Govt guarantee to TH depositors will be defended, says Dr Zulkifli

 

Menara Tabung Haji in Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur. -- NSTP/ MUSTAFFA KAMAL

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will continue to defend its guarantee commitment to more than nine million Tabung Haji (TH) depositors.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri said Muslims in the country were proud of the achievement of TH and the organisation had become a beacon of hope for the Muslim community in the country.

He said this in light of a recent claim in a report that the Perikatan Nasional government was considering to withdraw its guarantee commitment to TH depositors.

"The title of the published article (in the report) is not true and that it did not reflect the government's stance on the matter.

"I want to stress that the government guarantee to more than nine million depositors will continue to be honoured.

"We are on the right direction. With the continuous support from Muslim community in the country, we will continue to uphold their aspiration of seeing TH moving forward," said Zulkifli in a Facebook post today.

The post was accompanied by a screenshot of the report, believed to be published by a portal that was not identified.

The report came about following the meeting between Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) and Finance Ministry on Jan 14 over some improvements that are being considered for the governance of TH.

Since the change in the federal administration, Zulkifli noted that TH had registered excellent performance that was reflected in the acquisition of Menara VSQ1 from Bukit Damansara Development Sdn Bhd and the amount of deposits that reached RM75.9 billion as of Dec 30 last year.

Elaborating on meeting held between his department and the Finance Ministry, Zulkifli said the discussion was on the proposal to introduce a structural reform that would help TH generate higher revenue, subsequently benefitting the depositors.

"The concern raised by some quarters was outside the focus (not raised during) of the discussion that took place yesterday (Jan 14)," he said.

Zulkifli did not identify any group that he was referring to in the post.

Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki in his Facebook post had said that Umno Youth viewed seriously the statement made by Zulkifli, which he claimed was on the plans to review the provision of government commitment and the possibility of amending the Tabung Haji Act 1995. - NST