PUTRAJAYA — Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has stressed that his new government would no longer give approvals and procurements of projects without proper tender.

He said the unity government, led by him, would not allow leakages or corruptions to continue in the country.

"The approval and procurement without tender should no longer be allowed, to ensure corruption will not take place.

"This cannot and should not happen anymore at all levels," he said, in his speech at the monthly gathering with 340 staff of the Prime Minister's Department on Tuesday (Nov 29) morning.

At the same time, Mr Anwar reiterated his stance that he would not allow family members to be given government projects.

"This country needs a change. The damages done are not because of the civil servants, but rather the leaders' own weaknesses.

"Once, we were at the top and have achieved tremendous success, but it has digressed in terms of our economic stability, because of violations of laws and fraud cases involving leaders and civil servants.

"Hence, I hope we can bring this spirit together to change the country for the better," he said.

His comments come in the background of a warship procurement scandal that has called into question the financial management of the Malaysian government.

The Malaysian parliament's Public Accounts Committee  presented a report during August regarding the failure of littoral combatant ships purchased to be delivered on time.

The Malaysian government paid RM6.08 billion (S$1.8 billion) to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd for the purchase of six combat ships in 2011 following a request made by the country’s navy. Five of these ships were due to be delivered by August 2022 but none of the ships were completed by then. 

The PAC eventually found that the contract was awarded to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) without an open tender being called. NEW STRAITS TIMES