Will there be accountability for Covid-19 funds?

When some things don’t add up, can a gun help balance the accounts? It is not in the least suggested that this methodology be used, but in times of crisis, one learns valuable training on transparency and accountability.

It was two weeks after the tsunami hit north and east Sri Lanka on Boxing Day in 2004. Photographer Raj Kumar Soman and I were inside a huge zinc-roofed store – the logistics hub of the Tamil Tigers in Killinochi in Sri Lanka - where a lorry load of donations from Malaysians were being unloaded. With clipboards in hand, we were monitoring the unloading when a boy, who could be no more than 15 approached us.

“What are you doing?” he asked. We explained that we have to account for all the boxes because these were donated by generous Malaysians for the people affected by the tsunami.

“You sit down there, sir. If anyone touches any of these boxes, I will but a bullet in his head.” It was an order from a Tiger cadre with a Smith & Wesson tucked in his belt. We asked for bottled water to quench our thirst in the sweltering heat.

When the whole unloading exercise was completed, the same boy came to us with a piece of paper: “Sign this.”

“What is this?”

“Sir, this is for the two bottles of water we gave you. We took it from our store and we must keep a record of everything.” That was more than a mere lesson in humility and humbleness – the bearer of donations has to account for two bottles of water from a donee!

Transparency and accountability are basic traits of good governance. Despite all the killing, maiming and destruction, the Tigers earned a reputation for being above board in their dealings and hence, they continued to receive aid despite the atrocities.

As this is being written, millions of ringgit have been collected by the Malaysian government. Business leaders have been lining up with their mock cheques handing them over to members of the cabinet including the prime minister.

Elsewhere, individuals and groups are raising money too – helping in their own way to help the needy. To all of them, nothing less than a "Syabas!" is due.

But some questions:

• What happens after the money is handed over?
• How is it being spent?
• Who decides how it should be spent?
• Are there proper procurement procedures?
• Are the best prices obtained for the purchase of goods and services?
• Are they dealing with reputable suppliers or have those with tainted hands returned to fray?
• Will they make public an income and expenditure statement and support it with documents?
• These are some of the questions that have arisen following various announcements by ministers.

Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa announced this week that a Crisis Management Centre will set up a bank account under Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to receive donations from the public.

This is to cover the cost of purchasing essentials for some 17,000 residents, mostly foreign workers, staying near the Kuala Lumpur Wholesale Market who are affected by the enhanced movement control order (MCO) there.

This, he said, would be done to avoid using taxpayers’ money to finance the cost of providing supplies to foreigners who include Myanmar nationals, Rohingyas and those carrying United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees identification cards. In short, he expects citizens to look after their upkeep and welfare. But again, will the money be spent prudently?

So, is this another “secret” bank account and the signatories not accountable to anyone? How do you expect people to part with their money, albeit for a good cause, when they have no confidence that it will be spent for the cause or at the extreme, maybe on another Birkin bag?

Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has refuted allegations that the government is providing food aid not worth the budgeted RM100 per pack. Referring to the complaint by Rasah MP Cha Kee Chin, he explained that this “smaller” form of aid came from NGOs which sent them to the Social Welfare Department for distribution.

Let us for a moment buy the minister’s story. Now, more questions:

• How many such packets of food were donated?
• Who are the NGOs or individuals who donated?
• Who keeps an account on such donations and who decides what goes where?
• Does this aid complement or replace the one worth RM100 promised by the government?

Now, the most important question: What is happening to the Perikatan Nasional government’s promise to deliver 1,000 food packs for the B40 lower-income group in each Parliament constituency?

And this is a lot of money. At RM100,000 per constituency and with 22 constituencies, it adds up to a massive RM22.2 million. If you use NGO donations, then, where is this humongous amount going? Let’s have plausible and credible answers of a change – not one-liners like “Semuanya OK”.

On social media is a letter from the Health Ministry identifying suppliers of protective gear to hospitals. One of the companies on the list is one "Jakel Trading".

Does the name sound familiar? Unless you are one of them who has forgotten the 1MDB saga during this period when our focus is on the coronavirus

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) last month failed in its application to forfeit RM10.7 million it seized from Jakel Trading Sdn Bhd, believed to be linked to the 1MDB scandal. The High Court judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin made the decision after he was satisfied that the payment received by Jakel Trading was a regular business transaction.

Well, enough said for the record. Are we going back to old ways of the abang-adik crony system? Are we going back to the era when it is not what you sold, but how well you knew the buyer?

By the way, how is the RM1.3 billion that was repatriated to Malaysia from the funds that were stolen from 1MDB going to be spent? Who’s keeping check or will it turn out to be a case similar to a "donation" from an Arab prince?

It is for all right-thinking Malaysians to demand for some kind of accountability from this government failing which thieves, felons and kleptocrats will dictate our lives, how we lead them and how we spend our money.

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R Nadeswaran says every sen which the government receives and spends must be accounted according to procedures that have been set out – no excuses, no short cuts. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com - Mkini