RM70 m Brickendonbury Sports complex – bury idea and probe why RM2 million wasted

Now that the British East Herts Council had rejected the Malaysian government’s application to establish a RM70 million Sports High-Performance Training Centre (HPTC) at the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC) in Brickendonbury outside London, the siren proposal to appeal against the decision must be decisively resisted and struck down.

The Cabinet next Wednesday should just bury the idea of the RM70 million Brickendonbury Sports HPTC and establish an inquiry to ascertain who were responsible for the folly of wasting RM2 million in pursuing the project and who had really benefited.

The Council had publicly said that the Malaysian government had been consistently advised of the constraints in developing the Brickendonbury site due to the Green Belt policy, the site’s remoteness, the listed mansion and the historic park land. The Council had been doubtful about how outdoor sports facilities would assimilate satisfactorily and be accommodated within the historic garden landscape.

Why then was the Sports Minister, Datuk Azalina Othman and the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Sports, so stubborn in ignoring these objections to the extent of throwing RM2 million of public funds down the drain, when good governance and good sense would have advised against it? Continue reading “RM70 m Brickendonbury Sports complex – bury idea and probe why RM2 million wasted”

Brickendonbury Sports Complex – British local authority says “No”

Breaking News

Malaysia’s Application To Set Up HPTC In Brickendonbury Rejected

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 (Bernama) — The East Herts Council Development Control Committee has rejected the Malaysian government’s application to set up a High Performance Training Centre (HPTC) at the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC) in Brickendonbury, Britain.

The National Sports Institute director-general, Datuk Dr Ramlan Abdul Aziz, said the decision was made at the council meeting in Bishops Startford, Herts, on Wednesday night (Thursday morning in Malaysia).

“With the decision, we now have to prepare a report to be submitted to the Cabinet Committee on Sports headed by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for their guidance on the next course of action,” he said in a statement. Continue reading “Brickendonbury Sports Complex – British local authority says “No””

Malaysia “implosion” very different from Las Vegas “implosion”

On Tuesday, Malaysians saw on CNN the spectacle of the implosion of the 16-storey 1,000-room New Frontier casino-hotel, collapsing the second resort that opened on the Las Vegas Strip half-a-century ago with 1,000 pounds of explosives.

It was a spectacular engineering feat to behold, the precisely-planned and delicately-balanced demolition operation — to give way to a US$2 billion, 3,000-room megaresort Las Vegas Plaza, featuring a 500-ft tall Ferris Wheel similar in size to the famous London Eye, set to open in 2011.

Malaysia has also our own implosion on the same day, but it was a most shameful and ignominous one – the collapse of the RM4.5 million Perak State Park Corporation’s two-storey administration building on a hillslope on the edge of Tasik Banding in Gerik.

Star said the structure “collapsed like a house of cards” while New Straits Times said the complex “collapsed into a heap of rubble”.

Malaysia’s very own implosion was no spectacular engineering feat but spectacular building failure and government negligence. Continue reading “Malaysia “implosion” very different from Las Vegas “implosion””

RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal — why is the government on-the-run?

This is the question I posed in Parliament today — “Why is the government-on-the-run on the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal?”

During the 2008 Budget committee stage debate on the Finance Ministry, I started my speech protesting against government ministers kicking the issue of the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal from one Ministry to another, evading accountability by refusing to give a direct answer to many pertinent questions which I had posed — with the ball being kicked among the Prime Minister’s Department, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport with no one wanting to give a proper answer.

I simplified the questions on the PKFZ scandal which cry out for answer, viz:

1. Was it true that when the Port Klang Authority and the Transport Ministry insisted on buying the 1,000 acres of Pulau Indah land for PKFZ at RM25 psf on a “willing buyer, willing seller” basis, in the face of strong objection by the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Treasury which had recommended that the land be acquired at RM10 psf, the Cabinet had given its approval subject to two conditions: (i) categorical assurance by the Transport Minister that the PKFZ proposal was feasible and self-financing and would not require any public funding; and (ii) that every RM100 million variation in the development costs of PKFZ would require prior Cabinet approval.

2. In the event, the first condition was breached when the PKFZ project ballooned from RM1.1 billion to RM4.6 billion requiring government intervention and bailout while the second condition was breached with the original PKFZ development costs of RM400 million ballooning to RM2.8 billion without any prior Cabinet approval ever sought for every RM100 million increase in development costs.

3. The Transport Minister had unlawfully issued four Letters of Support to Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd (KDSB), the PKFZ turnkey contractor — to raise RM4 billion bonds, which were regarded as government guarantees by the market. The Transport Minister had no such powers to issue financial guarantees committing the government, as it could only be issued by the Finance Minister and only after Cabinet approval. The first Letter of Support was issued by the former Transport Minister, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik on May 28, 2003, which was Liong Sik’s last day as Transport Minister while the other three were issued by Kong Choy. Continue reading “RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal — why is the government on-the-run?”

ECM-Libra/Avenue merger and approval of Air Asia Singapore route

Letter
by Richard Teo

I wish to refer to the Malaysiakini article ‘Air Asia: Its like going to the Moon.’

Yes, Tony Fernandez and Air Asia has every right to be in a jubilant mood after having obtained the rights to fly the Kuala lumpur to Singapore route. After all its a gold mine route previously the monopoly of our MAS airline.

But why the sudden change of mind to give this lucrative route to Air Asia when the logical decision would be to allow the status quo to remain and let MAS reap the profits while it is on its path to recovery?

The answer can be found by referring to the ECM-Libra and the Avenue merger. Prior to the merger, Kallimullah and Khairy Jamalluddin (son-in Law of P.M) bought a block of shares in ECM-Libra and lo and behold one month later ECM-LIibra sealed the deal with the cash-rich Avenue merger. Of course someone at the Ministry of Finance had to approve the deal and guess
who? Continue reading “ECM-Libra/Avenue merger and approval of Air Asia Singapore route”

E-government to e-scam – Kong Choy should publicly justify e-Kesihatan

Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy should fully explain the second scandal since he became Transport Minister — the e-Kesihatan scandal which is also the latest example of e-government in Malaysia degenerating into e-scams.

The first scandal during Chan’s stewardship as Transport Minister is the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bailout scandal, for which a full and proper accounting has still to be furnished by him.

Although the Cabinet on Wednesday decided to postpone the eKesihatan health screening of commercial drivers to enable the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) to co-ordinate the implementation of the programme, what are exactly the implications of the Cabinet decision.

Does it mean that the RM450 million 15-year eKesihatan middleman concession to centralize the health screening of commercial drivers, scheduled to begin on Oct. 1, had been merely postponed with the monopoly position of Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd. basically unaffected or could the whole concession monopoly be scrapped?

And in the latter, would Supremme Systems be compensated a substantial amount resulting in a “heads I will, tail you lose” situation for the company at the expense of the taxpayers, as had happened in the past like the Johore Baru crooked half-bridge cancellation, where the contractor Gerbang Perdana Sdn. Bhd had been paid compensation of RM257.4 million, although the government had earlier computed a RM100 million compensation!

Chan should make public the full details of the eKesihatan contract which had been signed between the Road Transport Department and Suprmme Systems Sdn. Bhd, whether the Transport Ministry had fully committed the government to compensate Supremme Systems for delays in implementing the eKesihatan scheme, like the postponement decided by the Cabinet on Wednesday.

After the shocking disclosures of pervasive mismanagement of public funds in the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report and the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal caused by the Transport Minister unlawfully committing the government to stand guarantee for RM4 billion bonds issued by a private company developing the PKFZ, Malaysians are entitled to demand higher standards of accountability to avoid repetition of the same mistakes in the Transport Ministry and the continued mismanagement of public funds. Continue reading “E-government to e-scam – Kong Choy should publicly justify e-Kesihatan”

Lingam Tape – why PM’s one-sided threat if not authentic but nothing about action to be taken if true?

The initial one-sided response of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to the Lingam Tape, which has plunged the country into a new crisis of confidence in the independence, impartiality, integrity, accountability and professionalism of the Malaysian judiciary — both national and international — is a great disappointment compromising the neutrality and impartiality of his high office.

Abdullah said yesterday that he had directed the police to immediately start investigations into the Lingam Tape as it was important to act quickly because the content of the clip could tarnish the image of the country’s judiciary.

He said: “We cannot treat this lightly. We will act fast to determine the truth.”

He said that if investigations revealed that the claims were false, action would be taken against those who were trying to undermine the judiciary as the video recording would invoke public anger and hatred towards the judiciary.

He said at this juncture, the question of setting up a Commission of Inquiry did not arise as the allegations in the video clip had yet to be proven as authentic.

All right-thinking Malaysians are mystified and upset by the Prime Minister’s response and have one question — why is Abdullah threatening dire consequences if the Lingam Tape is not authentic but said nothing about action to be taken if it is proven true?

Abdullah’s initial considered response 48 hours after the public surfacing of the Lingam Tape does not inspire public confidence that the Prime Minister would rise above the fray and be absolutely neutral and impartial in handling the latest scandal of the Malaysian judiciary.

He is right when he said that the Lingam Tape has yet to be proven as authentic, but on the other hand, 48 hours and now 72 hours have passed since its public disclosure had elapsed and its authenticity has not been challenged — neither by Lingam nor Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, purportedly the other party in the telephone conversation recorded in the Lingam Tape.

The Prime Minister’s reaction is only valid and justifiable if he had received intimation from Fairuz denying the authenticity of the Lingam Tape as without such a denial from either Lingam or Ahmad Fairuz, Abdullah risks compromising his high office in staking a position which gave full status quo backing to the Chief Justice. Continue reading “Lingam Tape – why PM’s one-sided threat if not authentic but nothing about action to be taken if true?”

AG’s Report – why the thunderous post-Cabinet silence?

Why the thunderous post-Cabinet silence over the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report — and does it signify the end of the three-day wonder of thunder-and-lightning in the media over abuses and mismanagement of public funds until next year’s Auditor-General’s Report?

Two Tuesdays ago, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that he had directed all Ministers at the Cabinet meeting on Sept. 5 to go through the Auditor-General’s Report in detail and to fully explain mismanaging funds and other irregularities in their respective ministries.

Last Thursday, Abdullah said the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) should step in and investigate any suspicion of corruption in ministries and government agencies implicated in the Auditor-General’s Report 2006.

When was the Cabinet meeting for the Ministers to explain in detail the strictures of the Auditor-General against their respective ministries?

I had expected some announcement after this Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting on the outcome of the Prime Minister’s directive to all Ministers, but there is only thunderous silence.

Have all the Ministers been given a reprieve from having to personally account to the Cabinet for all the public fund mismanagement and irregularities in their ministries as revealed by the Auditor-General’s Report; and if not, why is there no public accounting from the Prime Minister as to any outcome?

For instance, what is the explanation from the UMNO Youth leader and Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein on the mismanagement of public funds of over RM285 million in the Ministry of Youth and Sports when he was the Minister from 1999 to 2004?

It is no use Hishammuddin making brave statements in public that “I’ve nothing to hide” and calling for thorough investigations into the misuse of funds by the Youth and Sports Ministry when up to now he has failed to give any satisfactory explanation for such colossal waste of public funds as the Minister in charge. Continue reading “AG’s Report – why the thunderous post-Cabinet silence?”

Malaysian consulate service a letdown

by Disappointed Malaysian

I am writing from Melbourne, Australia as I am frustrated with the services and support provided by the Malaysian Consulate in Canberra, Australia. My family have had the unfortunate incident of having our house burglarised and all (the entire family’s) our documents ie, Malaysian passports, birth certificates, Malaysian driving licences, our MyKads, marriage certificates have all been stolen.

We immediately reported the incident to the Malaysian Consulate in Canberra and was passed on to the person in-charge, a Mr Haa Doan. He must be the most unpleasant person we have come across and encountered during our stay in Australia so far. We told him our circumstances and asked him for the procedure to apply for a replacement travel document and he advised that he will immediately send us the necessary application forms.

We supplied him with our correspondence address and contact details. He then reprimanded us for the way we kept our documents at home which was uncalled for. He kept insisting that we have to fly back to Malaysia to reapply for all our documents but how could we when we have just lost our passports?

The documents came only four weeks later and we sent off our completed forms and the necessary certified documents. On Sept 13, we decided to check with the Malaysian Consulate on the status of our application. My husband who called was told that Haa was on leave. My husband was not happy and called again, and this time was told that Haa was not on leave and the call was passed to him.

He was very annoyed with my husband and irritated when asked about the status of our applications. He said it is still with him in his office which meant that the applications have been sitting at the consulate for more than a month. He said he was sick and that he just returned from back to work. The question is does the consulate stop functioning because Haa is on sick leave? Is there no one to take over his responsibility when he is away from the office?

When my husband asked why wasn’t it sent off to the Immigration Department in Kuala Lumpur, he said that they do not do daily postings to Malaysia and that it was done only once a month! Asked how long will the whole process take, Haa said that he was not sure, maybe it would be six months or more and that it was entirely up to the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Office.

These kind of answers are definitely not reassuring for a whole family who is at their wits end at having lost all their critical documents. The passports are required to fly back to Malaysia to reapply for the other documents and looks like we are at a loss as to when we will get our passports approved or when they finally make their way back to the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Office. Is Australia so distant that there is only one mail service a month? Continue reading “Malaysian consulate service a letdown”

Lingam tape – Anwar’s explosive video clip on Judiciary Compromised

Anwar Ibrahim has produced an explosive video clip on Judiciary Compromised which has set off reverberations in the Palace of Justice, the corridors of power, offices and homes in the country as well as internationally.

The time for reckoning for the restoration of a truly independent judiciary and a just rule of law cannot be put off any longer.

Malaysiakini has carried the transcript of the conversation between lawyer V.K. Lingam with Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz sometime in 2002, as recorded in the videoclip, viz:

“The CJ said he is relative to now Agong, so he wants to stay on to 68, so, Tengku Adnan, I told Tengku Adnan, yesterday I had a meeting with him.

He said PM is already very angry with him, he said no problem he is going to make you acting err.. confirm your position as PCA, working very hard then working very hard to get Tan Sri Mokhtar as CJM.

Ah, we just keep it confidential. I am working very hard on it. Then there is a letter, according to Tengku, I am going to see him tomorrow, there is a letter sent to CJ, I mean Tan Sri Dzaiddin, that Datuk Heliliah, Datuk Ramli, Datuk Ramli and Datuk Ma’roop be made judges, and he rejected Dr Andrew Chui and apa itu Zainuddin Ismail lah. Because Zainuddin Ismail condemned your appointment and Tan Sri Mokhtar’s appointment.

And then you also, you seems to wrote a letter for the remaining five be confirmed as judges. As per our memo I discuss with Tun Eusoff Chin and we sent the same memo to PM.

I just want to get a copy letter that that has been done. Continue reading “Lingam tape – Anwar’s explosive video clip on Judiciary Compromised”

2nd Kong Choy scandal – suspend RM450-RM500 million e-Kesihatan middlemen rent-seeking scam

The week-long controversy over the e-kesihatan scheme has created more doubts and confusion, with the public presented with a plethora of conflicting accounts while the Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy emerged from the controversy in a very sorry and worst possible light.

From the present RM10 payment for renewal of public service vehicle (PSV), goods driving licence (GDL) and conductor licence (KON) holders, the Road Transport Department is to introduce a new mandatory health screening scheme beginning on Oct. 1 which would cost RM80 a year for a million commercial drivers.

In the latest revised figures in the Sun today, Datuk Nordin Yahaya, the executive director of Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd, the concessionaire awarded the monopoly for this scheme, claims that of the RM80, the company gets RM8 and Pos Malaysia RM2, while RM10 is for operating costs, RM35 go to the doctors and RM25 to laboratories.

Only three days earlier on Sunday, Nordin had given different breakdowns — i.e. doctors paid between RM35 and RM45, laboratories between RM25 and RM35, Post Malaysia RM2 and Supreme Systems Sdn. Bhd between RM8 and RM10.

These figures have been disputed by the Koperasi Doktor Malaysia Bhd chairman Dr. J. S. Deo who said that the laboratory tests for the e-Kesihatan screening cost less than RM7, and not between RM25 and RM35 as claimed by Nordin earlier. Continue reading “2nd Kong Choy scandal – suspend RM450-RM500 million e-Kesihatan middlemen rent-seeking scam”

Cabinet Wednesday should direct all Ministers with ministries implicated in AG’s 2006 Report to appear before PAC

Malaysians are quite weary of the annual season of farce of the Audit-General’s Report exposing year-in and year-out corruption, criminal breach of trust and mismanagement of public funds followed by the chorus of responses from the Public Accounts Committee, the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and even from the Prime Minister and the relevant Ministers of investigations and remedial action not only to deal with the errant culprits but to ensure that there could be no more recurrence of such betrayal of public trust — all to taper off into public amnesia after a few days of media banner headlines until the ritual is repeated in the following year.

Last Tuesday (11th September 2007), the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said at the Cabinet meeting the previous week (5th September), he had directed all ministers concerned to explain to the Cabinet why their ministries have been accused of mismanaging funds and other irregularities. He said “each and every matter raised must be explained in detail”.

Three questions immediately come to mind, viz:

  • Firstly, why did Abdullah delay for more than two months before raising the subject in the Cabinet when he had first received the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report at the end of June? Even the ACA director-general Datuk Ahmad Said Hamdan had publicly admitted that the ACA had received copies of the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report “sometime ago” and that the ACA had begun investigations into the Auditor-General’s 2006 Report “long before it was tabled in Parliament” on September 7;
  • Secondly, will Ministers be required to explain to the Cabinet on Wednesday why their ministries have been accused of mismanaging funds and other irregularities, with each and every matter raised by the Auditor-General to be explained in detail? Will the Prime Minister report to the nation at the end of Wednesday’s meeting of the Ministers who have given satisfactory explanations and those who have failed to do so, and what he proposes to do with the latter? Or there is no real intention whatsoever to hold a Cabinet inquest into the corruption and mismanagement of public funds into the various ministries as exposed in the 2006 Auditor-Gneeral Report?
  • Thirdly, why are the Ministers only required to explain to the Cabinet and not to Parliament and the nation?

As all Ministers owe a higher duty to Parliament and the nation to comply with the principles of accountability, probity and integrity, the Cabinet on Wednesday should direct all Ministers whose past or present ministries had been implicated in the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report for mismanagement of funds to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to assume full responsibility and end all the annual “bellyaching” about taking action by various authorities but without any concrete follow-up results. Continue reading “Cabinet Wednesday should direct all Ministers with ministries implicated in AG’s 2006 Report to appear before PAC”

Hishammuddin should set example for all Ministers & volunteer to appear before PAC

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad’s description of the PAC as having “No bite but we can chase the truth” will not be agreed by many.

In an interview with New Sunday Times, Shahrir had responded in a Q & A as follows:

Q: Some have described the PAC as a toothless tiger.

A: We cannot bite because we are not an enforcement agency.

But we can exert enough pressure and provide the relevant agencies, like the ACA, enough evidence.

The ACA works closely with us.

We are also free to revisit any case at any time we want if we are not happy with the follow-up action.

We have the power to order a review of the case, like what we did with the Middle Ring Road 2.

For us, a case is never closed.

Shahrir’s answer begs two questions:

Firstly, how many cases can the PAC claim credit as having provided the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) with enough evidence to prosecute, let alone convict, corrupt or errant public officials. As far as I know, the PAC score on this is zero. I am prepared to be proven wrong by Shahrir.

Secondly, can the PAC really pursue a case to the highest reaches of responsibility to get to the very bottom of every instance of mismanagement of public funds? Continue reading “Hishammuddin should set example for all Ministers & volunteer to appear before PAC”

Auditor-General’s Reports – ACA DG admits past impotence but will it be different this time?

I thank the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) Director-General Datuk Ahmad Said Hamdan for inadvertently confirming what I had said in Parliament during the 2008 Budget debate on Tuesday — that the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report had been completed on 28th June 2007 and would have been submitted to the government shortly after.

I posed these questions in Parliament:

“Why are Cabinet Ministers only beginning to wake up now to the gross mismanagement, waste and abuse of public funds more than two months of the completion of the Auditor-General’s Report?

“Would the Ministers reacted to these gross mismanagement of public funds if no publicity had been given to the Auditor-General’s Report?

“Were all the Ministers aware of and had approved the explanations which the various government departments had given, some most ridiculous and most unacceptable, to the strictures of the Auditor-General’s Report and which had been tabled in the House?

“Is every Minister prepared to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to personally assume responsibility for the mismanagement of public funds highlighted in the Auditor-General’s Report?”

When the Auditor-General’s Report is dated June 28, 2007, it would mean that it had been submitted to the Yang di Pertuan Agong under Article 107 of the Constitution, with copies available to the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and relevant heads of Ministries and departments in a matter of days. Continue reading “Auditor-General’s Reports – ACA DG admits past impotence but will it be different this time?”

4-star accountability index – ministers should resign and SGs removed for failed rating of one star of less than 50%

The proposal by the Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang to introduce from next year the accountability index which will award star ratings to all ministries, state governments and statutory bodies for their management of public funds, is a great and very innovative initiative that must be lauded by all quarters.

Ambrin said the accountability index will be an objective assessment of the financial performance of ministries, departments and state governments.

Marks will be given according to performance and will be translated into star ratings to measure compliance, viz:

  • 4 stars — Excellent (90% – 100%)
  • 3 stars — Good (70% – 89%)
  • 2 stars — Satisfactory (50% – 69%)
  • 1 star — Not Satisfactory (49% and below)

The promotion of secretaries-general and heads of department will also be tied to the index of their financial management performance.

When introducing the 2008 Budget speech last Friday, the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had emphasized the priority and importance of raising the level of performance of the civil service, which is critical in sustaining the competitiveness of the nation, especially in the context of increasing globalization. Continue reading “4-star accountability index – ministers should resign and SGs removed for failed rating of one star of less than 50%”

Letter to PM – urgent response to issues raised in budget debate in Parliament like RM4.6b PKFZ bailout, RM8.1b dev. est. discrepancy , e-Kesihatan rip-off

I have written to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, asking him to respond to urgent issues raised in the first three days of the 2008 Budget in Parliament which cannot wait for Ministerial replies some two months later scheduled for early November when the Dewan Rakyat reconvenes on Oct. 22 after the 39-day break for the fasting month and Hari Raya holidays.

I listed four urgent issues which had been raised in Parliament in the first three days of budget debate earlier this week and which are crying out for immediate government response and action, viz:

1. The RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bailout scandal

Accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance principles demand instant end of the government’s denial syndrome both in and outside Parliament about the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal — particularly at a time when the Prime Minister is trying to assure Malaysians that the government means business and would not brook any hanky-panky following the shocking exposes of the pervasive culture of impunity, corruption, waste and mismanagement of public funds in the 2006 Auditor-General’s Reports.

When compared to the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal, the corruption and mismanagement of millions or tens of millions of ringgit of funds exposed by the 2006 Auditor-General’s Reports were mere “chicken-feed”.

However, if the Cabinet can be so irresponsible as to continue to deny that there is a RM4.6 billion bailout of the Port Klang Free Zone scandal, while the culture of impunity persists in providing immunity from legal and accountability consequences for those responsible for the RM4.6 billion bailout when the government had right from the start been given a very categorical assurance that the PKFZ project was feasible, self-financing and would not require a single ringgit of public funding, a wrong message is being sent out – that all the public hullabaloo over the Auditor-General’s Reports 2006 are mere “sandiwara” and not meant to be taken seriously, as absolutely nothing would ensue. Continue reading “Letter to PM – urgent response to issues raised in budget debate in Parliament like RM4.6b PKFZ bailout, RM8.1b dev. est. discrepancy , e-Kesihatan rip-off”

Challenge to ACA – disclose how many persons had been arrested/prosecuted for corruption from previous Auditor-General reports

In China, a senior official at the Agricultural Bank of China was executed for corruption following years of ordering suppliers to pay him kickbacks. Wen Mengjie, 50, former head of information technology at one of the bank’s Beijing branches, was executed Tuesday for embezzling and taking bribes worth 15 million yuan (USD1.97 million).

In the Philippinnes, former president Joseph Estrada was sentenced to jail in prison after he was found guilty of massive corruption and plundering the country of tens of millions of dollars in tax kickbacks and bribes.

In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced he would resign after being dogged by a string of damaging scandals that hampered his reform agenda.

What do we have in Malaysia? Another year of shocking revelations of corruption, criminal breach of trust, overspending and mismanagement of funds by the Auditor-General, Tan Sri Amrin Buang — with the apt headline of the the New Straits Times yesterday “Same old story year in year out” — while the culture of impunity reigns on without anyone in high office having to bear responsibility for corruption and abuse of power. Continue reading “Challenge to ACA – disclose how many persons had been arrested/prosecuted for corruption from previous Auditor-General reports”

PM should immediately respond to urgent issues raised in 2008 budget debate like PKFZ scandal and e-kesihatan and not wait until early Nov

I call on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also the Finance Minister, to respond to urgent issues raised in the first three days of the 2008 Budget and not to delay for some two months until early November — particularly on pressing public interest issues like the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone bailout scandal and the outcry over the new rip-off of the e-kesihatan monopoly concession awarded to Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd without tender.

The Dewan Rakyat will adjourn for a 39-day break over the fasting month and Hari Raya holidays, resuming on October 22. This would mean that the 13-day general debate for the 2008 Budget before the ministerial reply would be broken up into two parts, three days this week and 10 days from 22nd October to 6th November, with Ministers beginning their reply on November 7, 2007.

There is something very wrong with the whole notion that issues raised in Parliament during the first three days of the 2008 Budget this week are only answered by Ministers two months later — especially with regard to pressing public interest issues demanding immediate response and action, particularly urgent matters like the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PFKZ) bailout scandal and the outcry over the new rip-off of the e-kesihatan monopoly concession awarded to Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd without tender.

Accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance principles demand instant end of the government’s denial syndrome both in and outside Parliament about the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal — particularly at a time when the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers are trying to assure Malaysians that they meant business and would not brook any hanky-panky following the shocking exposes of the pervasive culture of impunity, corruption, waste and mismanagement of public funds in the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report.

Abdullah said in Kuching yesterday that he had directed all Cabinet ministers to go through the Auditor-General’s report in detail and to fully explain anything that is questionable. Continue reading “PM should immediately respond to urgent issues raised in 2008 budget debate like PKFZ scandal and e-kesihatan and not wait until early Nov”

Liong Sik’s last act as Transport Minister on May 28, 2003 – unlawfully signing first of four “Letters of Support” for KDSB bonds resulting in RM4.6b PKFZ bailout scandal?

The Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi began his 2008 budget speech reminding Malaysians of its significance and historic circumstances — on the occasion of the nation’s 50th Merdeka anniversary celebrations and the first Budget as the nation enters the second 50-year phase as an independent state.

To me, the 2008 budget was even more significant — as it was an acid test as to whether the Prime Minister was finally going to “walk the talk” of his National Integrity Plan and keep his pledge to Malaysians that he would lead a clean, incorruptible, accountable, transparent, trustworthy and responsible administration and that he would not countenance the culture of impunity among his Ministers and public officials — or whether he would break his final pledge that he would not approve mega-billion-ringgit bailout of “white-elephant” projects (as all his other pledges of good governance have already been broken).

I was very disappointed by Abdullah’s 2008 Budget, for he had failed this acid test.

There was not a word about the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bailout scandal — the largest financial scandal at the start of any Prime Minister in Malaysia, even bigger than the RM2.5 billion Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal which led off the Mahathir premiership more than two decades ago.

Tun Dr. Mahathir had said at the time that the RM2.5 billion BMF scandal was a “heinous crime without criminals”. Are we having another bigger “heinous crime without criminals” in the form of the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal under the Abdullah administration?

Abdullah had failed as both Prime Minister and Finance Minister in not giving a full and satisfactory accounting of the government bailout of the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal to set an example of government accountability and financial integrity to all Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries.

This is because in the past two weeks, the Transport Minister, Datuk Chan Kong Choy (before he suddenly went on medical leave, sparking political speculation whether he is resigning from the Cabinet), the Deputy Finance Minister, Datuk Dr. Awang Adek bin Husin and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Finance Ministry, Datuk Seri Dr. Helmi bin Yahaya had been misleading Parliament and the nation about the true nature and character of the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal. Continue reading “Liong Sik’s last act as Transport Minister on May 28, 2003 – unlawfully signing first of four “Letters of Support” for KDSB bonds resulting in RM4.6b PKFZ bailout scandal?”

E-kesihatan – another parasitic rent-seeking monopoly?

The medical profession is up in arms against the latest e-Kesihatan scheme which was officially announced by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) deputy director-general Solah Mat Hassan yesterday, requiring drivers of commercial vehicles from next month to pass a medical test done at clinics appointed by an associate company of Fomema Sdn. Bhd, Supremme Systems Sdn Bhd.

Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd has been awarded a monopoly to carry out such medical tests which would enable it to make profits in the region of hundreds of millions of ringgit in the 15-year monopoly awarded by the Transport Ministry.

This appears to be the latest example of a parasitic rent-seeking rip-off at the expense of the public as there is already a system in place to provide medical tests for commercial drivers involving medical practitioners with the JPJ directly, which can be further improved to deal with abuses or weaknesses instead of creating a new system which is more rent-seeking in nature than entrepreneurial.

I have received an email from an infuriated medical practitioner on the letter of registration sent by Supremme Systems Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Pantai Holding Sdn Bhd to primarycare doctors in the Klang Valley to pay RM100.00 as registration fee and requesting particulars of each clinic.

The letter states that to participate in the medical examination of Goods Drivers Licence (GDL) and Public Service Vehicle (PSC) licence renewal annually by commercial vehicle drivers, the private doctors must use their ICT. This letter demands reply and payment within 10 days. Continue reading “E-kesihatan – another parasitic rent-seeking monopoly?”