What’s happening to the funds, asks PKR leader

G Rajendran alleges that status of the funds allocated for training plantation workers' children is unknown as the two entities entrusted with the funds do not provide annual reports.

PETALING JAYA: Where are the annual reports of both Suriya Cooperative, and Special Secretariat for Empowerment of Indian Entrepreneurs (SEED), a PKR leader today asked the entities helmed by MIC president G Palanivel.

The PKR man also queried the MIC deputy president Dr S Subramaniam, who is also a director of both entities, on the management of the RM50mil allocated in the 2013 budget for Tekun project to facilitate training for the 3,200 plantation workers’ children, to mould them into skilled workers.

In a press statement, Malacca PKR vice chairman G Rajendran said the community is in the dark as to the total funds channelled to Suriya Cooperative and SEED, respectively and how the funds were managed.

“It is already one year. But, there is no annual report from the two organisations,” he said, adding that there were also numerous complaints that the management of both entities had misused their positions and abused their powers.

Rajendran claimed that Suriya had awarded an MIC member RM70,000 and that, there could be a conflict of interest as the MIC chairman was also the chairman and a board member of Suriya.

Suriya Cooperative was formed in 2011 to manage the two National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) entry point projects – Small Retailer Transformation (Tukar), and Automotive Workshop Modernisation (Atom) – where the government had allocated RM13mil for training Indian youths under the projects.

SEED, on the other hand, is a unit under the Economic Transformation Plan (ETP) of the Prime Minister’s Department and had been allocated RM230mil, which included the RM50mil under the Tekun project, to provide soft loans to Indian entrepreneurs.

“Being cabinet ministers, Palanivel and Subramaniam must release the organisations annual report to the public within two week times. Otherwise, PKR would take it to the next level by lodging a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC),” he said.

On the RM50mil for estate workers’ children, Rajendran insisted that Subramaniam is responsible for management of the funds as he was the Human Resource Minister during the allocation.

“The Human Resource Ministry was entrusted with the funds allocated for 2013. Subramaniam was the minister until parliament was dissolved on April 3,” he said.

“Since the Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced the 2013 budget last year, no one has asked or talked about the allocation. Until today, the whereabouts of the RM50mil is a mystery. If the money has been spent, Subramaniam must inform the Indian community on how the money was spent and where the balance is, if any.”