Details of contracts awarded to the private companies operating the national service short message service (SMS) and website should be made public, said DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang.

Commenting on press reports today about long delays in accessing both services, as well as the National Service Training Department's hotline, he said Defence Minister Najib Tun Razak should also reveal who is responsible for these operations.

The services were set up to deal with enquiries by some 480,000 potential candidates, of whom 85,000 have been selected for compulsory national service training. The scheme will be implemented for three intakes between February and June.

In a statement, Lim described the access mechanism as "disasters" in terms of service "but not in terms of profitability for the companies concerned".

Especially ironical, he added, was the "cut-throat" SMS rate of RM2 per text message, since the response to such dial-ups is supposed to be quicker than the fixed-line telephone service.

User problems

The media reported that those trying to ascertain their selection status from yesterday had experienced difficulty or were unable to access the mechanisms.

While a spokesman for Xybase MSC Sdn Bhd told malaysiakini that the website had been hacked and that the content required revision, department director-general Kamarulzaman Md Nor said the hotline was jammed due to heavy caller-traffic.

The Star today quoted a department spokesman as saying that user problems were due to the wrong format being used - or other errors - in sending text messages.

The newspaper further quoted Defence Ministry deputy secretary-general Siti Azizah Abod as saying that the company operating the SMS service was levying the RM2 fee to cover operating costs.

National service training was mooted by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohammad last October. The first intake will undergo training from Feb 16 to May 2, while the second and third batches will be trained simultaneously from March 22 to June 13.

Participants will have to undergo modules on physical training, nation building, character building and community service. The programme will cost the government RM500 million annually.