KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 11 — The Beijing Urban Construction Group had an advantage over rival companies when it tendered its proposals for the four mega projects in Penang, by virtue of its involvement in drafting the project’s details at its formative stage, the Sessions Court was told today.
He agreed that considering BUCG was expected to be involved at the initial stages following a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the company and the Penang state government in March 2011, it should not have submitted bids for the project “It is not an offence if BUCG were involved in the initial discussions, but on the condition that they also do not take part in the tendering process, as it is about fairness and for all the bidders to start on an equal footing.
However, when cross-examined by defence counsel Gobind Singh Deo, Farizan agreed that he was not actually privy to the draft and final versions of the RFPs that was released in 2012, or what changes BUCG was asked to make, effectively being unable to make a proper comparison. “I agree I didn’t see the documents referred to in the July 11, 2011, meeting which said the draft by BUCG needs some amendments.