The proceedings over the mobile app’s development and procurement are expected to start in mid-April.
“The PAC is of the view that issues relating to the application’s development and procurement need to be explained clearly before this non-partisan committee, especially the appointment of a private company by direct negotiation to manage the MySejahtera application,” PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh said in a statement.
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Introduced as a mandatory app in August 2020, MySejahtera was cast in the spotlight last week when the PAC questioned its takeover by MySJ Sdn Bhd from KPISoft Malaysia Sdn Bhd, the company that had developed it.
Responding to the PAC’s report last week, Khairy yesterday said he would provide detailed explanations for the questions raised by several parties regarding the appointment of MySJ as the licensee of the MySejahtera app at tomorrow’s Dewan Negara session.
Khairy also said he asked Senate president Rais Yatim to allow a motion to be debated tomorrow due to the crucial issue of personal data privacy.
In today’s statement, Wong said that aside from Tengku Zafrul and Khairy, officials from their ministries as well as the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) would be called in as well.
“This issue also involves the safety of the rakyat’s personal data,” said Wong, adding that the PAC also wanted to prevent irresponsible parties from taking advantage of this.
Apart from the issue of personal data privacy and direct negotiation, Wong said the PAC would also use the MySejahtera proceedings to look into the costs involved.
On Sept 21, 2021, through a reply in the Dewan Rakyat, the government stated that the MySejahtera app started as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) project but that the one-year CSR period had expired on March 31 2021. The government then decided to pay for the use of the Mysejahtera app from April 1, 2021.
The issue of the MySejahtera app was also part of the PAC report on the “Procurement of Covid-19 Vaccine and its use on Malaysians” which was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on Dec 1, 2021.
Wong said the PAC concluded in its report that the CSR concept was used as a mechanism to procure government projects without going through the proper procurement procedures.
“The PAC also recommended that the government should not pay for the use of the MySejahtera app as its development was based on CSR,” Wong said.
“The government should take over the operation of the MySejahtera app without incurring any additional costs as it has become part of the national health system.”
However, during a follow up proceeding held on March 8 this year, Wong said that the PAC was informed that the Cabinet had on Nov 26, 2021 agreed to give the health ministry approval to appoint MySJ via a direct negotiation process to “refine the process” of MySejahtera’s procurement.
Stating that the PAC was informed that the health ministry needed to carry out due diligence on the company to be appointed, Wong said the PAC also raised the question of how the app’s ownership had been transferred from KPISoft to MySJ.
“The PAC’s follow-up report was then tabled at the Dewan Rakyat on March 24, and the issue has received widespread attention from the rakyat over the past week,” Wong added.
Among those who have touched on the issue include former prime minister Najib Razak and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Najib has called for a technology audit of the mobile app following concerns about the issue of personal data privacy, while Anwar has pushed for a comprehensive investigation by Parliament as he said the issue of the application’s ownership and its data management is vague despite Khairy’s attempts to clear the air.
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