Contractors Association Asks Government To Adopt Open Tender System

PENANG, May 4 (Bernama) -- The government has been asked to adopt the open tender system in awarding its projects throughout the country.
Penang Master Builders and Building Material Dealers Association president Choong Khuat Seng said the system should cover all classes of contractors, with those near the project sites should be given priority.
"We used to get government projects in the 1980s and 1990s but the government stopped the open tender system and switched to the direct appointment method, making it difficult for contractors to get government contracts," he told reporters here today.
Choong further said the government should not control the prices of building materials if it wanted many contractors to bid for contracts.
If the prices were not controlled, the contractors could compete by offering low prices, he said.

tunku : open tender is a fairy tale, it appears on newspaper but normally the project has been awarded.just see what the contractor above said,"We used to get government projects in the 1980s and 1990s but the government stopped the open tender system and switched to the direct appointment method, making it difficult for contractors to get government contracts,". i thought nowadays the government is more transparent compare to Tun Mahathir's time, so what went wrong here ? it's show how transparent is the government.