KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) today confirmed that the purchase of 104 ventilators, during Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba’s (pix) tenure as the Health Minister, was made without a written agreement as reported in the previous PAC report.
The matter was confirmed by PAC chairman, Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, in a press conference regarding the report on Covid-19 outbreak management, on the expiry of vaccines, unusable ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE) in Parliament Building.
“As everyone already knows, all this (was done) under (then Health Minister Dr) Adham Baba.
“YB KJ (former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin) already gave his statement, saying that it was not during his time (as the health minister),” she said.
On Monday, the PAC disclosed that no action could be taken over the defective ventilators supplied to the government, following the absence of a written agreement between the Health Ministry and Pharmaniaga Logistics Sdn Bhd (PLSB).
PAC also revealed that there are still a total of 8.5 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, worth RM505 million, which had expired as of June 1, 2023.
Following that, Mas Ermieyati said that the Ministry of Health (MOH) was given two months to respond to the five recommendations, given by PAC, on addressing the shortcomings found in the management of the Covid-19 outbreak.
She said that this was because after the PAC held a feedback procedure, the committee would present a follow-up action report on the matter, which also contained the MOH’s feedback.
“In every issue investigated by the PAC, two reports will be prepared, and these two reports will go through five meetings before they can be presented in Parliament.
“This shows how committed the PAC is to ensuring that the people know what the government is doing with regard to all the recommendations raised by the PAC,” she said. -Bernama
