Speaking at a forum on graft-free procurement at Institut Integriti Malaysia here today, he said a robust tender evaluation should be held before any decision is made on hiring.

“In the process of recruiting contractors for public procurement projects, there are many loopholes where corruption can occur.

“The one step that has the least risk of corruption is during evaluation,” he said.

He proposed a system with proper criteria for the award of projects such as the mandatory submission of financial statements detailing past projects and records.

He said banks would complicate such investigations as these institutions would keep clients’ information confidential.

This, he said, underscored the need for an independent body to verify the data supplied by contractors.

“There has to be an authority sanctioned by law that allows us to check their backgrounds before awarding them the projects, even though they say we can’t.

“We have to reduce the opportunities for corruption, to prevent certain individuals who may be weak-willed from becoming corrupt.”

While it is easy to award projects to contractors who tender the lowest price, he said, a low price does not guarantee a profitable outcome.

“When they tender a low price, they just want to be awarded the project. In the end, it can turn out to be inferior,” he added.

Former auditor-general Ambrin Buang said earlier this year that public procurement is among the activities most exposed to corruption in the country.