PKR questions AIMST cafeteria contract award to MIC leader
UPDATED @ 03:09:37 PM 24-07-2012
PETALING JAYA, July 24 — PKR questioned today the award of a RM10 million contract to run the cafeteria at MIC-owned AIMST University to a party Youth leader, claiming it had resulted in millions of ringgit worth of revenue losses to the institution.
PKR national strategy and policy bureau secretary S. Gobikrishnan told a press conference here that the cafeteria was until 2006 run internally by the university but this was abruptly ceased on January 5, 2007.
As at 2006, he said, AIMST had registered revenue of RM3.28 million for its cafeteria business.
Citing documents provided by a whistleblower, Gobikrishnan said the cafeteria operations were then outsourced via direct award to Jaya Cafe Holdings Sdn Bhd, which lists MIC Youth treasurer and Penang MIC Youth chief J. Dhinagaran, his brother and two others as directors.
As a result of the award, Jaya Cafe recorded total revenue of RM20.45 million for three years from 2007 to 2009, he said.
“Why let go of a lucrative in-house contract and outsource it to an MIC Youth company?” Gobikrishnan asked.
He pointed out that a 2010 independent audit commissioned by the MIC had also questioned AIMST’s decision to surrender its cafeteria business to an external firm.
According to an extract of the audit report, the firm had stated: “We cannot understand why the said profitable operation of AIMST (cafeteria) was abruptly ceased in January and outsourced to Jaya Café.”
The firm had also recommended that MIED Capital Sdn Bhd consider taking back the cafeteria business from Jaya Cafe.
MIED (Maju Institute of Educational Development), the education arm of the MIC, runs AIMST University through MIED Capital Sdn Bhd.
Gobikrishnan also produced other documents which, he said, showed that Jaya Cafe had committed criminal breach of trust.
He alleged that the firm has been paying rental for a space of 1,224 square feet, although it has been occupying 8,652 square feet.
For its first three years of operations, he said, Jaya Cafe had merely paid rental of RM151,470 although the actual amount to be paid should have been RM1,019,079.
“This means AIMST has lost rental income of RM867,609,” he said.
Gobikrishnan showed an invoice from Jaya Cafe which, he said, proved that the firm had “overclaimed” a total of RM498,185 for the students’ food cost in 2007 and 2008.
“Jaya Cafe claimed for 1,200 students when the university only had 1,018 students. But this was accepted by MIED Capital,” he said.
Gobikrishnan urged the MIC to reply to his allegations or face more exposes over the coming weeks.