Despite open tenders being touted as the antidote to graft, Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said open tenders can sometimes cause the government to lose money.

This can happen when the lowest bidder wins the contract, but then fails to meet project deadlines, he said.

“Sometimes open tenders can give problems, especially when the winning bidder offers a low price, but in the end, the project we hoped would be completed in a certain timeframe, is not.

“In the end, when we re-tender (the project), it costs the government more than the original budget,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur this morning.