SHAH ALAM: Early this month, Malaysian Defence reported that Markas Wilayah Laut 2 (Mawilla 2) based in Sandakan, Sabah has issued three separate quotation notices for the purchase of six acoustic hailing devices for six CB90s fast combat boats.

The three seven-day notices for two acoustic hailing devices each, published on April 1, were issued for six CB90s – pennant numbers CB212 and 213; 214 and 215; 216 and 217.

Three days after the closing date of the quotation notices, Eperolehan website published the price schedule of the bidders. Eight bidders took part in each of the three notices and based on the prices, it is likely the same ones took part in all of them.

What is strange is that one bidder put in the same quotation for all three notices – RM355 million – which mean that if it was chosen, we will be paying around RM1 billion for six acoustic devices!
It is likely the bidder has made a mistake in the bidding documents which resulted in the astronomical prices for the hailing acoustic devices.

The other quotations ranged from RM188,000 to RM433,000 for CB214 and CB215; RM189,000 to RM433,000 (CB212 and CB213) and RM190,000 to RM433,000 (CB216 and CB217). (The numbers posted here was edited for brevity)

While the lowest bid may not be chosen for the quotation notice, it is likely that the highest one will not be chosen as it might be over the budget for the project.

— Malaysian Defence