Samy Vellu’s disclosure on the scandalous PMC must be treated seriously by the Cabinet and actions must be taken immediately to stop the “bleeding of public funds”!

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Samy Vellu's disclosure on the scandalous PMC must be treated seriously by the Cabinet and actions must be taken immediately to stop the 'bleeding of public funds'!

Press Statement
by Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew

(Kuala Lumpur, Thursday): In defending the name of his ministry and his own reputation, which were came under heavy attacks from all quarters for the past two months, the Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu has finally decided to set the record right by disclosing that PMC (Project Management Companies), a mechanism formed in 1990 by the Ministry of Finance, were the real culprits behind the failures of 21 public school and college buildings and many other mega projects. He claims that the above projects were approved by PMC, and his ministry 'has got nothing to do with them.'

More importantly, Samy Vellu has also pointed out that PMC in the past has been allowing projects with unusually high prices (prices much higher that those set by the Works Ministry) to be approved. He cited a very good example to illustrate his point: under the Works Ministry, the standard cost of building one unit of classroom is RM 55, 000; but under PMC, the standard cost of building a unit of classroom has gone up to RM 95,000! Some even priced as high as RM 120,000!

Samy Vellu has even named the former KSU (the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Finance) as the person responsible for the mess. We have yet to hear any clarification from the former KSU of Finance Ministry Tan Sri Shamsuddin Hitam, a very powerful administrator under the last Mahathir administration.

Tan Sri Shamsuddin Hitam should now step forward and come clean on the issue, now that Samy Vellu has publicly named him as a responsible party. It's time for the Cabinet to act on the matter and put a stop to these corrupted practices. Malaysia may end up like some of our poor neighbors in ASEAN if we do not put a stop to such 'bleeding of public funds', no matter how 'oil-riched' we are.

Samy Vellu has chosen to make the disclosure to the media. He would not have gone public on such a highly sensitive matter if it was untrue. His disclosure of facts must be commended and seen as an opportunity for the Cabinet to do some house-cleaning towards an incorruptible and trustworthy government.

(18/11/2004)

* Dr Tan Seng Giaw, DAP National Deputy Chairman and MP for Kepong