RM68m Paya Indah Wetlands Fiasco: Need for Accountability

by R. Nadeswaran aka citizen-nades

“FOR the last 20 years Muralee Menon has been actively involved in large-scale business management portfolios and start-ups. In the last 12 years he has provided his expertise as chairman/CEO levels, as entrepreneur/investor and as national adviser. Amongst his portfolios, Menon was a member of the National Healthcare Financing Committee in Malaysia. Besides developing organisational systems and infusing innovation, his objective is developing knowledge-based healthcare organisations through evidence-based care, implementation of integrated care pathways and uptake of ICT through clinical workflows. Menon provides his expertise in these areas across Asia.

“In the last six years as CEO, he led the development and completion of a 250-bed tertiary hospital in Malaysia.”

THE accuracy of the above which is reproduced verbatim from a booklet produced by the Libyan British Business Council (LBBC) in conjunction with the visit of a delegation to Tripoli last year to promote healthcare partnerships cannot be verified. After the fall of the Gadaffi regime, British businesses and even politicians have been put in rather embarrassing situations over their past dealings. This prompted a source to send over a copy of the booklet, citing “Malaysian presence” and “links to Libya”.

The beating of drums over the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) on the alleged misuse of government funds and AirAsia’s “war” over the increase in airport tax prompted a re-look of what I first wrote in 2007 about the Paya Indah Wetlands, especially after a perusal of the booklet.

What has the LBBC got to do with the wetlands project? It is true that Menon was “actively involved in large-scale business management portfolios and start-ups” and the Paya Indah project was one of them.

Paya Indah Wetlands: A Dismal Failure

A colossal sum of RM68 million in taxpayers’ money was provided for this project in 2001 and today, it is a standing monument of waste, inefficiency and above all, another illustration of what Public Accounts Committee chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid recently described as “weak management of the government”.

So shouldn’t Menon and Datuk Ahmad Talib, who are listed as directors of the Malaysian Wetlands Foundation, be held accountable for the money and the failure of the project? When it opened, it was flaunted as a premier eco-tourism attraction. What remains is a reflection of the malaise described by Azmi.

Four years ago, I raised these questions in this column and it is worthwhile repeating them: Doesn’t anyone worry that RM68 million belonging to the people has gone down the drain? Isn’t anyone making an attempt to recover at least part of the money? Shouldn’t the authorities be using the full brunt of the law to prosecute those responsible? Shouldn’t someone be able to tell us how and where the money went? Shouldn’t the board of directors be accountable for this colossal loss?

For good measure, I said that number of visits to foreign lands under the pretext of “helping the oppressed” is not going to atone for the sins committed locally. No amount of “doing good” and the publicity that accompanies it is going to erase the fact that public money was misused right under our noses.

In the course of a civil suit against the foundation, a High Court judge remarked: “(All) gonedown together with Wetlands … All the companies dealing with it … Semua bungkus(folded).” Shouldn’t this judicial pronouncement, let alone the exposé by this newspaper, prompt the authorities into action? Pemandu and related agencies tried to pooh-pooh the Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International with unconvincing arguments, but when no action is taken when government funds go to waste, can anyone perceive it differently?

Malaysian Public need to know what happened

Couldn’t citizens be told how that RM68 million was used or misused? To the authorities, here’s what Wetlands International Asia Pacific executive director Faizal Parish who was involved in formulating the project’s master plan told me way back in 2007: “If it were up to us, the cost would be minimal … from a few hundred thousand ringgit to a few million. RM68 million is way too much to spend on the park. We were focused on the natural resources of the wetlands as an attraction, but there were others more focused on erecting elaborate structures.”

Politicians on both sides of the divide have gone into overdrive over the NFC project but little attention has been paid to other projects where costs have escalated for no valid reason or the project has not taken off. Is it because Menon was the “adviser” to the cabinet committee on sports or because Ahmad is now a director in a media conglomerate?

Let me reiterate that I am not accusing anyone of any wrongdoing. What is needed is an open disclosure of what and why the project went wrong. It is only proper that both these people, in accordance with the statutory requirements of them as directors and in the public interest, tell us everything. As it involves public money, this certainly would not be asking too much. Or will Pemandu and the corruption NKRA offer a plausible explanation on the action or lack of it?

R. Nadeswaran wants to remind the authorities that issues raised in the past should not be swept under the carpet. He is theSun’s UK correspondent based in London and can be reached at: citizen-nades@thesundaily.com