Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii said the negligence of those involved in the procurement not only wasted public funds but compromised on the quality of healthcare.

Yesterday, the Auditor-General’s Report 2021 Series 2 revealed that only 28 of the 136 ventilators procured by Pharmaniaga Logistics for the health ministry from 2020 to 2022 could be used.

The government could not claim the RM13 million spent on the defective equipment as no agreement was signed with Pharmaniaga, because the procurement was done under “emergency procurement protocols”.

In a statement today, Yii said the procurement failed to meet its objectives at a time when many hospitals were struggling to keep Covid-19 patients alive.

“Action must be taken and the parties responsible (for the procurement) must be held accountable,” he said.

He questioned why proper documentation was not prepared, especially when millions in public funds were involved.

“Wouldn’t that have given better legal protection for the health ministry and the different parties that are involved against liability or incidents such as this?” said Yii, who previously headed the parliamentary select committee (PSC) on health.