COMMENT Johari Abdul Ghani made a dangerous remark when he likened the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) to the controversial Perwaja Steel and Bank Negara’s forex losses of RM30 billion.
Every time there is a failure in a government-linked business venture, the culprits get away with the money, but the country’s coffers end up being used for the bailout, often in the billions of ringgit. This is not the way that a finance minister should manage the taxpayers’ money.
This is what is troubling me when Johari said: “Well, basically I can’t give you an assurance. At the end of the day, we will try our best to resolve it without touching anything from the government.”
Be straight to the point. Johari should be transparent by stating that the government will not be using tax payers’ money or Petronas money to settle the debts incurred by 1MDB, including the amount of US$6.5 billion (over RM25 billion) sought by the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).
Money collected from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) should be used for the country’s development, and probably for the education of the younger generation of Malaysians, not to settle loans borrowed by 1MDB.
IPIC is currently seeking arbitration from both 1MDB and Malaysia’s Finance Ministry. Undoubtedly, if 1MDB is unable to settle the amount, the Finance Ministry would have to fork out the money, or would it not, Johari?
We want to see action first
Johari was quick to assure the Malaysian public that actions would be taken against those involved in the 1MDB scandal. For the failure of 1MDB, Johari should therefore hold Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak accountable, if he vows to resolve the 1MDB issue “transparently”.
For one, we are asking him what actions have so far been taken against those involved in transferring billions of ringgit to a British Virgin Islands-registered Aabar Investment company known to be a dummy company which has nothing to do with the Abu Dhabi Aabar Investment company?
Under Article 117 of 1MDB’s Memorandum of Association, Najib is the only one who can approve any form of investments made by 1MDB. Since it was exposed that 1MDB had transferred the money to the BVI company, what has Najib done about it? If not, can we expect Johari to order an immediate investigation to find out who is involved and where the money has gone to?
Failing to do this is to defy the decree made by the Conference of Malay Rulers last year, by taking the decree lightly.
It is hard for me to believe that Najib is not aware of what he signed, especially since it involved billions of ringgit of public funds. Therefore, I find it unpalatable when we are told about Najib’s signature being just for corporate governance formality.
This is nothing new. Over the RM42 million that also went into his personal account, but we are also told that Najib did not notice the transaction. Unless we are saying that RM42 million is just a drop in the ocean, it is hard to believe that Najib would not have become alarmed over the amount of money that had been transferred into his account.
In the first place, Johari, has Najib been questioned by the authorities over the scandal? Would he now deny that he ever signed the approval to transfer the huge amount of money to Aabar (BVI)? If he did not, and now, it is already out in the open that the money had gone into a black hole, what has he done about it?
In short, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng can also tell the court that he was not fully aware of the market value of his bungalow since the price was just right for him. And I think most people would also agree with me that Lim bought the property because the price was right for him.
Yet, we see Lim being prosecuted, and paraded as being corrupt. A comic illustration by a local cartoonist, JOCA, depicts it well. What is the outcome of the investigation on Najib? What we hear is ‘case closed’ after the changeover of the attorney-general.
Lim’s case is just a matter of RM2 million, and even that, it is just a case of willing-buyer, willing-seller situation. In the case of the Tun Razak Exchange and the military air base in Sungai Besi, as pointed out by Saifuddin Abdullah, the buyer and the seller is Najib.
Najib in the Finance Ministry sold the land at greatly discounted price to Najib in 1MDB. Johari, what do you have to say? Why do we not learn from the mistakes made by our leaders in the past, where billions of ringgit have been burnt away due to their folly? Why does Johari still use these examples of failure as the country’s yardsticks on how to deal with the 1MDB scandal?
STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008. -Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.