— The Malaysian Insider Dec 30, 2011
DEC 30 — When it comes to scandals of the financial variety, Putrajaya seems to have only one answer: blame the opposition.
Fair enough; the opposition does the same when it gets caught. Sometimes both sides are no better than the other.
Yet, what happens to the scandals? The National Feedlot Centre (NFC) “mess” was first revealed in the Auditor-General’s Report for 2010.
It blew up with further revelations from a few whistleblowers via PKR. Anti-graft officials passed the matter to the police. And over month later, it remains under investigation.
As is the matter of a man now held for attempting to “settle” the matter for those in the NFC. But Barisan Nasional (BN) has been quick to say it is an opposition plot to smear Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil.
And that the NFC has nothing to do with her, as the project is undertaken by her family. Not her.
It remains that the Auditor-General was the first to raise alarm bells about the NFC. Just as he and his team did with the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ).
We now have a similar situation with the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department who is in charge of Islamic religious affairs, Senator Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, whose legal fees were paid using zakat funds.
Is this an opposition plot too?
Come on. Datuk Seri Najib Razak came in with the promise of reforms and cleaning up the system.
It appears that despite setting up corruption courts and putting in other measures, nothing is being done about financial improprieties.
The government must be seen to be doing something about this. There is no use talking up efforts to fight graft if nothing is being done beyond making speeches and blaming the opposition.
Most, if not all, Malaysians want a clean, efficient and trustworthy government. Do we need to remind BN that the phrase used to be its motto?
Or is it leaving it to the voters to decide to bloody its nose again at the ballot box?
These are real scandals that need immediate action. Not denials, defensiveness and blame.