Work is under way on the national stadium track replacement while the tender and a related protective flooring contract remain under scrutiny.KUALA LUMPUR: The first sections of the national stadium’s running track in Bukit Jalil have been torn up, marking the start of work on a replacement that remains at the centre of questions over how the RM15 million-plus contract was awarded.The tender has drawn months of attention from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Parliament, auditors and the athletics community ahead of the 2027 SEA Games.Malaysia Stadium Corporation chairman Dr Helmy Haja Mydin said the corporation had received no instruction from any authority to stop work.Helmy said delaying the project indefinitely would disrupt preparations for the 2027 SEA Games and that the corporation would continue to follow the legal process unless instructed otherwise.The MACC is investigating the procurement while former chief executive officer Iliyas Jamil has also lodged a police report over the tender.The highest-scoring bidder has asked the national audit department to review the procurement and has also written to Parliament’s public accounts committee (PAC).Neither the department nor the PAC has indicated whether they will act on the complaints.FMT previously reported that the tender board bypassed the consultant’s top-ranked recommendation and awarded the contract to the second-ranked bidder.Documents seen by FMT show the consultant ranked one bidder first with 91.51 points and the second with 78.15.The decision has also sparked debate among athletes, coaches and athletics officials, who have questioned the selected track’s record at the highest levels of international competition, its long-term durability and whether it represents value for public money.The top-ranked bidder has since asked the national audit department to examine whether the procurement complied with the government's “value for money” principle.In its complaint, the company asked auditors to review the project’s budget, the technical justification for the selected track system, whether the tender evaluation was properly followed and whether taxpayers received value for the public funds allocated.The running track is not the only contract linked to the redevelopment that has attracted scrutiny.A separate tender for the protective flooring system — used to protect the track dur…
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