IDRIS JALA AND PAUL LOW NEED TO DO A LOT OF EXPLAINING

It just shows that when they are outside the government they scream about transparency and good governance and call for an end to corruption, abuse of power, nepotism and cronyism, but once they are in the government they do the very thing they oppose.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Paul Low Seng Kuan is a civil rights activist who became a Senator and a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in May last year. Until 24th May 2013, Paul Low was the President of Transparency International, an organisation that fights for transparency and good governance, and for an end to corruption, abuse of power, nepotism and cronyism that has been plaguing Malaysia for many decades.

Idris Jala is also a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and the CEO of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu). Idris Jala used to work for Shell until 2005 when the government appointed him the CEO of the ailing Malaysia Airlines.

Dr Ngau Boon Keat is a close friend of Paul Low who was appointed a board member of the Johor Petroleum Development Corporation (JPDC), the body that decided on the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC), a project that Dr Ngau’s Dialog Group Berhad has an interest. Dr Ngau is the co-founder and major shareholder of Dialog Group Berhad.

The squeaky-clean Paul Low and Idris Jala will both have a lot of explaining to do as to why they think this is a not serious case of conflict of interest and tell us why they think that transparency and good governance have been served with the involvement of a company that Dr Ngau has an interest in a project that is decided by the board in which he sits in.

And would not the fact that Paul Low appointed his close friend to the board of a corporation already be unethical in itself even before taking into consideration that that same board approved the involvement in a project a company that one of the board members has a major interest?

It just shows that when they are outside the government they scream about transparency and good governance and call for an end to corruption, abuse of power, nepotism and cronyism, but once they are in the government they do the very thing they oppose.

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Rep queries Ngau’s appointment

(NST) – The snail-pace progress of the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC) project received a slap yesterday when a Johor state assemblyman questioned the appointment of a major player in the project as a board member of the Johor Petroleum Development Corporation (JPDC).

Kempas assemblyman Datuk Tengku Putra Haron Aminurrashid Tengku Hamid Jumat questioned the basis of Dialog Group Berhad’s executive chairman Tan Sri Ngau Boon Keat’s appointment, saying that he should not be involved in any decision-making process in the state corporation.

He said it was only proper for JPDC to set up an advisory council and appoint Ngau as one of the members.

“Ngau is the main shareholder in Dialog, which is among the key players in the PIPC project. If he is appointed as a board member of JPDC, there will be a conflict of interest,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

Based on good corporate governance and laws, Haron said the appointment should not raise questions about conflict of interest, adding that there should be transparency.

“If the role of Dialog in the board does not raise such a question, then I have no qualms about it,” said Haron.

In an immediate response, JPDC said in implementing the mandates given to the corporation, it drew upon the guidance of the federal and state governments, as well as advice by established industry experts with knowledge and experience in the Malaysian downstream oil and gas industry who are contributing in their individual capacity.

It said this had enabled JPDC to prepare a comprehensive ecosystem and infrastructure for the downstream oil and gas industry, especially in PIPC.

“As a facilitation agency, JPDC does not get involved in the investment decisions of companies, nor in giving approval to investment applications.

“Investment approving authority still rests with the designated agencies, such as the Malaysia Industrial Development Authority and the relevant state government,” it said in a statement.