Archive for category Good Governance
Kudos to Khalid and Selangor state assembly for land reform measure
Posted by Kit in Good Governance on Monday, 16 July 2012
By Koon Yew Yin | July 16, 2012
The Malaysian Insider
JULY 16 — Recently, the Selangor state assembly passed a new regulation barring any state representatives and local council members from applying for state-owned land. This is a really brave and unprecedented move which deserves more public attention than it has drawn so far. One question is whether the new rule also applies to the members of the royal family. There are probably many examples of members of royalty applying for state land. Should they be given special consideration or be treated the same as the public? I am sure there are pros and cons when it comes to applying the rule to royalty. The important thing is for the issue to be brought out into the open and for rational public opinion to prevail.
Among the physical assets belonging to the state, land is undoubtedly the most valuable. According to the federal Constitution, land is a state matter. Even if land is not owned by the state, the state still has control over the development and use of land through administrative and executive council rulings.
Read the rest of this entry »
The difference between Pakatan and BN
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Pakatan Rakyat, PKFZ on Sunday, 8 July 2012
— Jaleel Hameed
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 08, 2012
JULY 8 — In terms of scale, the Talam Corporation Bhd debt settlement pales in comparison with the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) and Scorpene submarine cases.
The mainstream newspapers have been going at great guns with the so-called TalamCorp scandal. Understandbly because they are partial to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government. As for the alternative media, the reverse is true as some are partial to BN’s political foes, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
Yet, there’s a marked difference between PR and BN which can be seen by how each one has serious allegations of corruption and mismanagement and their respective reaction to the claims.
In the TalamCorp case, PR leaders are prepared to have a White Paper on the matter although it is puzzling why there has not been one since the case came up in 2010.
And PR MPs such as Tony Pua and Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and even Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim are all willing to lift the veil of corporate secrecy and explain the numbers to the public. After all, it involves public institutions and funds from the time the deal was struck when Selangor was under BN rule.
Transparency is key to all this. Read the rest of this entry »
Should we continue paying taxes?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Elections, Good Governance, Najib Razak on Sunday, 1 July 2012
— Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 30, 2012
JUNE 30 — My wife and I pay our taxes on time and we are assessed at the highest tax bracket. We never avoided or evaded taxes and viewed it as a moral duty.
But let me put in a caveat. I believe the time has come for us taxpayers (and this excludes 90 per cent of civil servants, Umno politicians and their nominees as well as rent-seekers) to consider a campaign of civil disobedience against paying taxes until the government of the day can show that it can utilise this revenue in a responsible way.
I am not talking about the world record holidays/trips abroad taken by the prime minister and the first family or his cabinet ministers. I am referring to the over-the-top spending by the Barisan Nasional government to stay in power.
It seems like every day is Christmas for this prime minister. Tyres for taxi drivers, cash for Malaysians, a few million for this group and another few million for that group. Read the rest of this entry »
Murky practices in rail tenders deter foreign firms, weekly reports
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Transport on Sunday, 17 June 2012
By Lisa J. Ariffin
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 17, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 — International companies are shying away from Malaysia’s rail sector due to less-than-transparent decisions in the tender process, The Edge weekly has reported.
According to an article in the business and investment weekly’s latest edition, “intense lobbying, glitches in the tender process and political favouritism” are among some of the reasons why foreign firms are snubbing rail tenders, a move which could deprive the country of a high-quality rail system.
The Edge writer Lim Ben Shane reported that the response to open tenders has been poor purportedly due to the unfair selection of large contracts, adding that government officials have acknowledged the problem but have defended it as a relatively new phenomenon. Read the rest of this entry »
MACC’s cow sense
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, UMNO on Thursday, 31 May 2012
— The Malaysian Insider
May 31, 2012
MAY 31 — Here’s a question for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Who accused Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil of being involved in the process of awarding the RM250 million government soft loan to the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) operated by her family?
Short answer, no one. Long answer, not one person ever did.
So, clearing the Wanita Umno chief of any involvement in the scandal is not even news because she wasn’t accused of that. And if MACC and Shahrizat are crowing about this, they have as much cow sense as the cattle in the Gemas farm.
Let’s be clear why Shahrizat’s name has been dragged into this and the government had to drop her from the Cabinet by not extending her tenure as senator.
Her family is accused of abusing public funds meant for a cattle-rearing project for their own shopping spree of luxury properties in Malaysia and abroad. They had admitted as much, saying the funds were being put to some use while waiting for the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industries to do its part of the deal.
Of course, it begs the question whether public funds meant for one project can be used in other ways while waiting for something else to happen. The short answer, no. The long answer, of course not. Read the rest of this entry »
When Umno types prevaricate
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Mahathir, UMNO on Wednesday, 23 May 2012
— Othman Wahab
The Malaysian Insider
May 23, 2012
MAY 23 — This is what Umno politicians do when they get caught out: they huff and puff, spin some yarn and blow smoke all over the place.
Several months ago when websites reported that the government had instructed the Umno lawyer Hafarizam Harun (the same chap with the RM2.2 billion highway project with former Umno lawyer Tun Zaki Azmi) to seek an out-of-court settlement on Tajudin Ramli’s massive RM589 million debt to Danaharta, Nazri Aziz denied any such endeavour.
The de facto Law Minister dismissed all such reports. And then it happened, there was a secretive out-of-court settlement where the man associated with the fall of the national icon got a sweet deal.
Till today, no one knows whether he paid anything or if he received a free pass but the fact that the government has not been willing to disclose the terms of the settlement suggests he got a great deal.
After all, Tajuddin had enough ammunition to sink Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Umno. Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan promises to buy back MEX if voted to power
Posted by Kit in Elections, Good Governance, Pakatan Rakyat on Wednesday, 28 March 2012
By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Mar 28, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pledged today to buy back the part publicly-funded Maju Expressway (MEX) from its concessionaire should they wrest Putrajaya in the coming polls, claiming the move would save over RM4.6 billion in taxpayers’ money.
In a statement signed by representatives from all three PR parties – Rafizi Ramli (PKR), Tony Pua (DAP) and Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (PAS) — the leaders noted that it was one of PR’s Buku Jingga promises to restructure toll rates and the country’s many highway concession agreements, many of which they claim have over-benefitted Barisan Nasional (BN) cronies.
Speaking at a press conference in Parliament today, Pua, DAP’s publicity secretary, said it was more sensible for Putrajaya to buy back the highway with a maximum payment of RM400.9 million, instead of allowing Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd to profit from its sale.
He said that Maju Group executive chairman Tan Sri Abu Sahid Mohamed stands to make a clean profit of RM1.09 billion or 1,800 per cent of his initial investment of RM60 million from his sale of MEX to EP Manufacturing Bhd (EPMB) for RM1.7 billion.
“This profit is too high because the government has already used taxpayers’ money to fund 74 per cent of the highway’s construction cost,” he said.
This, added Pua, amounts to a whopping RM976.7 million. Read the rest of this entry »
How Effective Has the Enforcement of the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010(WPA) Been in Malaysia?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Lim Guan Eng on Tuesday, 6 March 2012
by Lim Guan Eng
Political Will, National Commitment And Even Personal Obligation Rather Than A Single Law Such As The WPA Will Determine Whether Integrity In Leadership Centred On An Ethically Based Society Can Be Established
It gives me pleasure to speak to you today at this 4th Annual Corporate Governance Summit organised here in Kuala Lumpur. I have been asked to speak on the issue of the Whistleblowers Protection Act 2010 (or “WPA”) which was passed by the federal Parliament and has been in force in Malaysia since December 2010.
Many of us here who are interested in corporate governance will have been captivated by the ongoing saga of alleged corruption and mismanagement in the RM250million National Feedlot Centre project. This is a corporate governance issue as well as a national governance issue. The question is will there be any action taken or will be it just be another case of of the RM2.52 billion losses incurred by MAS without anyone being punished and even those that caused losses such as Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli being let off the hook.
Danaharta had agreed to settle with Tan Sri Tajudin on February 14 without enforcing a High Court decision on December 2009 in Danaharta’s favour ordering Tan Sri Tajudin to pay RM589.14 million to Danaharta, over a loan taken to purchase MAS. Where is the moral hazard?
I think I can summarise my view of the WPA by saying that is not so much a Whistleblowers Protection Act but rather a “Whispering to the Police Act”. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib should present White Paper to Parliament to present government case to justify a third bailout of RM840 million for Tajudin Ramli
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Good Governance on Saturday, 3 March 2012
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should present a White Paper to Parliament when it reconvenes on March 12 to present the government case to justify a third bailout of RM840 million for former Malaysian Airlines (MAS) chairman Tajudin Ramli – as well as reasons for the previous RM12 billion double bailouts for Tajudin.
The latest round of bailout revolves around the out-of-court settlement of Tajudin’s RM589 million debts which Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Bhd had obtained in a Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment in December 2009.
The Minority Shareholders Watchdog Group (MSWG) described the judgment as probably the largest sum awarded in Malaysian legal history and computed that the total amount would have ballooned to RM840 million as the judgment allows Danaharta to charge an interest of two per cent over the base lending rate on the outstanding sum from Jan 1, 2006.
It raised questions all Malaysians are asking and which must be answered by the Prime Minister in Parliament, viz:
• What could have prompted Danaharta not to exercise its legal right to collect the outstanding amount?
• Why the government resorted to an out-of-court settlement despite winning the case in court?
The government write-off of RM840 million judgment debt due from Tajudin would at least be the third bailout of Tajudin using public funds, the first time involving RM1.8 billion bailout of Tajudin in December 2000 paying RM8.00 per share for his 29 per cent stake in MAS or more than double its market price then; and the second bailout in taking over the some RM10 billion losses suffered by MAS after Tajudin’s take over from 1994-2000. Read the rest of this entry »
Selangor MB accuses Putrajaya of nepotism over KJ’s appointment
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, NEP, UMNO on Wednesday, 29 February 2012
By Yow Hong Chieh
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 29, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29 — Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin’s expected appointment to a key government agency shows Putrajaya still values political links above professionalism, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said today.
The Selangor mentri besar said Khairy’s appointment as Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd (PUNB) chairman will benefit Umno rather than Malays, and would be a step back for the Bumiputera community.
“While the Bumiputera have been encouraged to pursue the standard professionalism on par with the world’s best, the appointment clearly shows that political affiliation, and not capability and experience, makes the cut for top positions in government-linked corporations.
“As one of the founders of PUNB, I take great pride in the fact that it has thus far been led by professionals free from political interest. While there were politicians at the policy-making level, they did not interfere with the operations of the company,” he said in a statement.
The prime minister should not “demean” the efforts of the Bumiputera professionals who have made PUNB what it is today by picking Khairy, who has not shown he can run a successful corporation, Khalid added. Read the rest of this entry »
Decision to strike out Tajudin-MAS suits on March 5
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Mahathir, Transport on Monday, 27 February 2012
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 27, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 — The High Court here will decide on March 5 whether to strike out both Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) claim against Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli as well as his counter-claim against the government and the national carrier.
Tajudin, who was the executive chairman of the airline from 1994 to 2001, is applying to cancel MAS’s suit over losses due to the relocation of its cargo operations in Amsterdam and Frankfurt to a single hub in Hahn, Germany.
Putrajaya is also seeking to strike out Tajudin’s RM500 million counterclaim, in which he alleges the government and MAS defamed him with a civil suit for abuse of power while heading the flag carrier.
Lawyers for all parties declined to comment after meeting trial judge Rosilah Yop in chambers for just under two hours.
“The decisions will be on March 5. I’m sorry I can’t comment because it will be subjudice,” Tajudin’s counsel Lim Kian Leong told reporters. Read the rest of this entry »
Loan agreement shows NFCorp broke terms, says Pua
Posted by Kit in Auditor-General Report, Corruption, Good Governance on Saturday, 25 February 2012
By Yow Hong Chieh
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 25, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — DAP MP Tony Pua today revealed the loan agreement signed by the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp), which he claimed proved the company had violated conditions attached to the RM250 million facility.
The DAP publicity chief pointed out that Clause 3 of the agreement clearly states that the federal loan should be used to “part finance the project as described in the First Schedule of this agreement”.
The First Schedule states that use of the loan must be “consistent with the government of Malaysia’s policy of developing, promoting and nurturing the production of beef and beef products through the National Feedlot Centre as a centre for commercial and integrated cattle feedlot”.
“It cannot be more obvious. Use of the funds can only strictly be used to part finance the setting up of the centre and nothing else,” Pua told reporters at DAP headquarters here.
“So all the claims made by the executives and directors of NFCorp that they can use the money for anything is complete rubbish.” Read the rest of this entry »
Budaya vandalisma semakin berkembang
Posted by Kit in Felda, Good Governance on Thursday, 23 February 2012
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 23, 2012
23 FEB — Apabila terfikir kembali tentang isu penyenaraian FELDA, saya tidak dapat melihat apa kah sebabnya yang kerajaan mahukan penyenaraian ini dilakukan dalam apa juga keadaannya. Saya tidak faham kenapa setiap badan-badan serta agensi kerajaan yang maju sentiasa berakhir dengan kerosakan.
Dulu MAS merupakan sebuah syarikat penerbangan yang premium jika berbanding dengan syarikat-syarikat penerbangan lain di dunia ini. Oleh kerana MAS begitu berjaya di bawah pengurusan Saw Huat Lai dan kemudiannya dikembangkan lagi oleh Tan Sri Aziz Abd Rahman maka setiap mata mereka yang meleleh air liur telah menjualkannya kepada Tajuddin Ramli. Sejak penyerahan MAS kepada Tajudin Ramli, MAS telah menjadi apa yang kita lihat pada hari ini.
MAS mengalami kerugian sehinggakan kerajaan terpaksa melakukan “bail-out” dengan membeli kembali saham-saham syarikat itu dengan harga yang sama yang dijual kepada Tajudin sebelumnya. Kerugian yang dialami oleh MAS begitu besar sehinggakan MAS tidak lagi boleh bangun sampai ke hari ini. Read the rest of this entry »
NFCorp directors in the dark
Posted by Kit in Auditor-General Report, Corruption, Good Governance on Thursday, 23 February 2012
R. Nadeswaran
[email protected]
23 February 2012
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23, 2012): The National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) bought luxury condominiums without the approval of the board of directors. Three government representatives who sit on the board were not consulted or told about the purchase.
Alias Mohd Yassin and Manaf Hussein represented the Agriculture and Finance Ministries respectively while Datuk Mat Ali Hassan was appointed by virtue of him being the Negri Sembilan state secretary.
These appointments were made to “safeguard the interests of the federal government and stakeholders and the state government as it provided the land.”
“At no time were these directors told of the purchase of the condominiums and other so-called investments and neither were they aware of it until the matter was reported in the media,” a source close to the investigations said. Read the rest of this entry »
MAS scandal: The gov’t must let the truth be told
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Crime, Good Governance, Law & Order, Transport on Thursday, 23 February 2012
Mat Zain Ibrahim | Feb 22, 2012
Malaysiakini
I am referring to the report made by MAS against Tajudin Ramli to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) almost three years ago. This report has been in the public domain since Aug 23, 2010, when it was first published by Malaysia Today. It’s still there until today.
On May 20, 2009, Shahari Sulaiman, then the managing director of MASKargo, on the instructions of MAS management, lodged a report with the MACC. He alleged that when Tajudin Ramli took over MAS in 1994, the national airline company had RM600 million cash in reserves but when he left, the company had accumulated losses to the tune of RM8 billion. Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad quoted the losses at RM9.4 billion as at 2000.
MAS also gave details of Tajudin’s various fraudulent dealings and also raised allegations of collusion between the police and the Attorney-General’s Chambers and in fact naming the parties alleged to be involved in the same report.
However, the report falls short of alleging the inaction of the former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is now MAS adviser, although it gave details of those senior MAS management who were present during the briefing by the former police director of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), on March 26, 2007 at the Prime Minister’s Office. One of them is Idris Jala who is now a cabinet member. Read the rest of this entry »
Highway to hell
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Judiciary on Tuesday, 21 February 2012
— Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 21, 2012
FEB 21 — The thing that troubled me most about the latest expose in Malaysia is the seemingly cozy relationship between the current Umno lawyer and the former chief justice, who incidentally is a former Umno lawyer.
I am beyond griping that the contract was not awarded through an open tender because open tender means competition and competition means level playing field — all the things that our friends like Ibrahim Ali, Mahathir Mohamad don’t like.
But it does disturb me that there appears to be a business nexus between an Umno lawyer Hafirizam Harun and Tun Zaki Azmi. In most developed countries, judges and especially chief justices keep an arms length from lawyers because they don’t want to be accused of bias or bringing the judiciary into disrepute. The more strict judges do not even socialise with lawyers.
So I can’t imagine the head of the Supreme Court of the USA or India or even the Chief Justice of Singapore getting a government contract or being involved in a business with a lawyer, especially one who acts for the government. Read the rest of this entry »
Perak Pakatan demands explanation over highway contract
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Judiciary on Tuesday, 21 February 2012
By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 21, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 — Perak Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders cried foul today over the award of a lucrative RM2.2 billion highway contract to companies linked to former Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi and Umno lawyer Datuk Hafarizam Harun, two key figures in the Perak constitutional crisis of 2009.
They demanded both men and the Najib administration explain the award and yesterday’s allegation by controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin that the deal was Barisan Nasional’s (BN) gift for their help in toppling PR in the northern state.
“(Prime Minister Datuk Seri) Najib Razak and the Works Ministry must come out to refute this allegation with proof that they carried out an open tender process and the award was based on the firms’ proper qualifications, track record and expertise in the field.
“As an MP and the former mentri besar of Perak, I demand an explanation from the authorities… failing which, this allegation would hold true,” PAS’s Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin told The Malaysian Insider. Read the rest of this entry »
DAP: Gov’t manipulated laws to legitimise debt
Posted by Kit in DAP, Finance, Good Governance on Friday, 17 February 2012
Malaysiakini
Feb 17, 2012
DAP has blamed the country’s rising debt level to the ruling BN having raised the statutory borrowing ceiling “multiple times” to legitimise the debt.
DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua slammed the government for modifying the ceiling “at its whims and fancies over the past decade, rendering meaningless the legal debt ceiling”.
Therefore, he said, the government’s debt at 53.8 percent of GDP as reported in the Economic Report 2011/2 is below the statutory borrowing ceiling of 55 percent, is purely the result of the government’s “creative manipulation”.
“What is worrying is the fact that the ‘statutory borrowing ceiling’ has actually been raised multiple times by the BN government over the past decade to ‘legalise’ the federal government debt level which has been increasing at a much faster pace than our GDP.
The 55 percent statutory borrowing ceiling only came into effect in July 2009 by order of current second finance minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah.
“Prior to the revised limit, the limit was set at 45 percent in June 2008, barely 13 months before by the then second finance minister Nor Md Yakcop,” said Pua in a statement today.
He added that the limit was raised to 40 percent five years before that, by then second minister finance minister Jamaluddin Jarjis.
“Hence our statutory borrowing ceiling has been raised by 15 percent of our GDP in just six years. Read the rest of this entry »
Zakat funds abuse vs abuse of NFC funds
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance on Monday, 2 January 2012
by Mat Zain Ibrahim
2 January 2012
For last year, several thousands of “Amils”(tithe collectors)were appointed nationwide. KL about 800 with a collection of RM7.5 mil. Selangor with 2437 amils that collected about RM16 mil.
The action taken against one amil in Kulaijaya for misappropriating RM19,510 should not undermine the integrity of the amils to be appointed for the coming Ramadhan 2012.
The action taken by Johor Police should be lauded and act as a deterrent to future amils.
However we are worried what would happen should many of the amils this year, make use of the tithes collected by themselves for personal matters after seeing what happened in MAIWP as confirmed by the Auditor General?
What would the Government say if many of the amils said they have used their collections first to pay for their medical expenses,or for preparations of their school-going children,or for performing Umrah or to settle several traffic summonses?,and that they would reimburse the money after getting some funds from somewhere?
If the Minister in charge of Islamic affairs can make use of the zakat funds, why can’t the amils? It is not a question of amount misused. The question is whether the zakat funds can be used other than those already stated in the Quran and the laws. Certainly the Zakat funds are not managed like “the Ah Longs” and “chettiars” run their business! Read the rest of this entry »
Scandals, real or imagined?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance on Friday, 30 December 2011
— 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. Read the rest of this entry »
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