Malaysian Association for the Blind president Tan Sri Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar says the allegations by the Blind Solidarity Movement have tarnished MAB's reputation. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, May 15, 2015.The Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) has refuted claims by the Blind Solidarity Movement (BSM) that their top management are corrupt and have misappropriated the associations’ funds.
They claimed that the allegations made by the Blind Solidarity Movement spokesman Hasidi Hassan, who is also MAB’s vice-president, are totally false, malicious and defamatory.
The MAB council members are also considering taking legal action against the BSM for defaming them.
“The allegation made by BSM has severely damaged the good name and reputation of MAB as an organisation serving the blind.
“Their allegations have tarnished our reputation with the donors who have been contributing funds to the association for the blind,” he said at a press conference yesterday at the MAB.
It was reported that BSM had wanted MAB to answer their queries on development plans of Taman Harapan in Temerloh, Pahang. They had also questioned the proposed move by MAB to sell the Tun Hussein Onn National Eye Hospital (Thoneh) in Petaling Jaya.
Tengku Azlan explained that the Taman Harapan project was decided by the MAB council and was approved during their annual general meeting years ago.
“Taman Harapan is a training facility for the blind which was built on MAB’s land. The council’s decision and the terms of the contract have been transparently documented according to governance and accountability.
“Payment to the contractor was based on the certification of the Quantity Surveyor for the project and subject to the council’s approval. All the payments were done transparently and Hasidi is aware of the matter,” he said.
As for the issue on Thoneh, Tengku Azlan said the eye hospital was not for sale.
Tengku Azlan also explained the allegations that MAB’s fixed deposit had been reduced by RM11 million to RM6 million.
“The funds had been withdrawn and legitimately used for MAB’s operation of the facilities. MAB as a registered society gets its annual accounts audited by an external auditor and tabled at the AGM yearly and subsequently submitted to the Registrar of Societies,” he said.
On the allegations that MAB chief executive officer Datuk Ganesan Supayah had leased his premises in Rawang to MAB at an inflated price, Tengku Azlan said the claims were untrue.
He said that Thoneh had rented the premises to use it as an eye clinic and the rest of the premises was used by MAB to run a call centre training programme for the blind.
“The allegation is that MAB is paying RM9,500 whereas the market value is RM7,500. The rental is RM9,000 and not as alleged. A professional valuation was furnished to Thoneh,” he said.
Tengku Azlan said that all decisions were made with the approval of the council.
“No one here can solely make decisions on their own for the blind community. It has to be done with the council’s approval. We have auditors going through the accounts yearly and all the funds are accounted for,” he said.
Tengku Azlan said that all the council members were volunteers and some had dedicated more than 25 years of service to the association.
“The council members do not receive any allowances or fees for their services. Not many people would volunteer to help the blind as it is not an easy task,” he said.
Tengku Azlan also said that they had received another memorandum from the BSM yesterday.
“We will look into their requests and see how we can accommodate them. We have also set up a committee to look into their grouses,” he said.
- TMI
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