Potential of a huge scandal
I am refer to the speech by Perak Menteri Besar, Dato’ Seri Zambry Bin Abdul Kadir in the State Assembly where he threatened to go on a witch hunt for government servants who are said to have leaked government secrets involving the MB Inc.
Is the Perak Menteri Besar Incorporated (MB Inc) another 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) in the making, especially since both business transactions and the accounts of MB Inc have not been transparent, despite running into billions of ringgit?On top of that, Dato’ Seri Zambry is using the Official Secrets Act (OSA) to threaten the civil servant who disclosed the accounts which in fact does not come under the OSA.
Apart from refusing to disclose the accounts, Dato’ Seri Zambry has rejected all questions of MB Inc posed by me in the State Assembly.
The Perak Government has announced that it hopes to make MB Inc a giant corporation like Petronas. It is frightening to note its ambition when it does not have the expertise and know-how to manage such a big corporation.
We have reasons to fear as most of the projects that MB Inc entered into or proposed to undertake now start to show signs of failure.
Disputable Contributions
I have challenged the state government on the performance of MB Inc during the recent State Assembly sitting.
In a brochure published by MB Inc, the financial contribution made by MB Inc to the state government was a mere RM2 million last year when just the Bandar Tasik Aman Jaya project in Tronoh undertaken by MB Inc, the government could have collected the same amount had it not waived the quit rent for the said project.
The state government has alienated a piece of prime land totaling 1,467 acres to MB Inc for the abovesaid project at a nominal premium and with its quit rent waived. The said project has an estimated Gross Development value of RM6.0 billion.
Going by the commercial rate, the project could have fetched the government many more times the amount that the MB Inc now contributes to the state. Now that project also failed to take off, it raises the risk that MB Inc has to take. What if the developer turns around to sue MB Inc for failing to deliver the land for development? The situation is the same for the many joint-ventures or agreements that MB Inc has entered into.
In 2016, the State Economic Development Corporation (PKNP) paid RM3.4 million in taxes while State Secretary Incorporated (SSI) paid a total of RM900,000, whereas MB Inc only paid RM95,388. Incomes from royalty, fees payable to Director of Lands and Mines and fees payable to the Forestry Department are not contribution to the State as they are payable even if they are administered by the private sector.
Transparency Needed
Dato’ Seri Zambry should make sure that MB Inc accounts are open for scrutiny at all times. Unless he has something to hide, he should not even be afraid to table the MB Inc accounts in the State Assembly.
Since MB Inc was reactivated in 2012, Dato’ Seri Zambry has not been transparent about the transactions,despite it involving billions of Ringgit and tens of thousands acres of mining and other premium lands which have since been approved for MB Inc.
Till today, the accounts have not been tabled in the state assembly. Why is Dato’ Seri Zambry so secretive about the MB Inc accounts if he has nothing to hide? Why is he not concerned that MB Inc may go awry since billions of Ringgit are involved.
We are only saying that we do not want to find it out too late. We want to be able to scrutinize its accounts, so that we do not end up with another 1MDB scandal.