Anwar Ibrahim |
- Pua: KDSB Didn’t Pay Taxes For 13 Years
- Zaid: Pertemuan Dengan RPK Atas Prinsip Persahabatan
- Isu Empat ADUN Keadilan Selangor Letak Jawatan
- A Malaysian Palace Fit for a King
| Pua: KDSB Didn’t Pay Taxes For 13 Years Posted: 30 Jun 2010 06:42 AM PDT From Malaysia Today PJ Utara MP Tony Pua today revealed that Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB), the key contractor in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project, has not paid taxes for the past 13 years totalling RM328.4 million. "A business newspaper report today revealed that KDSB has not paid its taxes since 1997 because it disputed the figure given by the Internal Revenue Board (IRB). If there is a dispute, why didn’t KDSB solve it as soon as possible instead of allowing it to drag on for so long?" he asked. Pua also criticised KDSB's owner, Tiong King Sing (who holds a 64% stake in company), and is the chairman of Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club. "It doesn't mean that just because he (Tiong) is a prominent banker of BN, he allows his company to get away with not paying taxes," he added. A report released by the Companies Commission of Malaysia on KDSB's key financial information stated that KDSB has RM932.6 million in current assets. Pua said that legally IRB can seize KDSB's assets to recover the tax money. "KDSB has more than enough assets for IRB to seize and I think IRB should do it immediately, without having to go to the Port Klang Authority (PKA)," he said. "If not, at the very least, charge the directors as they are the ones responsible for tax matters," Pua said. ‘Crazy figures’ Faizal Abdullah, a former Kapar Umno Youth chief, has recently been appointed the new chief executive officer of KDSB to replace Tiong. In an interview with a local newspaper, Faizal denied that the company has outstanding taxes of RM328.4 million, saying the tax figures released by the IRB were "crazy". Faizal also challenged IRB to bring the company to court to prove its figures, saying that KDSB always clears its taxes on time. PKA was due to pay the next instalment amounting to RM772 million in 2010 to various bondholders on behalf of KDSB. But it was forced to back down when it was discovered that KDSB has outstanding taxes due amounting to RM 328.4 million. In 2009, PKA sued KDSB for RM1.4 billion, citing huge cost overruns associated with the PKFZ project. |
| Zaid: Pertemuan Dengan RPK Atas Prinsip Persahabatan Posted: 30 Jun 2010 06:30 AM PDT Dari Malaysiakini Penyelaras Pakatan Rakyat, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim membidas ahli parlimen Bayan Baru, Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim yang mempersoalkan pertemuannya dengan Raja Petra di Manchester pada tahun lalu dan menjadikannya isu di Dewan Rakyat hari ini. Dengan sinis, Zaid berkata sebagai wakil rakyat, Zahrain sepatutnya menimbulkan cadangan yang bernas mengenai dasar negara dan berani mengkritik keputusan kerajaan. "Itulah tugas dan tanggungjawab yang sepatutnya dipikul oleh seorang Yang Berhormat. Lebih-lebih lagi kalau kita itu, wakil rakyat Bebas yang begitu di gemari oleh Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak. “Kenalah jaga standard supaya orang tak mengatakan kita ini budak suruhan semata mata, dan tidak ada modal bernas untuk diketengahkan dalam Dewan," kata Zaid dalam blognya. Menurut bekas Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri itu, Zahrain kini sudah semacam menjadi wakil kepada polis perisikan yang membuat pendedahan yang beliau menginap di hotel yang sama dengan Raja Petra. "Dia kata SPRM kena siasat petemuan ini. Inilah kerja wakil rakyat pro-BN kita hari ini. Tak ada perkara lain nak ditimbulkan. Kalau dia tanya saya, saya akan beritahu lebih dari itu. "Jumpa Raja Petra tidak salah…Raja Petra dan isterinya, Marina kawan saya. Saya tak tinggalkan kawan semata-mata kawan ada dalam kesusahan. Jadi setiap kali saya ke London, saya jumpa mereka. Tahun lepas saya bawa Petra tengok bolasepak di Old Trattford, dia minat kepada Manchester United. Jadi saya belanjalah dia. "Itulah sedikit hiburan baginya yang terpaksa meninggalkan tanah air kerana menuntut kebenaran. Perjuagan seperti Petra mungkin YB Bayan Baru kita itu tak mengerti atau faham," kata Zaid. Beliau juga mengakui bahawa Raja Petra membuat tempahan di hotel Britannia bagi pihaknya tetapi menafikan penulis blog itu turut menginap di situ kerana rumahnya hanya terletak 15 minit perjalanan dari hotel berkenaan. "Hotel yang saya menginap itu pun tiga star, tak lah seperti hotel Zahrain guna semasa ke Washington. Maklumlah saya bayar sendiri," katanya merujuk kepada seminar berprofail tinggi mengenai kehakiman dan kerajaan Malaysia di Washington DC yang dihadir Zahrain selepas berpaling tadah daripada PKR. Seminar itu anjuran sebuah badan pemikir terkemuka – Pusat bagi Strategi dan Pengajian Antarabangsa (CSIS) dan dihadiri oleh pegawai kerajaan Amerika, aktivis, diplomat dan rakyat Malaysia di sana. Menurut Zaid, beliau akan kota London lagi minggu depan dan besar berkemungkinan akan dengan Raja Petra dan isterinya lagi. "Saya akan bekalkan butir lanjut jika YB Zahrain atau SPRM mahu maklumat lain. Saya harap dapat juga bertemu Bala kalau SPRM tidak mahu bertemu dengannya," katanya. |
| Isu Empat ADUN Keadilan Selangor Letak Jawatan Posted: 30 Jun 2010 06:24 AM PDT Kenyataan Media Saya dengan ini melahirkan rasa terkilan kerana nama saya telah disenaraikan sebagai salah seorang daripada empat ADUN KEADILAN Selangor yang akan mengosongkan kerusi, kononnya kerana membantah kepimpinan YAB Tan Sri Datuk Seri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim sebagai Menteri Besar. Selain saya YB Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (Seri Setia), YB Amirudin Shari (Batu Caves), dan YB Shuhaimi Hj Shafiei (Sri Muda) juga turut dikaitkan dengan isu ini. Saya ingin menafikan sekeras-kerasnya dakwaan tersebut. Pandangan ini turut dikongsi tiga rakan YB saya yang turut dikaitkan dengan isu ini. Penyebaran berita palsu ini menggambarkan begitu terdesaknya pihak musuh yang cuba menimbulkan kekacauan dan keraguan dalam kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat. Saya meyokong penuh kepimpinan YAB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim sebagai Menteri Besar Negeri Selangor. Beliau merupakan seorang yang banyak berjasa kepada negeri Selangor dari segi ekonomi, pembangunan dan kebajikan rakyat negeri Selangor. Saya ingin melafazkan taat setia dan tidak akan mengkhianati perjuangan rakyat yang saya dokong. Saya minta seluruh pendokong perjuangan rakyat supaya tidak mempercayai berita palsu ini. Y.B. Puan Haniza bt. Mohamed Talha |
| A Malaysian Palace Fit for a King Posted: 30 Jun 2010 06:19 AM PDT From Asian Sentinel Or at least for the current wearer of the king’s hat, who gets to stay there for five years On June 23, speaking to the Regional Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime inKuala Lumpur, the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, outlined broad efforts to improve transparency and confront corruption, saying all reported cases will be fully investigated regardless of the position or status of those involved and that punishment will be swift and harsh. But before the policy can be fully implemented, there is the matter of the cost of building a new national palace for the country’s sultans, which has doubled from RM400 million (US$124.2 million) to RM811 million since the contract was let – without bid — in 2006 under the premiership of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and may well triple, according to government insiders. Under Malaysia’s system of rotating kingships between the country’s nine sultans, each assumes the title of Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and lives in the Istana Negara, or national palace, for five years before moving on – or uses it as a ceremonial residence during his reign. Each has his own palace in his respective sultanate. The grounds of the new one, to be built on a hill, will cover a massive 96.52 hectares, according to the government. Well-placed sources in Kuala Lumpur told Asia Sentinel that the RM811 figure is only preliminary. The total cost is actually nearing RM1.2 billion and is expected to go higher, the sources said, with both the Sultan of Perlis, who retired as Agong in 2006, and the Sultan of Terengganu, who took his place, becoming hidden partners with Malaysia’s seventh richest individual, Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhairy. “Syed Mokhtar got the original contract at RM400 million. Then the Raja of Perlis was given a gratuity and his brother, Syed Anwar Jamallulail, became Syed Mokhtar’s 30 percent partner and costs escalated,” said a source. “When the current king came in – the Sultan of Terengganu — he asked for a piece of the action and costs went up again. It was brought up in cabinet in December by an MCA minister. [Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, minister in the prime minister's department for parliamentary affairs] replied: “So what? It’s the house of a Malay King, not a Chinese contractor.” Needless to say, no one has brought it up since.” The favoritism allegedly shown on the Istana contract presents a challenge for Najib, who has publicly vowed to clean out rent-seeking and preferential treatment in government-linked contracts in his campaign to clean up Umno’s tattered reputation. Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim alleged on the floor of parliament last week, for instance, that the land under the 115-year-old Pudu Jail, which is being torn down, is being handed over to Vincent Tan, another longtime Mahathir crony and head of Berjaya Corp. Anwar accused the government of handing out contracts worth billions of ringgit to favored individuals. The next big test will probably be the construction of a new building to house the Dewan Rakyat, or Parliament, whose current building is an exemplar of the tacky architecture that the third world thought was modern when it was built in 1962 and when Malaysia was a third-world country. The project has been shelved for the time being because of lack of money but it will probably resurface as the economy improves. Although the construction consortium building the Istana Negara includes the Bumiputra firm Ahmad Zaki Resources Sdn Bhd with partners Kejuruteraan Kenari Sdn Bhd. and Maya Maju (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, there are widespread reports in Kuala Lumpur that although his name appears nowhere, the construction operation is actually headed by Syed Mokhtar. A onetime roti canai seller who was born into a poor Kedah family of Arab descent, Syed Mokhtar amassed more than US$2 billion in assets and made the Forbes Magazine list of richest individuals partly due to government contracts, primarily as a result of his close relationship with former Premier Mahathir. Today, his business empire encompasses plantations, property development, construction, engineering, power generation, infrastructure and ports. Deputy Minister Yong Khoon Seng told reporters the construction of the main complex was awarded to Maya Maju Malaysia Sdn Bhd at a sum of RM650 million, while a contract for the flyover from Jalan Duta to the palace was given to Ahmad Zaki Bhd. The palace is far behind schedule and is scheduled to be completed by 2011. The contract for the upgrading of a flyover to the new palace will cost an additional RM150 million. Malaysia has been abuzz for days since the cost overruns were announced over the identity of Kejuruteraan Kenari and Maya Maju. Both are listed in Malaysia’s corporate registry with a flock of officers that nobody seems to know. The Malaysian blogosphere has been preoccupied with speculation on their connections. Maya Maju lists two shareholders and five directors. The directors are Man Bin Mat, Md Nizam B. Md Sharif, Rasidah Bt. Salleh, and secretaries Lim Hooi Mooi and Tan Enk Purn. The shareholders are Then there is the question of why, with Malaysian politicians making public pronouncements that the country will go bankrupt unless subsidies for the poor are withdrawn, a new Istana is needed at all. The current one, built in 1928 as the onetime home of a Chinese tycoon, stands on 11 hectares of grounds in the middle of Kuala Lumpur. It has undergone a long series of renovations going back to World War II when it was used as a Japanese Army mess hall. It was refurbished in 1986 at a cost of RM70 million. It is difficult to say just what the RM811 million actually includes. Some critics say the costs for equipping the new building do not include furniture, lighting, air conditioning and a wide variety of other charges that can be expected to drive the total price tag far higher. “For Umno,” wrote one critic to the Malaysian Insider online news portal, “all projects MUST undergo an increase of minimum 40 percent of total budget in order for it to be completed in triple the estimated time. If not, then that person isn’t a loyal Umno member.” |
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