With YTL Power the parent company of YTL Communication which was granted the 1BestariNet contract cleared by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission of any wrongdoing on the implementation of the project, does this mean everything is okay?
Notably, the 1BestariNet project which was suppose to ensure 10,000 schools nationwide was equipped with high speed broadband in efforts to advance education in these institutions. The billion ringgit project was handed over to YTL through a tender process by the Ministry of Education. However, while the process of award was found to be legitimate what was raised by the current Ministry is of the quality of service, which does need to be relooked and improved drastically.
In a statement, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said it received instructions from the Deputy Public Prosecutor that no charges will be laid against any party in relation to the implementation of the 1BestariNet project contract under the Malaysian Ministry of Education.
This decision it said was made based on the findings of the MACC investigation which started last September and found that there was no criminal element in the execution of the tender.
As a follow-up, an investigation was conducted by the Administrative Investigation Division, focusing on aspects of governance as well as issues related to financial claims in the contract between YTL Communications Sdn Bhd and the ministry.
The findings alluded for the MACC to recommend the ministry of education to return to the negotiating table with YTL Communications Sdn Bhd to identify and resolve any issues arising from the service tender contract that has been agreed.
The 1BestariNet project was rolled out in 2011 and originally planned for 15 years with RM4 billion allocation but was later cut short to 7 years. The aim was to advance classrooms with virtual learning with YTL introducing its Frog VLE which the Ministry later changed to Google Classroom.
Despite billions of taxpayers money spent to elevate Malaysia's education levels, the high speed broadband project was poorly executed evident during the pandemic where classes could not handle any virtual lessons due to connectivity issues. More alarming was the recent report by the Department of Statistics indicating that Malaysia's education levels has actually deteriorated over the years.
