Friday September 21, 2012

Tee Yong issues fresh challenge

By SIRA HABIBU
sira@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has been challenged to another round of debate over the Talamgate controversy this time, on policy.

MCA Young Professionals Bureau chief Datuk Chua Tee Yong said the debate would be confined to just that as per Khalid's request.

“I hereby challenge Khalid to debate on the policies of Pakatan Rakyat-led Selangor Government, including the state's valuation policy and its policy decisions, particularly in the Talam transaction,” he said in a statement here yesterday.

Chua also questioned whether the Selangor Government would accept the valuation carried out by the Valuation and Property Services Department or private surveyors on the land assets involved.

Noting that even though the department had valued the Bukit Beruntung 2 land at RM113mil, he said the Selangor Government had accepted the property from Talam Corporation Bhd for RM345mil.

“This is the rakyat's money. As such, there must be accountability,” he said.

In July, Chua had questioned how an exercise to recover RM392mil debt owed by Talam to state-linked companies ended up in questionable deals worth over RM1bil.

The RM1bil deals include Talam assets acquired by the Selangor Government at RM676mil to offset the debt and a RM392mil grant obtained by the Mentri Besar Incorporated to facilitate the debt recovery exercise.

On Khalid's demand for an apology, Chua said the Mentri Besar was not answerable to him but to the people of Selangor.

“Instead, Khalid should apologise to the rakyat of Selangor for failing to uphold the Pakatan Rakyat's CAT (competency, accountability and transparency) policy,” he said.

Describing the KPMG Transaction and Restructuring Sdn Bhd report, commissioned by Selangor Government, as merely a “public relations tool”, Chua said until today, the state had yet to clarify if this was an audit, a limited review or an advisory.

The Selangor Government, he added, should take note that companies which had been cleared by auditors could still be hauled up for questioning.

He said KPMG Advisory Unit executive director Chan Siew Mei had also stated that the scope of work was strictly to check on transactions and supporting documents, and not to see if these allegations were true.

Chua pointed out that when Chan was asked if she had found instances in which the value of land assets were lower than the debt it was to offset, she had replied that the “short answer is yes”.

“For all this work, apparently KPMG is paid RM500,000?” he asked.

Selangor Anti-Corruption Movement (GAPS) chairman Hamidzun Khairuddin dared Khalid to pick the time, date and venue for a dialogue with Chua.

“The people want Khalid to answer the questions raised, especially as the answers could not be found in the KPMG report,” he said.

Selangor Barisan deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Noh Omar said Khalid should be brave enough to face Chua and stop making flimsy excuses to evade the subject.

More News

News

Friday September 21, 2012

Tee Yong issues fresh challenge

By SIRA HABIBU sira@thestar.com.my

By SIRA HABIBU
sira@thestar.com.my