Court orders Putrajaya to pay Prestariang RM231.6m for terminating immigration control project during Pakatan’s 2018 administration

KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — The government has been ordered to pay Prestariang SKIN Sdn Bhd (PSKIN) a sum of RM231.55 million for unilaterally terminating the National Immigration Control System (SKIN) project in January 2019.

High Court Judge Datuk Seri Latifah Mohd Tahar delivered the judgment over the RM3.5 billion contract today after the parties ended their submissions last Friday.

“The Judge awarded PSKIN a sum of RM231,549,002.90 (‘Judgment Sum’), post-judgment interest of 5 per cent per annum of the Judgment Sum calculated from the date of judgment to the date of full satisfaction of the Judgment Sum.

“And cost of RM80,000 to be paid by the government of Malaysia, subject to allocatur fees,” said its parent company Awanbiru Technology Bhd (Awantec) — previously known as Prestariang Bhd — in a Bursa Malaysia filing.

PSKIN secured a 15-year concession on August 9, 2017, to design, deliver, continuously maintain and provide scheduled upgrades for a new and much-improved immigration and border control system for the Immigration Department of Malaysia.

This would replace the existing Malaysian Immigration System (MyIMMS) which was built in the 1990s but with added functionalities. Under the concession agreement, PSKIN was to receive approximately RM3.5 billion over the 15-year concession period, subject to the entire capital expenditure being privately funded by PSKIN.

However, in November 2018, then-home minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the Pakatan Harapan administration would terminate SKIN, which was being developed for the country’s border control.

SKIN was approved by the previous Barisan Nasional administration, but was subsequently placed under the Ministry of Finance for review after Pakatan Harapan took power.

Muhyiddin had then said the decision to stop the RM3.5 billion project would allow a more comprehensive, effective and user-friendly system to be developed.

In response in April 2019, PSKIN filed a legal claim totalling RM732 million against the government for the unilateral termination of the SKIN project by way of expropriation.