KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry (MOE) is finalising a proposed solution concerning the leasing and electricity charges for the 1BestariNet Receiver Integrated System (1BRIS) communication tower.
Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said the proposed solution will then be submitted to the cabinet through a cabinet memorandum to determine the next step for resolving the issue.
"On March 17, 2023, the cabinet note on the proposed resolution for the leasing and electricity charges for the 1BRIS communication tower for the 1BestariNet phase 2 and post-1BestariNet service project was presented at the cabinet meeting.
"No civil legal action has been filed in court by the government to date," he said in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah (Langkawi - PH), providing the latest status of the 1BestariNet project and the legal action that has been taken against the company that was awarded the tender.
Suhaimi said he asked the question because he was disappointed that no action had been taken against the project's developer, YTL Communications Sdn Bhd.
He further questioned how, even after two years, YTL was still awarded two more projects; the multilane free-flow project and a digital banking licence, amounting to RM6 billion, despite facing problems in implementing the 1BestariNet project through its subsidiary, YTL Communications Sdn Bhd.
In response to Suhaimi's question, Wong said the awarding of these projects should be reviewed with other relevant ministries, including the Finance Ministry.
"Regarding the projects that may have been awarded as mentioned by Langkawi, I suggest that Langkawi check with the other ministries involved, including the Finance Ministry, regarding these issues.
"This includes why the projects are still being awarded," he said.
Wong said even after the 1BestariNet Phase 2 agreement ended on June 30, 2019, many issues remained unresolved, such as the site rental rates and electricity charges for the 1BestariNet Receiver Integrated System (1BRIS) towers.
"This is a legacy issue that the current government must resolve. The contract ended in 2019, and when this government took over in 2023, we ensured that these issues would be addressed.
"The government's commitment, under a Madani government, is to ensure that these past issues are resolved, and as for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), we will leave this with them for investigation," he said.