Bukit Bintang Bersatu Youth chief Mohd Noorhisyam Abdul Karim (above) has denied taking money from Ramadan bazaar traders in Kuala Lumpur's Jalan Masjid India and is mulling lodging a police report on the matter.
In a phone call to Malaysiakini, Mohd Noorhisyam said the only funds he collected from the traders was to pay for the RM6,238 fee imposed by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) for licensing, cleaning and rental for the lots.
"I collected the exact amount, and that is all. If there is any evidence that I accepted money, asked for money, furnish it," he said.
He said the only other payments the traders had to make were to a Bersatu youth exco member who had rented out canopies to the traders.
Mohd Noorhisyam said he was not sure how much was collected for the tents.
"We did not collect any (other) money from the traders. If anyone collected money it was not us (Bukit Bintang Bersatu)," he said.
The Bukit Bintang Bersatu youth chief is accused of having collected up to RM5,000 each from traders who wished to set up food stalls at the bazaar.
Traders that Malaysiakini spoke to in the stretch between Masjid India and the Mydin hypermarket in Pudu said they had to pay at least RM3,000 for one lot.
Quizzed about this, Mohd Noorhisyam said it was possible that the traders had confused this for payment to open a stall at a Saturday night market in the same area.
"A trader told me that he has to pay RM2,500 just to operate on two Saturdays for the night market. I fear that this is what is being connected to my lots. I hope that is not the case," he said.
He said all he wanted to do was to help traders who could not get a lot from DBKL to earn some money ahead of Hari Raya Aidilfitri which is tomorrow.
"I am hurt in that I only wanted to help people but this (the accusations) happened instead," he said.
He also said that even though DBKL had approved 80 lots for him the actual space given was only enough for 53 lots.
He said he had followed proper procedures to secure the bazaar space and that Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun had also approved a list of traders eligible to take part in the Ramadan bazaar during one of their meetings.
He said that Bukit Bintang Bersatu information chief Azrul Feisal Abdullah had accompanied him to the meeting.
Umno fingered
Fong confirmed this when contacted, but said the list was for traders who would get unallocated bazaar space and was subject to further approval from DBKL.
Noorhisyam said his plans to open up the Ramadan bazaar along Jalan Masjid India was approved by Bukit Bintang Bersatu deputy chief Shamsul Anuar Mohd Khairi during a post-GE14 meeting.
He said division chief Zailani Isausuludin was not present at the meeting as he was difficult to reach via phone. Shamsul Anuar confirmed approving Noorhisyam's plans as long as it followed the law.
Zailani, meanwhile, confirmed he had not attended the meeting as he had other matters to attend to.
However, he insisted that his approval as division chief was still required, and denied that he was difficult to contact.
"You contacted me without problem, right?" he told Malaysiakini.
The two division leaders appeared to have different opinions on Noorhisyam and the scandal erupting around him
Anuar defended the division youth chief, saying the allegations and the leak of the DBKL approval letter given to Noorhisyam were possibly the work of Umno.
"These are evil lies by Umno who was destroyed in the general election. Who else would know about all these prices beside them?" he said.
Zailani, however, did not appear to trust Noorhisyam's claims of innocence.
"The former prime minister also said he did not know who put money in his account," he said, referring to former premier Najib Abdul Razak and the 1MDB scandal.
He added that this would not have been an issue if Noorhisyam did not use the party's name in the matter.
He said he would leave the matter to the authorities to investigate.
Zailani, Bersatu Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, and DAP's Fong are all mulling lodging a report with the MACC over the matter. - Mkini
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