Chung, the lawmaker for the textiles sector, said the government was criticized in February because it was unable to secure supplies of masks, and was accused of being too slow, and the tendering procedure too cumbersome. "So this time the government learned their lesson and didn't do the tendering procedure because they said this is public health [a matter of] urgency and we have to do it fast this time. He said it should have released the details earlier this week, noting that the government only released the details of the manufacturer after the media had already released the information. "This is a PR disaster," Chung said, stressing that he did not believe there had been any "transfer of interest" because he knew the parties involved. Chung said the mask had been developed by the government so the manufacturers didn't have access to the data or certification detail for the mask.

Source: The Standard May 08, 2020 02:03 UTC