MCMC officials under probe in connection with USP fund. Questions were raised about price.
KUALA LUMPUR: Several senior officials at the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) are under investigation by the country’s antigraft body in connection with the controversial Universal Service Provision (USP) fund.
Sources close to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) probe said most of the MCMC officers had been questioned about the utilisation of the RM4.53 billion fund.
“MACC is looking into the list of people who recently received the netbooks under the USP programme...
(studying) the processes, mechanisms and criteria surrounding the netbook initiative,” a source told the New Straits Times yesterday.
A number of documents relating to the purchase of netbooks were also seized in raids a week ago.
USP division acting senior director Zulkarnain Mohd Yassin had, on Nov 8, said that the fund was used to purchase RM1 billion worth of netbooks.
The USP fund was established in 2002 to build the communications infrastructure in under-served areas.
USP-funded projects are related to communications and multimedia such as basic telephony, cellular coverage, Community Broadband Centres (CBC), Community Broadband Libraries (CBL) and People's Internet Centres (PIR).
However, several quarters have questioned MCMC's use of the fund, saying the purchase and distribution of the netbooks were never part of the USP programme.
The USP Regulations 2002 were basically to provide basic telephony infrastructure and services to designated areas.
In response, MCMC had said that the fund's role had expanded over time and was subsequently amended to include cellular and broadband infrastructure, services, access and content to designated areas and groups.
It stated that from providing basic telephony under phase one (2002 to 2008), the programme had progressed to cellular, broadband and netbook provision under Phase 2 (2009 to 2011).
It is understood that the MACC probe was initiated after Wangsa Maju member of parliament Wee Choo Keong and several prominent bloggers raised issues over the utilisation of money from the USP Fund.
Certain quarters had also raised questions over the price of the netbook.
The MCMC had quoted RM835 for each netbook but claims have been made that it could be bought for half that price.
An additional RM80 was for the installation of Microsoft software, with another RM2 for the anti-virus programme.
As at Sept 30, the cumulative contribution from eligible licencees to the USP fund stood at RM4.15 billion.
Of the total, RM1.87 billion was spent on telecommunication towers to expand cellular coverage, RM1 billion for 1Malaysia netbooks, RM629.23 million for basic telephony, RM573.7 million for CBC and CBL, and RM10 million for Mini CBC and PIR
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