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Monday, November 17, 2014

IS THIS HOW TO LOOK OUT FOR THE PEOPLE? Pas 'watchdog' exco approved Khalid's RM2.6 mil payout to aides

IS THIS HOW TO LOOK OUT FOR THE PEOPLE? Pas 'watchdog' exco approved Khalid's RM2.6 mil payout to aides
Selangor paid over RM2.6 million in "golden handshakes" to the aides of former Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim when he stepped down two months ago, a decision made in the last days of his term in office.
In a document sighted by The Malaysian Insider, RM2.27 million in compensation and RM376,000 in lieu of three months' notice were allegedly paid to Khalid's eight members of staff.
It is understood the payments were approved by Khalid, who is a member of the MBI board, and his four-man PAS exco on September 22, in one of his last acts as MB.
The document showed that of the payments, the highest amount of RM695,400 was allegedly paid to Faekah Husin, former CEO of state-owned Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI). She allegedly received RM581,400 in compensation and another RM114,000 in lieu of three months' notice.
Khalid's press secretary Arfa'eza Abdul Aziz was allegedly paid RM358,000 in compensation and another RM55,000 in lieu of three months' notice while his political secretary Mustapa Mohd Talib was allegedly paid RM265,000.
The rest were allegedly paid between RM97,000 and RM230,000 each in compensation, and between RM18,000 and RM69,000 in lieu of the three months' notice.
Faekah and Arfa'eza did not respond to calls and text messages from The Malaysian Insider while Khalid has denied any impropriety, saying he adhered to proper procedures.
English daily The Star reported Khalid as saying the payments were made under a voluntary separation scheme (VSS) which were offered to the staff when he left office.
Brushing aside concerns over the amounts, Khalid said the VSS payouts made up less than 2% of MBI's RM112 million cash reserves.
He also said the payments were approved by MBI's board of directors, which includes the state secretary and state financial officer, as well as the state executive council.
Khalid's successor Mohamed Azmin Ali admitted yesterday that there were elements of wrongdoing in the matter and that MBI would discuss next week the next steps to be taken.
A source told The Malaysian Insider that initial investigations by the state audit department found that proper procedures were not followed and that the payments were hurriedly made.
The department is still looking into other aspects, such as terms of compensation and whether the MBI board of directors were aware that such huge amounts were paid out.
"They were not terminated, they resigned, so who approved such a large amount? On what basis were they given such big payouts and were procedures followed? These are the things we are looking at and a full report on this is expected to be out soon," said the source.
Seri Andalas assemblyman Dr Xavier Jayakumar, who had tweeted about the issue, expressed concern over the "huge amounts" and whether due diligence was followed.
"It is not a question of right or wrong, it is a moral question. This involves public funds and questions arise as to the mindset of the people at that time," he said, adding that the state public accounts committee should investigate this.
He said there was no need for the aides to leave in the first place, pointing out that they could have continued their duties until the new MB decided otherwise.
PKR sacked Khalid in August after he failed to attend a disciplinary committee hearing over allegations concerning the Selangor water-restructuring exercise, his debt settlement with Bank Islam and the proposed Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex).
All these came amid a tussle for the Selangor menteri's besar position that started early this year, with the PKR leadership wanting him to step down to make way for PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
The imbroglio ended when Azmin, the PKR deputy president, was appointed the new menteri besar in September. –TMI

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