Dakwaan seleweng RM100b, SPRM tak siasat Dr M

Source: Malaysiakini

Jul 8, 10 6:55pm

Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) tidak bercadang menyiasat dakwaan Barry Wain dalam bukunya “Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times” kerana mendapati tiada elemen perlakuan rasuah berlaku seperti yang didakwanya.

Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz berkata selepas meneliti buku berkenaan SPRM mendapati tiada asas berlakunya kesalahan itu di bawah Akta Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia 2009.

Beliau berkata demikian dalam jawapan bertulis kepada soalan Charles Santiago (DAP-Klang) pada persidangan Dewan Rakyat hari ini.

Dalam bukunya, Wain bekas Pengarang Urusan Asian Wall Street Journal mendakwa kononnya Dr Mahathir membazirkan sehingga RM100 bilion ketika menjadi Perdana Menteri.

Wain berkata semua maklumat tersebut, termasuk dakwaan penyelewengan berjumlah RM100 bilion itu disokong oleh bukti.

Antaranya adalah kerugian melalui Perwaja Steel, yang didakwa Dr Mahathir “hanya RM1 hingga RM2 bilion,” bukannya antara RM15 hingga RM20 bilion seperti ditulis oleh Wain.

 

 

 Mahathir mempunyai memori singkat. Menteri kewangannya sendiri mengemukakan satu laporan audit oleh Pricewaterhouse (Cooper) di Parlimen pada pertengahan 1990-an. Kerugian pada masa itu, saya rasa berjumlah RM9.5 bilion dan ia makin bertambah selepas itu.

“Dia tidak akan senang hati apabila diingatkan tentang perkara ini, tapi itulah kehidupan… Selagi saya (menulis dengan) seimbang kepada dia, dan saya telah terbitkan pandangan dia,” kata Wain dalam satu wawancara khas dengan Malaysiakini Mei lalu.

Selain itu, Wain juga mendakwa bahawa bangunan ibu pejabat Umno di Pusat Dagangan Dunia Putra (PWTC) dibina dengan dana awam.

Buku itu pernah ditahan lebih lima bulan oleh Kementerian Dalam Negeri dengan alasan untuk mengkajinya.
Disember tahun lalu,KDN telah merampaskan 800 naskah buku tersebut di pelabuhan Klang.
Dr Mahathir dalam blognya http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/ mengakui pernah berlaku beberapa kerugian dalam tempoh pentadbirannya tetapi jumlahnya tidak pun mencecah RM10 bilion.

Beliau juga meminta kerajaan menubuhkan suruhanjaya siasatan diraja untuk menyiasat dakwaan tersebut, tetapinya ia ditolak.

 

PKFZ scandal: ‘Why Tee Keat’s file closed?’

Source : Free Malaysia Today

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 23:16

By FMT Staff

SHAH ALAM: Klang MP Charles Santiago has questioned the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for closing its investigation file on Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat.

He said the MACC’s move could be interpreted as protecting Ong from being linked to the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

Describing the MACC’s action as “disreputable”, he said Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Tiong King Sing had surrendered all evidence linking Ong to the scandal to the MACC.

‘He (Tiong) has forwarded evidence that the money was passed on to a middle man and there was a witness who saw the money being handed to Ong.

“I am shocked at the MACC’s statement, “ he said today.

MACC had yesterday announced that it was closing its investigation file against Ong who is alleged to have received RM10 million from Tiong.

(Rumours has it that in the run-up to the Sibu by-election, several behind-the-scene deals have been struck to ensure BN wins the seat.

(The 60% Chinese votes are dependent on Tiong, who chairs the BN backbenchers club, and the power-wielding Lau family in Sibu, making peace.

(Robert Lau Hui Yew of Sarawak United People’s Party will face DAP’s Wong Ho Leng in the May 16 Sibu parliamentary by-election).

( It is understood that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is not prepared to risk losing the Sibu seat more so now that BN has wrested Hulu Selangor.)

Meanwhile, Ong, when met, confirmed that he had received a letter dated April 22 informing him that the MACC had no proof linking him to the allegations.

Last year, MACC quizzed Ong in relation to the PKFZ scandal and allegations that he received RM10 million from Tiong for MCA activities.

Ong was at the time MCA president, while Kuala Dimensi was the main contractor for PKFZ.

 

Perlu reformasi banteras rasuah

Sumber : Sinar Harian

 

Media Bebas, Tender Terbuka dan Reformasi MACC Perlu Untuk Membanteras Rasuah

Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen Klang Charles Santiago di Parlimen pada 19hb Nov 2009

Satu perkataan yang paling baik bagi menyimpul mengenai kerajaan Malaysia – rasuah.

Rasuah berleluasa telah memburukkan nama Malaysia, mengakibatkan Malaysia dapat kedudukan 56 dalam indeks persepsi rasuah (CPI) 2009 yang diumumkan oleh Transparency International.

Angka CPI juga jatuh dari 4.5 ke 5.1 berbanding dengan tahun lepas. Ini adalah kedudukan Malaysia paling teruk dalam masa 15 tahun.

Presiden Transparency International Malaysia Paul Low berkata kedudukan ini yang memalukan “mungkin disebabkan persepsi hanya sedikit kemajuan dalam pembanterasan rasuah dan kekurangan kesungguhan politik  dalam melaksanakan langkah-langkah anti rasuah yang berkesan.“

Contoh yang diberikan oleh Low ialah skandal zon bebas pelabuhan klang yang berjumlah RM12.5 billion dan laporan tahunan ketua audit negara yang membongkarkan penyelewengan luar biasa dalam proses perolehan awam.

Negara kita selama ini diserang rasuah berleluasa dan buktinya ialah projek landasan berkembar Ipoh-Rawang berjumlah RM1.3 billion, penyelewengan kuasa oleh Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Kuasa Malaysia (SPRM) dan perhubungan rapat mereka dengan elit pemerintah.

Pertubuhan ini yang ibu pejabatnya di Berlin juga menyatakan SPRM hanya menumpu kepada “ikan bilis“ dan ahli politik pembangkang.

Jelasnya, desakan Perdana Menteri Najib Tun Razak untuk menghentikan rasuah hanya retorik, perlakonan politik untuk menipu rakyat dan memulihkan keyakinan mereka.

Slogan Najib telah gagal ditranslasi dalam tindakan dan Negara kita terus di “kurang-upaya“kan oleh kekurangan kesungguhan politik UMNO dan Barisan Nasional untuk menghapuskan amalan rasuah.

Jika kerajaan adalah ikhlas, pegawai SPRM yang bertanggungjawab ke atas kematian Teoh Beng Hock telah didakwa. Jika Najib mempunyai komitmen untuk menghapuskan rasuah, VK Lingam tidak akan masih bebas hari ini.

Senarai tersebut tidak berhenti di sini.

Kita perlu membawa reformasi ke dalam pasukan polis, membersihkan sistem kehakiman dan mendakwa mereka yang mengakibatkan kerugian negara dalam PKFZ dan projek landasan berkembar. Dan kita perlu bertindak sekarang.

Bolehkah kita percaya kerajaan Najib buat begitu? Jawapan sinis ialah memang tidak. Kedudukan CPI Malaysia telah turun mendadak sejak kedudukan terbaik pada 2002.

Kedudukan Malaysia ialah 37 ketika di bawah pemerintahan bekas Perdana Menteri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pada tahun 2003. Kedudukan tahun lepas ialah 48.

Ini menunjukkan rasuah telah menjadi institutionalisasi dalam Negara ini dan sentiasa dipandang sebagai cara menjalankan perniagaan di sini. Memandangkan retorik dan kekurangan kesungguhan politik kerajaan untuk melaksanakan perubahan nyata, tidak mempeduli akauntabiliti dan penyelewengan kuasa berleluasa, kita tidak harus duduk dan berharap kerajaan melaksanakan langkah-langkah berkesan untuk menghapuskan rasuah.

Bancian terkini Merdeka Centre mengenai rasuah menunjukkan 81% daripada 1241 orang memandangkan rasuah sebagai satu masalah serius dalam negara ini. 72% berasa berlapor mengenai rasuah adalah bagus bagi pembangunan Negara.

Ini menunjukkan perpepsi bahawa media harus memain peranan lebih besar dan penting adalah popular, kerana ia akan membongkarkan dan membanteras gejala rasuah. Hakikatnya, media harus mementingkan teknik laporan investigasi dan menjadi sebahagian strategi bagi meningkatkan kesedaran mengenai ancaman rasuah dalam negara ini.

Ini memerlukan kerajaan membebaskan media daripada kawalannya.

Malaysia berada di jalan simpang. Ekonomi masih dalam teritori negative. Namun demikian segala usaha mesti dilakukan untuk memulihkan keyakinan antara pelabur asing dan tempatan termasuk rakyat Malaysia.

Dengan ini, saya menggesa Perdana Menteri melaksanakan sasaran pembanterasan rasuah dalam NKRA serta-merta. Ini perlu perubahan asas SPRM. Khususnya, dasar, prosidur dan strategi penguatkuasa baru perlu dilaksanakan dalam memerangi rasuah.

Tambahan, satu perubahan terhadap jawatan tertinggi SPRM adalah paling dialu-alukan.

Paling pentingnya, Najib perlu mengumumkan tender terbuka akan menjadi dasar menawarkan projek kerajaan (kecuali di bahagian sensitif) sebagai satu langkah untuk membanteras rasuah dan memenangi keyakinan antarabangsa dan dalam Negara.

Charles Santiago

Ahli Parlimen Klang

016 626 7797

 

Free Media, Open Tender & MACC Reforms Necessary to Combat Corruption.

Press Statement by Member of Parliament Klang Charles Santiago in Parliament on 19th Nov 2009

All that is best about the Malaysian government could be summed up in one word – corruption.

But the wide spread of graft has often gridlocked the country’s administration and now, earned Malaysia the 56th position in Transparency International’s corruption perception index (CPI) for 2009.

Meanwhile the CPI score plunged to 4.5 from 5.1 last year. This is the country’s worst ranking and score in 15 years.

Transparency International Malaysia President Paul Low said this embarrassing ranking “may be attributed to the perception of little progress in combating corruption, and lack of political will in implementing effective anti-corruption measures”.

According to Low examples giving rise to the concern were the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) fiasco and the auditor-general’s annual report highlighting extraordinary public procurement abuses.

The country has been fraught with rampant corruption and this is evident in the RM1.3 billion Ipoh-Rawang double tracking rail project, abuse of power by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) and their disturbingly cosy relationship with the ruling elite.

The Berlin-based corruption watchdog has also candidly said that the MACC appears to focus on “small fish” and opposition politicians.

Clearly Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s rallying cry calling for an end to corruption is mere rhetoric, stage-managed to hoodwink the people and regain their confidence.

Najib’s sloganeering has failed to translate into action and the country continues to be hamstrung by UMNO and Barisan Nasional’s lack of political will to weed out graft and corrupt practices from its very core.

If the government was sincere, those responsible for Teoh Beng Hock’s death would have been charged. If Najib is committed to wiping out graft, VK Lingam would not be walking free today.

The list does not end here.

We need to reform the police force, clean-up the judiciary and bring those responsible for embezzlement of funds relating to the PKFZ and double rail road project to book. And we need to do this now.

Could we trust Najib’s government to do so? The cynical answer is a resounding no. Malaysia has been continuously slipping in the Transparency International index since its best ever ranking in 2002.

During the tenure of former Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2003, Malaysia was ranked 37. This slid to 39 in 2005 and 43 in 2007. Last year the country ranked 48.

This only goes to show that corruption has become institutionalised in the country and is often touted as the way to do business here. Given the government’s cocktail of fierce rhetoric, lack of willpower to institute ground change, disregard for accountability and blatant abuse of power, we cannot sit back and hope that the government implements durable measures to clean-up graft.

A recent Merdeka Centre poll on corruption showed that 81 per cent of about 1,241 respondents viewed corruption as a serious problem in the country.  And about 72 per cent of the respondents felt that reporting on corruption was good for the development of the country.

This suggests that there is a popular perception that the media needs to play a greater and bolder role in exposing, and combating corruption. In fact, the media should embrace investigative reporting and be part of a larger strategy in creating awareness on threats corruption in the country.

This would require that the government free the media from its control.

Malaysia as a nation is at a cross-road. Its economy is in negative territory. Thus every effort must be made to regain confidence among local and foreign investors including citizens of the country.

Therefore, I urge the Prime Minister to urgently implement the very aims of his NKRA on corruption. This would require fundamental changes to MACC. Specifically, new policies, procedures and enforcement strategies need to be put in place in the fight against corruption.

Also, a change in the top brass of the graft agency would be most welcomed.

Most importantly, Najib needs to announce as a matter of priority that open tender process would be the basis to bid for government projects (except in sensitive areas) as a way to combat corruption and win back national and international confidence.

Charles Santiago

Member of Parliament, Klang

016 626 7797

 

Bridging cronyism and corruption

Source : Malaysian Mirror

Wednesday, 28 October 2009 18:11

KLANG – The collapse of a new suspension bridge near Kampar which caused the death of a young school girl has come as a shock at a time when the country is still trying to come to terms with the 16 deaths reported at national service camps since 2004. Klang MP Charles Santaigo, who said this, added that even more disturbing was the revelation by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin that the bridge was a donation to the local district officer by a company. “This reeks of cronyism and corruption,” he said, referring to the accident which caused 22 primary school campers to plunge into the Kampar river on Monday night. Eleven-year old Dina Deve Nathan drowned in the incident while two others remain missing. They were part of the nearly 300 pupils who were taking part in a ‘1Malaysia’ camp organised by the Kinta Barat district education office. Repaying for a lucrative contract? Santiago alleged that the company that contributed the bridge was either ‘repaying’ for a lucrative contract awarded by some politician by building a shoddy bridge, or the contract was awarded to an irresponsible company through ‘crony connections.’ “Muhyiddin said he is unsure if the bridge was faulty or whether it was built according to regulation and following standard specifications. “The 50m bridge, built two weeks ago, appeared to have been torn out of the ground. This is in itself telling. “The deputy premier has said that those responsible for the collapse of the bridge would be brought to book. We will hold him to his words,” said Santiago, who supports an emergency motion in the Dewan Rakyat filed by Ipoh Barat MO M Kula Segaran to debate on the fatal incident. Make probe findings public Santiago added that although the DPM had  promised an in-depth investigation into the accident, he called for the information to be made public. He said the lack of accountability on the part of the Government with regards to the death cases in the NS camps should not be a precedent. Santiago offered his condolences to the Dina’s family and hoped that such incidents would not happen in future at either the NS camps or the 1Malaysia camps, such as the one conducted for the Perak pupils.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 October 2009 22:57

 

 

Was Cronyism and Corruption responsible for the Death of Dina Nathan?

Press Statement by Member of Parliament Klang Charles Santiago in Parliament on 29^th Oct 2009

One 11-year old student, Dina Deve Nathan, is dead and two others remain missing while I write this statement. News of the collapsed new suspension bridge across Sungai Kampar came as a shock especially in a country which is struggling to come to terms with 16 National Service camp deaths since its inception in 2004.

What is even more disturbing is the revelation made by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who said the bridge was a contribution to the district education office by a company.

This reeks of cronyism and corruption. We all know what “contribution” means. The construction company is either re-paying for a lucrative contract awarded by some ruling politician by building a shoddy bridge. Or the contract was awarded to an irresponsible company, through crony connections.

The web of hushed deals and political business arrangements has resulted in the death of a young girl. I hope the two other children are found alive and safe.

Muhyiddin said he is unsure if the bridge was faulty or whether it was built according to regulation and following standard specifications. The 50 metres long bridge, built two weeks ago, appeared to have been torn out of the ground. This is in itself telling.

The deputy premier has said that those responsible for the collapse of the bridge would be brought to book. We will hold him to his words.

I support the emergency motion filed in Parliament by my colleague and DAP lawmaker for Ipoh Barat, M Kula Segaran, to debate on the fatal incident.

I hope this motion would not be rejected as the emergency motion moved last year  to debate on the deaths in National Service camps.

Although Muhyiddin has promised an in-depth investigation into the accident, I call for the information to be made public as no data about the cases of deaths at the National Service camps was made available to the people. The lack of accountability on the part of the government should not be a precedent.

Lastly I offer my deepest condolences to Dina Deve Nathan’s family and hope that such untoward incidences would not happen in the future at both the National Service and 1Malaysia camps.

 

Charles Santiago

Member of Parliament Klang

016 626 7797

 

Balkis : Welfare or politics?

Sun : RM10m gone in 3 days
R. Nadeswaran and Terence Fernandez

PETALING JAYA (April 24, 2008): Three days after their husbands lost power to rule Selangor, the wives got into the act – plotting to dissolve a welfare body and remove almost RM10 million from its bank accounts.

But their attempts have been thwarted by Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim who wrote to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) to question the validity of the decision to dissolve the Association of Wives of State Assemblymen and Members of Parliament in Selangor (Balkis).

It is learnt that Abdul Khalid has ordered a thorough investigation and audit into the affairs of the association which was set up in 1985 to undertake welfare work.

According to documents sighted by theSun, Datin Seri Zaharah Kechik, the wife of former mentri besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo had on March 11 convened an extraordinary general meeting of the committee to dissolve Balkis and close its bank accounts. The following day, the accounts were closed, with the money transferred to another account and then to Bakti – the federal Organisation of Wives of Ministers which Balkis is affiliated to.

 

雪州國州議員夫人俱樂部 ：福利还是政治组织？

星洲：雪國州議員夫人俱樂部990萬被轉移

 2008-04-25 18:17

（雪蘭莪‧八打靈再也）雪州政權剛易手，雪州國州議員夫人俱樂部（Balkis）也在3天內宣佈解散，並移走990萬令吉的款項和房產。

雪州高級行政議員郭素沁證實，俱樂部的負責人已把990萬令吉暫時轉交部長夫人俱樂部（Bakti）保管，準備在將來轉至即將成立的“雪州國陣議員夫人俱樂部”（Balkis-BN）。

她受詢時對《星洲日報》表示，她是在上兩個星期知道此事，並第一時間告知現任州務大臣丹斯里卡立，而卡立已在23日致函社團註冊局，要求調查俱樂部解散事件和稽查該俱樂部的財務狀況。