Lani Diana Wijaya, Jakarta – The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) report found that the Jakarta health agency failed to take a cheaper option in procuring N95 masks. The report said that commitment officers were not careful in managing regional expenses for the procurement of N95 masks after ordering face masks at a higher price to PT ALK.

The previous procurement was done by PT IDS that was able to offer the purchase at a lower price, which according to a BPK report issued on May 28 found that Rp5.85 billion could have been saved from the regional spending.

The report suggests that the Health Agency could have secured 97,500 additional masks with the Rp60,000 price tag offered by PT IDS for each mask, rather than the Rp90,000 offered by PT ALK.

The health agency had initially signed three contracts with PT IDS to procure 89,000 Respokare face masks before the agency turned to ALK.

However, the commitment officer signed a contract with PT ALK to procure 195,000 N95 niosh particulate respirators made by Makrite with a total contract value of Rp17.55 billion (Rp90,000 each) which started on November 9, 2020.

The BPK report states that the face mask brands offered by PT ALK and PT IDS meet FDA and NIOSH standards as N95 disposable masks but commitment officers terminated the partnership with a cheaper provider. BPK has also recommended Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan to order the Jakarta Health Agency Head to notify this issue to the commitment officer involved in the procurement.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1491141/bpk-focuses-on-jakartas-pricey-n95-mask-procuremen