Does Permata have anything to hide, asks Khalid Samad

An opposition MP warned that any delay in the release of the statement of accounts from child enrichment programme Permata Negara (Permata) will only make it seem like the organisation under the Prime Minister's Department has something to hide.

"The question is, why are Permata's statements of accounts still not disclosed until now? Were there embezzlement or anything bad that they want to keep from the public eye?" asked Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) lawmaker Khalid Samad in a statement.

The dilly-dally in making the organisation's financial accounts available to opposition lawmakers making it seem to the people that Permata is not transparent, he warned.

Khalid said this further begs the question on whether Permata is linked to the personal interests of certain individuals, especially those close to political players.

He reiterated Pakatan Harapan's stand that the Permata programme should have been shut down as there was no need for it, and because it lacked both transparency and accountability.

Permata's assets, Khalid said, would be better used if it were distributed to other pre-school and early childhood development programmes already in existence under the education ministry.

He was commenting on the recent comment by aide to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's spouse, Rizal Mansor, who had claimed DAP leaders who visited Permata last October were satisfied and that critics of the early childhood programme should consult the delegation on their experience.

Rizal himself was responding to a joint statement by Pakatan Harapan calling for Permata to be closed down.

DAP assemblyperson Yeo Bee Yin who was part of the delegation, refuted Rizal's claim, accusing him of having selective amnesia as they were not fully satisfied with the explanations given and had asked for further information.

Yeo said her stance was consistent with Pakatan Harapan's position, adding that during the visit to Permata last year, she had also requested to see Permata's accounts and Rizal asked her to write to the auditor-general, before being given the run-around.

"However, the auditor-general replied to us to say that the accounts have been returned to Permata and it was only right that we ask for the accounts from Permata.

"We wrote again to Permata to ask for the accounts, to which we received a reply on Jan 10, 2017, saying that there is no need for them to disclose the accounts.

"We seemed to be have been kicked around without a proper reply from Permata. Perhaps Rizal can shed light on this?" Yeo asked.- Mkini