Ismail Sabri under fire for ‘sleeping on job’

Pakatan Rakyat leaders rap the minister for his aggressive actions on Suaram but snail-paced reaction to alleged law-breaching crony companies

KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat leaders today accused the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob of “sleeping on his job” when it comes to alleged law-breaching “crony companies”.

DAP national publicity chief Tony Pua pointed that Sabri is also the minister leading what the opposition described as a gung-ho “persecution” against rights group Suaram but failed to show the same enthusiasm against complaints on politically-linked outfits.

The human rights group is now facing the possibility of shutting down after the authorities said it had allegedly breached registration laws.

The group’s staff and opposition leaders claimed the “witch-hunt” against Suaram following its purported role in exposing the Scorpense submarine scandal implicating the country’s top leadership including Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Pua said the blatant double-standard was reflected when Sabri gave a lacklustre response to the National Defence and Aerospace Industries’ (NADI) failure to file its accounts with the Companies Commission of Malaysia since 2007, saying he “would only act if a formal complaint was lodged”.

The company is partially owned by the Ministry of Finance.

“This is the absolutely laziest answer from a minister,” Pua, who is MP for Petaling Jaya Utara, told reporters in Parliament here.

“Firstly it is not the job of the public to do his job on checking if every company on CCM have duly submitted their accounts on a timely basis. It is the role of CCM to do so,” he said further.

Monopoly
Pua added that the entire CCM database is electronic which means that a complete list of companies who have not submitted their accounts on a timely basis can be obtained with the press of a button.

NADI, then known as Aerospace Industries Sdn Bhd, was accused of power abuse involving lucrative defence contracts in the early 2000.

Its owner, Ahmad Johan, was said to have virtual control over the aerospace industry, monopolising small and medium-sized defence contracts through several companies including producing rifles, aircraft components and mortars and grenades.

A police report was lodged against him in 2003 but no action has been taken since.

Subang PKR lawmaker R Sivarasa, speaking at the same press conference, said in a reply given by the government in Parliament stated that no follow ups were made due to the lack of credible evidence.

“This is a serious case involving national security as defence contracts are involved,” said the PKR leader, adding that he would pursue this matter further now that CCM records show Ahmad’s company had again violated the law.

Pua said it was “absolutely ridiculous” for the government to award contracts to company who do not meet basic financial requirements.

No related government official was available for immediate comment.