By Justin Cheng and Timothy Achariam | The Edge Malaysia
Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz told the High Court on Wednesday that former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had no knowledge of which contractors would ultimately secure projects under the Jana Wibawa programme.
Testifying as the 11th prosecution witness in Muhyiddin’s graft trial, the former finance minister agreed with defence counsel Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad that when Muhyiddin minuted his administrative notes on specific project letters, the then-prime minister could not have known which companies would ultimately be successful.
During cross-examination by Amer Hamzah, the lawyer raised a specific letter from one such contractor, Multi-Skill Engineering, to illustrate this point, where Muhyiddin had signed a letter to Zafrul as the then-finance minister, proposing the appointment of 54 contractors for 54 projects under Jana Wibawa via direct negotiation.
Jana Wibawa — or known formally as Program Jana Ekonomi Pemerkasaan Kontraktor Bumiputera Berwibawa — is a stimulus initiative designed to pump-prime the economy and help Bumiputera contractors by accelerating government project implementation during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Multi-Skill Engineering was among the contractors proposed for projects under the then government’s Jana Wibawa programme through direct negotiation.
The company’s inclusion forms part of the prosecution’s case that Muhyiddin had abused his position in relation to the selection of contractors, and that Bersatu later received donations from certain companies and individuals linked to the case.
Amer Hamzah: Would you agree with me that when Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin minuted this Multi-Skill Engineering letter, he (Muhyiddin) wouldn’t know which company is going to be awarded the project?
Zafrul: I would agree that he would not know who will be, [or even] whether anyone will be awarded.
Zafrul also testified that there was no administrative impropriety when contractor applications submitted directly to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) were subsequently routed to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
He explained that the PMO did not have the authority to evaluate or assess direct contractor requests, such as for the Pulau Indah project or the Klang Utara district police headquarters, which standard operating procedures dictated forwarding them to the relevant ministry.
Amer Hamzah: So, based on your clarification just now, would I be correct to say that the mere fact that these applications happened to be sent to the Prime Minister’s Office and were then redirected to the MOF means there is nothing improper?
Zafrul: Yes, I agree.
The court also heard that the proposal to involve the PMO in the initial filtering of contractors for Jana Wibawa actually originated from internal groundwork within the MOF before the plan ever reached the Cabinet in November 2020.
Zafrul agreed with the defence that government officers had already carried out extensive groundwork to address pandemic-induced economic urgency before the programme’s official presentation.
Amer Hamzah introduced an internal memorandum from the Government Procurement Division (BPK) showing that civil servants actively sought the PMO’s involvement to pre-screen potential project participants.
Amer Hamzah: In addition, BPK proposes that the Prime Minister’s Office conduct a preliminary screening of the proposed contractors using the checklist to show that only qualified companies are considered… so there was a proposal by BPK before the Cabinet presentation that the Prime Minister’s Office should conduct the preliminary assessment for Jana Wibawa. This is one of the things that BPK proposed to you. Correct, Datuk Seri?
Zafrul: Based on that, yes.
Amer Hamzah: So, it is not a surprise that on 13 November there was a list, because prior to that, the working group had already identified who could potentially participate in the project. Agree?
Zafrul: Yes, I agree.
In this trial, Muhyiddin, whose full name is Mahiaddin Md Yasin, 79, is facing seven charges — four counts of abuse of power involving RM225.3 million in alleged gratification and three counts of money laundering involving RM200 million.
He is accused of receiving bribes from businessman Datuk Azman Yusoff, 51, and three companies — including Nepturis Sdn Bhd and Mamfor Sdn Bhd — allegedly for the benefit of his political party, Bersatu.
The trial before judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin continues.
Edited by Aniza Damis
