The bumiputera companies which have a monopoly over the supply of lighting for government agencies have denied using political connections to secure the lucrative deal.

"We did not use politics. I'm not an Umno guy," Amat Sinar Sdn Bhd managing director Yuhyi Azizan told Malaysiakini.

"To qualify to be on the panel of suppliers, a company must consist of 100 percent bumiputera shareholders and meet various industry and government criteria," he said, adding that the selection process was fair.

In 2005, the Treasury, via a circular, directed all government agencies to purchase street lights, decorative lighting and external building lighting from three bumiputera companies.

A year later, the Treasury included another company on the list. Apart from Amat Sinar, the rest are Permintex Electronic Sdn Bhd, Muarlite Industries Sdn Bhd and Maxlane Sdn Bhd.

Other industry players, both bumiputera and non-bumiputera, are crying foul over the monopoly. They claimed that it would stunt the growth of the local lighting industry.

"If other companies had applied but failed to get the contract, they should find out where the faults were in their companies, products and specifications. They should ask the Finance Ministry where they had failed," said Yuhyi.

He also said Amat Sinar has been operating for more than 15 years, has vast experience and its own research and development team.

Moreover, he added, all the employees are locals compared to other companies which prefer to employ cheaper foreign workers.

However, Yuhyi said he did not know exactly how the Treasury selected the companies which were awarded the deal.

'Under RM200,000'

Umno state assemblyperson for Maharani, Johor, Mohd Ismail Mohd Shah (right), who owns Muarlite Sdn Bhd, said the appointment of the four companies did not close the door on other players.

"The four are only allowed to supply lighting for small-scale projects under RM200,000. If the cost of the project is greater than that, the opportunity to supply lighting is open to all companies," he said.

However, Malaysiakini could not confirm this as the circulars from the Treasury did not mention anything about the value of the projects.

Another panel supplier, Maxlane Sdn Bhd also stressed that it was selected through a fair process.

Its business development manager Azhar Raffiei Azizi said the company had to submit a proposal to the government, following which, officials visited the factory to carry out an evaluation.

Only after this was Maxlane appointed to the panel, he said, adding that the government has not dismissed the possibility of expanding the number of suppliers in future.

Other manufacturers have also argued that Amat Sinar, Muarlite and Permintex were already appointed as vendors for Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) and extending their privilege was unfair to other bumiputera companies.

Responding to this, Yuhyi said at the time of their appointment as TNB vendors, the three were the only bumiputera companies in the industry.

"Although TNB does not add suppliers to the list anymore, there is no guarantee that the contract will last forever," he added.

On the allegation that they were 'licensed' importers to sell imported products for government projects, the companies claimed that this was because some of the products were not available easily in Malaysia or it would not be cost-effective for them to use local products.

Mohd Ismail said this was not against the government's policy because the companies do not totally use imported products.

Azhar, on the other hand, said 70 percent of the electronic components used are local products.

Malaysiakini was unable to get any comments from Permintex Electronic. The company did not respond to the queries that were sent twice to them.


Part 1: Lighting monopoly casts a dark shadow
Part 2: Monopoly dims future of lighting industry