8/14/2019 TheSun 2009-11-02 Pager02 Mbi to Recover Rm450m in
Debts
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newswithout borders2 theSun | MONDAY NOVEMBER 2 2009
by Hemananthani [email protected]
PETALING JAYA: Selangors MentriBesar Incorporated (MBI) is to
launcha massive debt collection exercise torecover some RM450
million from itssubsidiary companies.
Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri KhalidIbrahim said MBI, the
holding companyfor all government-owned state compa-nies, had been
inactive for many yearsand was only revived last December.
Following the revival of MBI, thestate government conducted an
analy-sis on the assets and the liabilities of thesubsidiaries.
We found that substantial debts havenot been settled by the
subsidiaries. Wehave to take concerted efforts to collectthese
debts, said Khalid after attendinga Deepavali open house organised
bySubang MP R. Sivarasa yesterday.
MBI to recover
RM450m in debtsKhalid, who is also MBI chairman,said the amount
of RM450 million iden-tified was from a group of companiesunder
four subsidiaries.
He also said the exact size of thedebt to be recovered would be
an-nounced soon.
To ensure that these debts are notforgotten, Im transferring the
debts to
the states consolidated fund. Once infund, the companies will
continue to berecorded by the state. Then we (stategovernment) will
continue to collect thedebts and at the same time, get otherdebts
that are outstanding, said Khalid,adding that the money can be used
bythe state for welfare purposes.
Khalid also said the companies not
only had taken loans but also acquiredland but did not pay the
state, gotcontracts but did not fulfill the require-ments of the
state and other unusualactivities that are not normal in
usualbusiness.
In February, MBI appointed advisersto help in enhancing the
subsidiariesperformance. Among the areas coveredby the advisers
included evaluation ofexpenses.
A check revealed that there are ninecompanies under MBI
including Kumpu-lan Darul Ehsan Bhd, Permodalan NegriSelangor Bhd
(PNSB), the Selangor StateInvestment Centre Bhd and MSNS Hold-ings
Sdn Bhd.
One of companies, PNSB, came un-der fire recently as several
weaknessesand irregularities in maintenance of itsaccount records
were identified.
Among the records suspected to beinvolved include documents
submitted
to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) aswell as purchase and sale of
propertiesin Mecca, Saudi Arabia worth RM17.5million in 2007.
According to reports, the acquisitionwas made under the name of
then PNSBchairman Datuk Seri Dr. Khir Toyo, whowas also the former
mentri besar.
In March, the PNSB chief executiveofficer Datin Khairiyah Abu
Hassantestified at the Select Committee onCompetence,
Accountability and Trans-parency (Selcat)s probe on the
financialdealings of Balkis (the former SelangorElected
Representatives Wives WelfareAssociation) headed by Khirs
wife,Datin Seri Zahrah Kechik.
Some of the disclosures revealedinclude RM1.7 million that was
paidfor technical trips to two Disneylandtheme parks in the United
States andFrance but no reports were submittedafter that.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will be representedby 11 juniors at the
World Youth Chess Champi-onship in Antalya,Turkey, from Nov 11 to
23.
The team yesterday received the JalurGemilang from Malaysian
Chess Federationpresident Tan Sri Ramli bin Ngah Talib (pix).
Theflag was presented to the teams chef de missionMohd Zuhri bin
Abdullah in a brief ceremony inthe International Islamic University
in Gombakattended by participants, parents, guests, sup-porters and
sponsors.
The championship will see our juniors com-peting against some of
the best junior players
from around the world, MCF secretary GregoryLau said.
The players include Nur Nabila Azman Hisham,this years national
Girls Under-12 champion, andher younger sister Nur Najiha Azman
Hisham,who won the gold medal in the Girls Under-10standard chess
and rapid chess categories at thisyears Asean Age-Group Chess
Championship.
The youngest player in the Malaysian con-tingent will be Amier
Hamzah Mohd Zuhri whois registered to compete in the open
Under-8category and Teh De Zen who will be vying for tophonours in
the Girls Under-8 category.
Juniors to take on worlds best at chess tourney
by Husna [email protected]
KUALA LUMPUR: The high-powered taskforce on the 2008
Auditor-Generals Report willensure that things will not be swept
under thecarpet, says Minister in the Prime MinistersDepartment Tan
Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.
He said yesterday it showed the governmentswillingness to take
concrete action against thoseimplicated in the report which also
need to gothrough an investigation process so that theactual
problem could be identified.
This (task force) is an important part ofthe governments
transformation programmewhere we no longer will be seen as
sweepingthings under the carpet. Thats why we stronglysupport this
move, he said.
Speaking after the opening of Gerakans 38thNational Delegates
Conference here, Koh, whois Gerakan president, was asked to
comment
on the task force announced by Prime MinisterDatuk Seri Najib
Abdul Razak on Friday.
Najib said the government had set up a taskforce headed by Chief
Secretary to the Govern-ment Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan to study the
re-port and initiate action against those responsiblefor financial
irregularities and power abuse.
Koh said in previous cases, according to con-vention, the Public
Accounts Committee (PAC)would go through the annual
auditor-generalsreport and call up different government
depart-ments and agencies in the process.
But usually, after the meetings, queries, thisand that, it is
left only in the report. This time, bysetting up the task force,
the government hasdemonstrated its determination and dedicationto
do something about it concretely.
The minister said he was not blaming thePAC or saying it has
been ineffective, but whatPAC has done before needed to be followed
upby the government machinery.
Asked on the Malaysian Anti-CorruptionCommissions (MACC) role,
he said MACCwould always act upon reports and evidence.
It should start going into this.
Task forceensures nothingis swept under
the carpet: Koh
KOTA BARU: Thousands of passengers, planningto return to the
city after spending their weekendwith loved ones in Kelantan, were
stranded atbus terminals when 110 Cityliner bus drivers inthe East
Coast state staged a boycott from 6amto 12.15pm yesterday.
According to the drivers representative ZulkifliIsmail, the
boycott was due to the managementsdeduction of RM100 from their
salaries for no
apparent reason and failure of the managementto furnish them
with their salary slips since July.
We demand to know the reason for thededuction and the action of
the management,he said here yesterday.
Bernama was informed that the drivers werepaid RM300 by the
management before HariRaya Aidilfitri but did not state whether it
was anincentive or a loan.
Kelantan Cityliner assistant manager HadliHussin said the
drivers were urged to wait until
Wednesday for clarification from the head officein Kuala Lumpur.
Bernama
Thousands stranded as bus drivers stage boycott
Task forces to-do list
Ismail, who is also in the task force, is in Parison official
duty. It is learnt that the attorney-generaland MACC deputy
commissioner Datuk Seri AbuKassim Mohammad are unable to attend,
but willjoin future meetings.
The meeting is expected to pore over the chain ofcommand in the
approval process of several deals.The task force members will also
discuss the non-enforcement of general orders and due process,
aswell as the role and even culpability of the Treasury,the source
of all funding.
The source said the task force will also perusethe setting up of
tender boards in the respectiveministries.
Ultimately, the task forces duty is not only tocatch crooks but
also to fine-tune and revamp theprocess of appointments, approvals
and payment.
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