KUALA LUMPUR, March 27— Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has raised concerns about the government’s plan to sell its Covid-19 tracker application MySejahtera to a private firm he claimed is owned by known political cronies.

The planned sale was disclosed at a Public Accounts Committee hearing on March 24. An official from the Ministry of Health, which operates the smartphone application, informed the panel that the Cabinet had approved the sale on November 26, 2021, via a direct tender.

In a statement on his Facebook page yesterday, Anwar said the company awarded the tender was MySJ Sdn Bhd whose directors include two founders of KPISoft, MySejahtera’s developers. KPISoft has since changed its name to Entomo.

"The directors of MySJ Sdn Bhd also include individuals with political and business connections to parties in the ruling coalition government,” Anwar, who is MP for Port Dickson, alleged.

"Including Tan Sri Dato Seri Shahril Bin Shamsuddin who was the CEO of Sapura Energy until March 2021 and Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Megat Najmuddin who was an Umno division chief and later a senior member of Bersatu,” the PKR president claimed.

Anwar alleged that the directors have no expertise in operating a software/information technology business, which should raise questions about the planned sale.

The opposition leader also alleged that Health Ministry officers who testified in front of the PAC had suggested that MySJ Sdn Bhd is not related to KPISoft, which built MySejahtera as a corporate social responsibility initiative.

He suggested the information was inaccurate because 81.4 per cent of MySJ Sdn Bhd is owned by another company, Revolusi Asia Sdn Bhd of which 88 per cent is owned by the founders of KPISoft.

"In other words, 71.2 per cent of MySJ Sdn Bhd is owned by two co-founders of KPISoft, which built MySejahtera. To say that there is no link between KPISoft/Entomo and MySJ Sdn Bhd is not accurate,” the opposition leader claimed.

"Under an open tender these facts would be scrutinised by the government and the public,” he added. 

"In the case of a direct negotiation, this deal appears to resemble a pattern of rewarding companies and individuals that have political and business connections to the ruling government.”

The MySejahtera Covid-19 tracker app’s development was subject to intense public scrutiny, first over its cost and later over data privacy concerns. ― Picture by Miera Zulyana

The MySejahtera Covid-19 tracker app’s development was subject to intense public scrutiny, first over its cost and later over data privacy concerns. 

How much the government has paid for the app remains unclear but Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin said RM70 million had been allocated for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme’s (NIP) data integration and appointment system.

Anwar suggested selling the application to a private company could raise "substantial” risk of abuse of private health related data about millions of Malaysians.

He urged the government to explain the decision made to sell MySejahtera to a company in the private sector instead of allowing the application to remain under the control of MOH, and why a public tender was not conducted to make the sale of this a transparent.

The Port Dickson MP said Putrajaya must also clarify why MySJ Sdn Bhd is the only company under consideration for the takeover.