper procurement procedures. There is no document that states this CSR [project] is for one year.
“The Government seemed to have no choice (stuck) and had to make a decision to appoint MySJ Sdn Bhd by direct negotiation. The continued development and use of the MySejahtera application should remain CSR in nature,” he said.
Wong revealed further that the MySejahtera application developer once suggested that the application be commercialised. This shows its potential as a very valuable national application.
He said the Government’s decision to reject the proposal is justified in order to protect personal data of users of the application.
Govt yet to register IP for MySejahtera, app in principle still owned by developer
As of April this year, the committee had divulged that the Government had yet to register the intellectual property (IP) for the MySejahtera application on MyIPO, which may cause the application to be claimed for ownership by the developer.
Wong said the Government, however, had given a guarantee that data in the MySejahtera application is safe and will not be misused.
“[Additionally], the Government insists that it is the owner of the MySejahtera application, but the developer, KPISoft (Entomo), has been found to have made a certificate that it is the owner of the IP.
“The decision of the Cabinet of ministers, which refers to the Government taking over the ownership of the MySejahtera application from the developer, shows that the application is in principle still owned by the developer.
“[However], the acquisition of the development and operation of the MySejahtera application can be carried out by the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU), which has the expertise and capabilities as a Government ICT (information and communications technology) technical department,” he said.-The Edge Markets