Media statement by Teresa Kok Suh Sim in Shah Alam on Wednesday, 23^th May 2012:

MCA leaders way off the mark in criticising Selangor government

The Selangor state government has for the past four years managed the issue of sand mining within the state with great success and integrity as opposed to claims to the contrary made by MCA leaders Datuk Chua Tee Yong as carried by 'The Star' newspaper earlier this week.

This pre-elections tactic and baseless witch-hunt from MCA is purely an exercise to wrongfully discredit the Pakatan Rakyat state administration without any factual foundation. To set the record straight, here are some documented statistics on the sand-mining issue in Selangor.

Figures made available by Kumpulan Semesta Sdn. Bhd. (KSSB), the government-administered company that manages sand mining in Selangor, shows a profit sale of over RM84 million for the year 2011 alone. Further, from the time Pakatan Rakyat began governing the state in 2008 till today, the total figure of profit from the sale of sand has been in the excess of RM180 million. This has surpassed the collective targeted or projected figure of RM150 million set by Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Khalid Ibrahim.

This sum is many times more than the figure claimed by Datuk Chee Tee Yong as quoted in the news article 'Chua: Pakatan not managing Selangor well' (The Star, Monday 21 May 2012). I would like to strongly encourage MCA's leaders to fact-check their claims and allegations thoroughly and wisely before deciding to shoot off allegations against Selangor.

Kumpulan Semesta has for the past four years improved the situation of sand-mining in Selangor which was left in deteriorated condition due to the inept and corrupt practises of the previous Barisan-led state government.

KSSB has been successful in preventing sand theft, using meticulous security and monitoring mechanisms and further have been able to recover profit losses by ensuring that operating companies pays sand-taxes. These exercises have resulted in the increase of revenue, which has been used for the benefit of the rakyat through social programmes in the state.

Therefore, I urge the MCA to stop its below the belt and unsubstantiated remarks and statements against the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor state government as it is entirely unbecoming of a veteran political party. Instead of misleading the rakyat, MCA should focus its energy on cleaning up the corrupt practices on-going in the federal government in which they are a member coalition.

* Teresa Kok Suh Sim, Selangor State Senior EXCO for Investment, Industry & Trade & MP for Seputeh