By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Nov 20: The Sarawak government has reiterated the importance of adhering to established guidelines in the Perolehan Perkhidmatan Perunding Kerajaan Negeri manual (Yellow Book) concerning consultant agreements, particularly regarding additional work and payment delays.
Deputy Premier and Second Minister for Finance and New Economy Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas explained that the manual specifies that any extra requirements or changes to the project must align with the original scope outlined in the consultant agreement.
“Any variations beyond the original scope must receive approval from the respective implementing agency under a supplementary agreement. Failure to follow this procedure could hinder the approval process and subsequently affect payment issuance,” he said during his ministerial winding-up speech in the august House today.
This was in response to the issues raised by Tamin member Christopher Gira regarding the inconsistent application of scale of fees offered to the consultant, delay in payments from the government agencies, and additional scope of works or extra requirements beyond the scope of projects.
Uggah stated that the government is committed to ensuring proper payment procedures and compliance with the guidelines.
The Yellow Book, in force since March 2021, aims to streamline the determination of consulting fees, providing a clear framework for both consultants and government agencies to follow.
“This manual is outlined in accordance with the rules and procedures in Pekeliling Kontrak (PK3) issued by the Ministry of Finance Malaysia and has been practiced at the federal level all the while,” he said.
Futhermore, as stipulated under Section 27 of Registration of Engineers Act 1967, which states “Nothing in this Act contained shall apply to anything done or omitted to be done by or under the authority of the Federal government or the government of any states,”, the consultants are allowed to offer their consulting fees to the best value of money for consideration by the government.
Uggah emphasised that, as long as all parties comply with the manual’s guidelines, there should be no issues with the timely processing of payments to consultants.
In light of the concerns about delayed payments and the inconsistent application of fees, he urged consultants to engage directly with the relevant departments to resolve any issues promptly as there could be valid reasons that lead to such situation. — DayakDaily
