Malaysians do not understand why certain crimes are classified as non-index crime and hence excluded entirely from the crime index, hence giving a false picture of the true crime picture in the country
My statement yesterday has exposed the fact that in the battle to reduce crime index in Malaysia, the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) has successfully reduced it from 209,572 in 2007 to 157,891 in 2011, or 24.7% over the period. However, this was achieved at the expense of the unpublished “non-index crime”, which increased from 42,752 to 72,106 or a massive 68.7% over the same period.
Most suspiciously, “non-index crime” is increasing annually as a proportion of total crime since 2007 based on PDRM data. It has increased from 16.9% of total crime in 2007 to 21.9% (2008) to 22.8% (2009) to 29.8% (2010) to a record of 31.4% in 2011.
The clear-cut disjoint between the significant drop in “index crime” versus the drastic increase in “non-index crime” points strongly towards data manipulation, and validates the accusation by the anonymous letter writer that the PDRM is systematically re-classifying “index crime” to “non-index crime” cases.
However, what is also puzzling is why there is a need for a “non-index crime” classification in the first place. Prior to the expose by the letter writer, hardly anyone knew about the existence of “non-index crime”.
PDRM has explained that in robbery cases, Section 392 (Robbery) and Section 397 (Gang Robbery), under the Penal Code are classified as index crime. However, certain cases will be re-classified as non-index under Section 382 (Theft with Preparation to Cause Hurt or Death) of the Penal Code. Since, Section 382 of the Penal Code is a non-index crime, therefore will not be reflected in the crime statistics.
According to PDRM “for Section 382, there must be an element of concealment e.g. weapon in the pocket, hidden accomplices, whereas for Section 392 or 397, the intention to cause fear is expressed and not concealed e.g. tying up the victim, threatening the victim with a weapon.”
Similarly, in burglary cases under Section 457 (House Break-In to Commit an Offence Punishable with Imprisonment - e.g. Theft), some were reclassified to Section 452 and 453 (House Break-In with Preparation made for Causing Hurt).
According to PDRM, “if a house break-in occurred but no goods or belongings were evidently removed by the burglar, e.g. if perpetrator escaped before he or she managed to take any goods, or if the investigation officer does not have enough evidence to prove both house break-in and theft (i.e. specific goods explicitly taken out of possession of the owner) but has enough evidence to prove house break-in - in this scenario, the investigation officer will necessarily charge the offender with a lesser offence such as Section 452 and 453.”
Malaysians are completely puzzled as to why if a robbery occurs but the weapons are “concealed”, then the relevant Section 382 that applies is not regarded as an index crime. The situation is even more ludicrous given that both “Unarmed Robbery” and “Armed Robbery” are index crimes, but “Robbery with concealed weapons” or “Theft with Preparation to Cause Hurt or Death” is classified as a non-index crime.
Similarly, just because a burglar who was successful in breaking into a house but escaped with nothing “explicitly” tangible would be counted towards the crime index.
The whole classification of index and non-index crime by the PDRM makes a complete mockery of the crime statistics published by PDRM, PEMANDU and the Home Ministry. The actions by the PDRM to create “index crime” versus “non-index crime” classifications, on top of the highly suspicious pattern of rapidly increasing non-index crime which points clearly towards data manipulation. It destroys all claims of crime-fighting success under Najib’s administration.
We call upon PDRM to end the bizarre index and non-index crime classification and republish all historical crime data to present the real picture of crime in Malaysia. In fact we call upon the Government to stop all misleading references to “index crime” achievements and provide only data relating to total crime in the country, index or otherwise.
While the Home Ministry and PEMANDU has been quick to blame “perception” for Malaysian’s fear of crime, they have failed to check on their own statistics which have been manipulated extensively to present only a picture of overwhelming crime-fighting success, such as the alleged 39.7% fall in street crimes between 2009 and 2011.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Crime Statistics Manipulated
The clarification over crime statistics by the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) does not at all exonerate the government but instead clearly indicates data manipulation by the authorities.
After nearly a week of silence, the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) finally provided a lengthy reply to the allegations made in an anonymous letter that the authorities have manipulated crime statistics in Malaysia to give a brighter picture.
According to the letter, crime cases were being methodically shifted into “non-index” offences that were not registered as part of official statistics presented by efficiency unit PEMANDU.
Index crime is defined as crime which is reported with sufficient regularity and with sufficient significance to be meaningful as an index to the crime situation”. “Non-index crime”, on the other hand, is considered as cases minor in nature and does not occur with such rampancy to warrant its inclusion into the crime statistics or as a benchmark to determine the crime situation.
For example, robbery cases, Section 392 (Robbery) and Section 397 (Gang Robbery), under the Penal Code are classified as index crime. This offence will be re-classified as non-index under Section 382 (Theft with Preparation to Cause Hurt or Death) of the Penal Code. Since, Section 382 of the Penal Code is a non-index crime, therefore will not be reflected in the crime statistics.
PDRM has defended itself from the above key accusation by claiming that even after taking into account non-index crime, “overall crime (Index + Non-Index) has in fact reduced in 2010, 2011 and 2012 (year-to-date)”. PDRM claimed that the total index and non-index crime has dropped 7%, 9% and 5.3% respectively in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Hence PDRM concluded that the allegation is erroneous.
On the contrary, this simplistic and misleading reply from PDRM has in fact exposed the likelihood that crime data manipulation had indeed taken place extensively.
The Government had in fact boasted its achievement of 15.4%, 11.1% and 10.1% reduction in the crime index over 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively as its remarkable achievement under the Crime National Key Result Area (NKRA). The fact that after non-index crime is taken into account, the crime-fighting performance dropped significantly provides strong evidence of manipulation.
Based on statistics provided by PDRM, “index crime” has dropped from 209,572 in 2007 to 157,891 in 2011, or 24.7% over the period. However, “non-index crime” has on the contrary, increased from 42,752 to 72,106 or a massive 68.7% over the same period. (See Chart 1)
What is even more glaring is the fact that “non-index crime” is increasing annually as a proportion of total crime since 2007 based on PDRM data. It has increased from 16.9% of total crime in 2007 to 21.9% (2008) to 22.8% (2009) to 29.8% (2010) to a record of 31.4% in 2011. (See Chart 2)
The clear-cut disjoint between the significant drop in “index crime” versus the drastic increase in “non-index crime” points strongly towards data manipulation, and validates the accusation by the anonymous letter writer that the PDRM is systematically re-classifying “index crime” to “non-index crime” cases.
If there is indeed no manipulation of data as claimed by PDRM, how else can they explain the shockingly divergent trends between index and non-index crime? Under normal circumstances, if the crime situation in the country has improved as much as boasted by the authorities, then both index and non-index criminal cases should show a declining trend.
While the total index and non-index crime cases based on PDRM data has indeed dropped over the past 2-3 years, it appears that the data has been systematically manipulated to present an inflated over-achievement under the Najib administration. The Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Annual Report 2011 has for example, boasted that street crimes have been reduced by a “phenomenal” 39.7%.
If the manipulation of crime data is indeed true, the there is no assurance that no other steps have been taken by PDRM or the authorities to use other measures to further reduce the crime index data in order to achieve the desired outcome under Najib’s NKRA programme.
There is hence a complete absence of credibility in the data presented by the Government and it explains clearly why all the chest-thumping by the authorities over its crime-fighting achievements are not translated into greater sense of security by the ordinary man-on-the-street.
After nearly a week of silence, the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) finally provided a lengthy reply to the allegations made in an anonymous letter that the authorities have manipulated crime statistics in Malaysia to give a brighter picture.
According to the letter, crime cases were being methodically shifted into “non-index” offences that were not registered as part of official statistics presented by efficiency unit PEMANDU.
Index crime is defined as crime which is reported with sufficient regularity and with sufficient significance to be meaningful as an index to the crime situation”. “Non-index crime”, on the other hand, is considered as cases minor in nature and does not occur with such rampancy to warrant its inclusion into the crime statistics or as a benchmark to determine the crime situation.
For example, robbery cases, Section 392 (Robbery) and Section 397 (Gang Robbery), under the Penal Code are classified as index crime. This offence will be re-classified as non-index under Section 382 (Theft with Preparation to Cause Hurt or Death) of the Penal Code. Since, Section 382 of the Penal Code is a non-index crime, therefore will not be reflected in the crime statistics.
PDRM has defended itself from the above key accusation by claiming that even after taking into account non-index crime, “overall crime (Index + Non-Index) has in fact reduced in 2010, 2011 and 2012 (year-to-date)”. PDRM claimed that the total index and non-index crime has dropped 7%, 9% and 5.3% respectively in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Hence PDRM concluded that the allegation is erroneous.
On the contrary, this simplistic and misleading reply from PDRM has in fact exposed the likelihood that crime data manipulation had indeed taken place extensively.
The Government had in fact boasted its achievement of 15.4%, 11.1% and 10.1% reduction in the crime index over 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively as its remarkable achievement under the Crime National Key Result Area (NKRA). The fact that after non-index crime is taken into account, the crime-fighting performance dropped significantly provides strong evidence of manipulation.
Based on statistics provided by PDRM, “index crime” has dropped from 209,572 in 2007 to 157,891 in 2011, or 24.7% over the period. However, “non-index crime” has on the contrary, increased from 42,752 to 72,106 or a massive 68.7% over the same period. (See Chart 1)
Chart 1: Index and Non-Index Crime 2007-2011
Chart 2: Proportion of Index and Non-Index Crime 2007-2011
The clear-cut disjoint between the significant drop in “index crime” versus the drastic increase in “non-index crime” points strongly towards data manipulation, and validates the accusation by the anonymous letter writer that the PDRM is systematically re-classifying “index crime” to “non-index crime” cases.
If there is indeed no manipulation of data as claimed by PDRM, how else can they explain the shockingly divergent trends between index and non-index crime? Under normal circumstances, if the crime situation in the country has improved as much as boasted by the authorities, then both index and non-index criminal cases should show a declining trend.
While the total index and non-index crime cases based on PDRM data has indeed dropped over the past 2-3 years, it appears that the data has been systematically manipulated to present an inflated over-achievement under the Najib administration. The Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Annual Report 2011 has for example, boasted that street crimes have been reduced by a “phenomenal” 39.7%.
If the manipulation of crime data is indeed true, the there is no assurance that no other steps have been taken by PDRM or the authorities to use other measures to further reduce the crime index data in order to achieve the desired outcome under Najib’s NKRA programme.
There is hence a complete absence of credibility in the data presented by the Government and it explains clearly why all the chest-thumping by the authorities over its crime-fighting achievements are not translated into greater sense of security by the ordinary man-on-the-street.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Will PEMANDU Confirm If Crime Statistics Are Audited?
PEMANDU has in its Annual Reports and public presentations has repeatedly emphasized that all data and statistics cited by PEMANDU have been “audited”, “verified” and “confirmed” by an independent external auditor to emphasize the accuracy and validity of the numbers presented.
As reported in the 2011 Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Annual Report produced by PEMANDU, “PricewaterhouseCoopers Malaysia (PwC), was engaged in early 2010 and subsequently in 2011 to… validate that the information and data inputs used in determining selected reported NKPIs were in agreement with the information provided by participating ministries, agencies or departments. The respective NKPI calculations were also checked against the guidelines and formulae prescribed by PEMANDU.”
The Report went on to claim that “the audit report or more precisely the Agreed upon Procedures (AUP) exercise undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the GTP’s data has been verified and confirmed.”
Therefore it has come as a complete shock that there are allegations by a former police officer that the data for crime statistics have been systematically manipulated to present the extraordinary success of the police force in reducing crime rates in the country. The GTP Annual Report 2011 boasted that street crimes have been reduced by a “phenomenal” 39.7% while the overall crime index has also fallen by a very commendable 11.1%.
According to the letter written by the anonymous officer, crime cases were being methodically shifted into “non-index” offences that were not registered as part of official statistics presented by efficiency unit PEMANDU.
Index crime is defined as crime which is reported with sufficient regularity and with sufficient significance to be meaningful as an index to the crime situation”. “Non-index crime”, on the other hand, is considered as cases minor in nature and does not occur with such rampancy to warrant its inclusion into the crime statistics or as a benchmark to determine the crime situation.
The writer of the letter gave very detailed and specific examples of how the crime index was manipulated:
- Robbery cases under the Penal Code are classified as index crime. This offence will be re-classified as non-index under Section 382 of the Penal Code. Since, Section 382 of the Penal Code is a non-index crime, therefore will not be reflected in the crime statistics.
- Burglary under Section 457 of the Penal Code is an index crime. This offence will be re-classified as non-index under Sections 452 or 453 of the Penal Code. Since, Sections 452 and 453 of the Penal Code are non-index crime therefore will not be reflected in the crime statistics.
- Causing hurt under Sections 324 and 326 are index crimes. These offences will be re-classified under Section 148 of the Penal Code. Since, Section 148 of the Penal Code is a non-index crime therefore will not be reflected in the crime statistics.
Hence if the allegations are true, and given complete lack of denial by the Royal Malaysian Police, PEMANDU, the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein and the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak after nearly a week the letter was published, Malaysians cannot but conclude that the glamourous crime statistical achievements published by PEMANDU is nothing by a complete scam.
We would further like PEMANDU, or if they so wish, PwC to confirm if the latter has indeed verified the accuracy and validity of the crime statistics presented by the Royal Malaysian Police to ensure that they have not been manipulated to present artificial achievements.
If no due diligence has been done by PEMANDU or PwC on these data, then PEMANDU is guilty of by publishing inaccurate and inflated the Government’s crime fighting achievements as having been “audited”, “verified”, “authenticated” and “confirmed” by an international auditing firm.
That will be the greatest irony, for PEMANDU is committing the crime of misrepresentation and data fraud, specifically to cover up incidences of crime in Malaysia.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Welcome Dr Ong Kian Ming & Yeo Bee Yin!
Welcome Dr Ong Kian Ming and Yeo Bee Yin, both Cambridge alumni into the DAP family!
I'm absolutely confident that they'll contribute immensely to the Party and Malaysia's political future! ;-)
Everyone knows Dr Ong Kian Ming who has been extremely vocal in socio-economic and political issues in Malaysia. You can read why he joined the DAP here. As for fresh face Bee Yin, her decision is no less admirable, and her statement is as follows: Why Join Politics?
Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin on joining the Democratic Action Party on Monday 27 August 2012 in Kuala Lumpur:
My mom has rightly asked, “you can have a decent and comfortable life now already, why choose such a hard life?” The reason is because I love this nation and desire to see a better Malaysia.
I have met just so many young and bright Malaysians who left home for better opportunities abroad. If all of these continue, we’ll soon reach a point of no return.
Therefore I decided to join DAP to make a change. I do not want to be a bystander as my country is going through one of the most important turning points of history, either for the better or worse future. I do not want to regret at the latter part of my life, seeing my country at peril, just because people of my generation have not done enough and have chosen comfort over sacrifice. To quote Edmund Burke (埃德蒙·伯克), “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”.
I believe that Malaysian youths can make a difference, and am always encouraged by Apostle Paul who wrote in a letter to his spiritual son, Timothy, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set an example in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, faith and purity.”
Yes, young Malaysians are on Facebook and Twitter most of the time and we do watch YouTube videos quite ‘a bit’ but we too are concerned about our environment, the welfare of fellow Malaysians and the future of our children. We have different opinions on how our country should be governed.
Therefore I want to make young voices heard and hope that more young Malaysians can join us or at their respective positions do their part, to make Malaysia a country that is free from corruption, united regardless of race and religion as well as competitive in the global economy.
How I hope to contribute to DAP
I will continue to use my expertise in social media to help DAP to reach out to the young and internet savvy whose support are critical in the next general election. I believe strongly that the social media will add a completely different dimension to political campaigning in the very near future.
At the same time, I have a strong interest in environmental, sustainability and energy policy and believe that this has been an area generally neglected by politicians. I will take part actively in policy-making when the opportunity arises by contributing my knowledge in this field constructively towards a greener Malaysia, as we move forward in economic development.
———————–
** Bee Yin was born in 1983 and grew up in Segamat, Johor.
After she completed my secondary school education in SMJK Seg Hwa, Segamat, she obtained the Petronas Scholarship to study Chemical Engineering in Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP). Bee Yin graduated with First Class Honours and was the top student for the year 2006.
She worked for 2 years with Schlumberger (斯伦贝谢公司), an international oil and gas engineering company as a field engineer in Turkmenistan before going on to complete her MPhil (Masters in Philosophy哲学硕士) in Advanced Chemical Engineering with Commendation from University of Cambridge in 2010. Bee Yin was fortunate enough to be a recipient of the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship.
Since her return to Malaysia, she has started her own business in Social Media Strategy in helping clients to maximize their marketing reach via the increasingly influential internet and social media tools.
Bee Yin currently serves as DAP HQ Social Media Strategy Advisor
I'm absolutely confident that they'll contribute immensely to the Party and Malaysia's political future! ;-)
Everyone knows Dr Ong Kian Ming who has been extremely vocal in socio-economic and political issues in Malaysia. You can read why he joined the DAP here. As for fresh face Bee Yin, her decision is no less admirable, and her statement is as follows: Why Join Politics?
Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin on joining the Democratic Action Party on Monday 27 August 2012 in Kuala Lumpur:
My mom has rightly asked, “you can have a decent and comfortable life now already, why choose such a hard life?” The reason is because I love this nation and desire to see a better Malaysia.
I have met just so many young and bright Malaysians who left home for better opportunities abroad. If all of these continue, we’ll soon reach a point of no return.
Therefore I decided to join DAP to make a change. I do not want to be a bystander as my country is going through one of the most important turning points of history, either for the better or worse future. I do not want to regret at the latter part of my life, seeing my country at peril, just because people of my generation have not done enough and have chosen comfort over sacrifice. To quote Edmund Burke (埃德蒙·伯克), “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”.
I believe that Malaysian youths can make a difference, and am always encouraged by Apostle Paul who wrote in a letter to his spiritual son, Timothy, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set an example in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, faith and purity.”
Yes, young Malaysians are on Facebook and Twitter most of the time and we do watch YouTube videos quite ‘a bit’ but we too are concerned about our environment, the welfare of fellow Malaysians and the future of our children. We have different opinions on how our country should be governed.
Therefore I want to make young voices heard and hope that more young Malaysians can join us or at their respective positions do their part, to make Malaysia a country that is free from corruption, united regardless of race and religion as well as competitive in the global economy.
How I hope to contribute to DAP
I will continue to use my expertise in social media to help DAP to reach out to the young and internet savvy whose support are critical in the next general election. I believe strongly that the social media will add a completely different dimension to political campaigning in the very near future.
At the same time, I have a strong interest in environmental, sustainability and energy policy and believe that this has been an area generally neglected by politicians. I will take part actively in policy-making when the opportunity arises by contributing my knowledge in this field constructively towards a greener Malaysia, as we move forward in economic development.
———————–
** Bee Yin was born in 1983 and grew up in Segamat, Johor.
After she completed my secondary school education in SMJK Seg Hwa, Segamat, she obtained the Petronas Scholarship to study Chemical Engineering in Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP). Bee Yin graduated with First Class Honours and was the top student for the year 2006.
She worked for 2 years with Schlumberger (斯伦贝谢公司), an international oil and gas engineering company as a field engineer in Turkmenistan before going on to complete her MPhil (Masters in Philosophy哲学硕士) in Advanced Chemical Engineering with Commendation from University of Cambridge in 2010. Bee Yin was fortunate enough to be a recipient of the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship.
Since her return to Malaysia, she has started her own business in Social Media Strategy in helping clients to maximize their marketing reach via the increasingly influential internet and social media tools.
Bee Yin currently serves as DAP HQ Social Media Strategy Advisor
Friday, August 24, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Register To Vote to Make The Difference
Like the video? Got to our Facebook Page, like DAPMalaysia, and share the video on Facebook! Get more people to be registered! From 25 Aug to 9 Sept 2012, there will be different VOTER REGISTRATION counters at different places around Klang Valley, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Penang, Melaka and Johor. For more information, visit: http://reg2vote.com/
Monday, August 13, 2012
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Federal Government Support for Selangor Water Restructuring Mere Lip Service?
It was announced on Wednesday evening by the Special Cabinet Committee chaired by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that “the Selangor government can implement water supply restructuring scheme as long as it adheres to the Water Services Industry Act 2006, as well as all water concession agreements and laws in force.”
The statement also stated that “the committee has no plan to interfere with the state government's efforts to take over equity in the concession companies since it is a commercial transaction between the two parties that should be implemented on willing buyer-willing seller basis.”
While we will give the above statement of “support” the initial benefit of doubt, we call upon the Special Cabinet Committee to state concrete steps which the Federal Government will take, as an equal party to the water concession agreements as well as the rights of the water industry in Malaysia to ensure that the state can be successful.
In fact, the mere statement by the Federal Government that the restructuring transaction should be carried out “on willing buyer-willing seller basis” is already an interference to the concession agreement.
The concession agreements with the water concessionaires in Selangor – SYABAS, Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Sungai Selangor (SPLASH) and Konsortium ABASS contains clauses which specifically allows the state government to “expropriate” the concessions using a pre-determined and pre-agreed formula.
The only hurdle to the Selangor government exercising the mutually agreed clauses in the concession agreements is the consent of the Federal Government. If Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is sincere in wanting the state government to take over the water industry, then we call upon the Cabinet to grant the consent to the expropriation exercise based on the pre-agreed compensation formula will be the fastest and easiest method to resolve the stalemate in Selangor.
If the Federal Government is not willing to grant a consent for the expropriation exercise, despite it being part of the concession agreements, then surely the Federal Government must agree to an international arbitration exercise to determine a fair valuation for the acquisition of these water companies by Selangor government. Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has mooted the proposal to submit to an international arbitration panel to determine the fair price for the acquisition of the four water companies in Selangor since 2010 but this proposal has been obstinately rejected by the Federal Government.
Similarly, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has written letters to the Federal Government seeking the latter’s consent to terminate the concession agreement due to various breaches by SYABAS. However, the Federal Government had refused to accede to the state’s request, and has instead insisted during various restructuring negotiations for SYABAS or Puncak Niaga to lead the revamped water industry.
Instead of helping the state government in pressuring the return of the water concessions, the Federal Government did the exact opposite by bailing out these heavily indebted water companies. The Federal Government has “taken over” RM6.5 billion of the water debts to prevent the water companies from going into default insolvency. The bailout exercise of these water companies at the most crucial moment destroyed any incentive for these water companies to come to a restructuring agreement with the Selangor Government.
The above responses or the lack of response by the Federal Government to the State Government’s intent of taking back control of the water industry as per the spirit of the Water Services Industry Act (WSIA 2006) exposes the bad faith on the part of the Federal Government. They would either prefer SYABAS/Puncak Niaga to continue to lead the water industry in Selangor, or for the Selangor Government to pay through the nose to acquire these companies.
By taking the hands-off position and paying just lip service, there will be absolutely no reason for SYABAS and the other concessionaires to come to the table. Hence to demonstrate the Federal Government’s sincerity and good faith over this matter, it must announce its full support, particularly to accept the proposed international arbitration panel to decide on a fair price for the acquisition of the water concessionaires.
The statement also stated that “the committee has no plan to interfere with the state government's efforts to take over equity in the concession companies since it is a commercial transaction between the two parties that should be implemented on willing buyer-willing seller basis.”
While we will give the above statement of “support” the initial benefit of doubt, we call upon the Special Cabinet Committee to state concrete steps which the Federal Government will take, as an equal party to the water concession agreements as well as the rights of the water industry in Malaysia to ensure that the state can be successful.
In fact, the mere statement by the Federal Government that the restructuring transaction should be carried out “on willing buyer-willing seller basis” is already an interference to the concession agreement.
The concession agreements with the water concessionaires in Selangor – SYABAS, Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Sungai Selangor (SPLASH) and Konsortium ABASS contains clauses which specifically allows the state government to “expropriate” the concessions using a pre-determined and pre-agreed formula.
The only hurdle to the Selangor government exercising the mutually agreed clauses in the concession agreements is the consent of the Federal Government. If Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is sincere in wanting the state government to take over the water industry, then we call upon the Cabinet to grant the consent to the expropriation exercise based on the pre-agreed compensation formula will be the fastest and easiest method to resolve the stalemate in Selangor.
If the Federal Government is not willing to grant a consent for the expropriation exercise, despite it being part of the concession agreements, then surely the Federal Government must agree to an international arbitration exercise to determine a fair valuation for the acquisition of these water companies by Selangor government. Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has mooted the proposal to submit to an international arbitration panel to determine the fair price for the acquisition of the four water companies in Selangor since 2010 but this proposal has been obstinately rejected by the Federal Government.
Similarly, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has written letters to the Federal Government seeking the latter’s consent to terminate the concession agreement due to various breaches by SYABAS. However, the Federal Government had refused to accede to the state’s request, and has instead insisted during various restructuring negotiations for SYABAS or Puncak Niaga to lead the revamped water industry.
Instead of helping the state government in pressuring the return of the water concessions, the Federal Government did the exact opposite by bailing out these heavily indebted water companies. The Federal Government has “taken over” RM6.5 billion of the water debts to prevent the water companies from going into default insolvency. The bailout exercise of these water companies at the most crucial moment destroyed any incentive for these water companies to come to a restructuring agreement with the Selangor Government.
The above responses or the lack of response by the Federal Government to the State Government’s intent of taking back control of the water industry as per the spirit of the Water Services Industry Act (WSIA 2006) exposes the bad faith on the part of the Federal Government. They would either prefer SYABAS/Puncak Niaga to continue to lead the water industry in Selangor, or for the Selangor Government to pay through the nose to acquire these companies.
By taking the hands-off position and paying just lip service, there will be absolutely no reason for SYABAS and the other concessionaires to come to the table. Hence to demonstrate the Federal Government’s sincerity and good faith over this matter, it must announce its full support, particularly to accept the proposed international arbitration panel to decide on a fair price for the acquisition of the water concessionaires.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Full Support for CIJ "Internet Blackout Day"
The DAP would like to fully support the campaign launched by The Centre for Journalism (CIJ) Malaysia to hold Malaysia’s first ever internet blackout day to protest against the introduction of the Evidence (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2012.
On May 9 2012, the Evidence (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2012 was passed in the Dewan Negara and gazette by the Law Minister last month. We deem the amendment as a blatant intrusion upon the fundamental human rights of Malaysia’s internet users and thus urge the government to repeal this amendment immediately.
Section 114(A) severely infringes upon the freedom of online expression and undermines the civil liberties of Malaysia’s internet users. We believe the amendment may be construed as an attempt by the powers that be to censor and police what can and cannot be said on the Internet. Such regulation passed with an ulterior motive in mind, only serves to undermine the purpose of the internet to disseminate information and facilitate an environment of open discussion.
Due to the broad scope of the terminology employed in the amendment, situations may arise where the act may impair the delivery of justice to wronged parties and even be used to persecute them. Internet subscribers may be held accountable for any comments or content deemed slanderous or offensive published through their internet connection even though it was published by somebody else without their consent. Victims of online identity theft may be charged under the act if offensive content is published online using their stolen accounts.
It is plain for all to see that the act just makes it easier for the prosecution to find scapegoats when dealing with cybercrimes instead of finding the real perpetrators. Under this act, identity thieves, con-artists and hackers will remain at large so long as they ply their trade using an internet connection that is attached to somebody else’s name.
Furthermore, the following sentence “is presumed to have published … unless the contrary is proved” found in Section 114(A) places the burden of proof on the defendant. This runs counter to the principle of law where the defendant is innocent until proven guilty.
The act also openly discourages people from sharing their internet be it access to their internet connections or to the websites they operate. Hotels, restaurants and even cyber cafes will no longer be able to offer internet access to its patrons for fear of falling afoul of the law. This clearly runs contrary to the objective of making Malaysia one of the most “connected” countries in the world.
Thus, we would hereby like to reiterate our support for CIJ’s initiative to launch an Internet blackout day on 14 August to voice our protest and dissatisfaction against the implementation of the Evidence (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2012.
On May 9 2012, the Evidence (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2012 was passed in the Dewan Negara and gazette by the Law Minister last month. We deem the amendment as a blatant intrusion upon the fundamental human rights of Malaysia’s internet users and thus urge the government to repeal this amendment immediately.
Section 114(A) severely infringes upon the freedom of online expression and undermines the civil liberties of Malaysia’s internet users. We believe the amendment may be construed as an attempt by the powers that be to censor and police what can and cannot be said on the Internet. Such regulation passed with an ulterior motive in mind, only serves to undermine the purpose of the internet to disseminate information and facilitate an environment of open discussion.
Due to the broad scope of the terminology employed in the amendment, situations may arise where the act may impair the delivery of justice to wronged parties and even be used to persecute them. Internet subscribers may be held accountable for any comments or content deemed slanderous or offensive published through their internet connection even though it was published by somebody else without their consent. Victims of online identity theft may be charged under the act if offensive content is published online using their stolen accounts.
It is plain for all to see that the act just makes it easier for the prosecution to find scapegoats when dealing with cybercrimes instead of finding the real perpetrators. Under this act, identity thieves, con-artists and hackers will remain at large so long as they ply their trade using an internet connection that is attached to somebody else’s name.
Furthermore, the following sentence “is presumed to have published … unless the contrary is proved” found in Section 114(A) places the burden of proof on the defendant. This runs counter to the principle of law where the defendant is innocent until proven guilty.
The act also openly discourages people from sharing their internet be it access to their internet connections or to the websites they operate. Hotels, restaurants and even cyber cafes will no longer be able to offer internet access to its patrons for fear of falling afoul of the law. This clearly runs contrary to the objective of making Malaysia one of the most “connected” countries in the world.
Thus, we would hereby like to reiterate our support for CIJ’s initiative to launch an Internet blackout day on 14 August to voice our protest and dissatisfaction against the implementation of the Evidence (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2012.
Thursday, August 09, 2012
George Kent LRT Award: Proof Rent-Seeking Alive & Well
The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak famously declared that “we can no longer tolerate practices that support the behavior of rent-seeking and patronage…” when he launched his landmark New Economic Model (NEM) to replace the New Economic Policy (NEP) on 30 March 2010.
I had openly applauded the statement on intent when it was first announced, but cautioned then against the sincerity and political will of the Prime Minister to carry out the necessary reforms to our distorted economy.
The recent award of the RM1.18 billion Ampang LRT Extension Project to George Kent Bhd has become just another one of the many nails hammered tightly into the NEM coffin. The award has proven that not only has Datuk Seri Najib Razak failed to rent-seeking and patronage in the Government procurement and tender processes, these behaviours are becoming increasingly blatant and flourishing in the country.
Over the past weeks, the various exposés have shown firstly that George Kent won the bid despite being priced RM167 million higher than the originally recommended bid the project owner Syarikat Prasarana Negara. Secondly, George Kent was awarded the contract despite failing the technical criteria which has caused the company to be initially rejected by the professional evaluation consultants.
Worse, George Kent won the bid over other establish rail players such as Siemens, Balfour Beatty, Bombardier, Posco and Colas despite having zero experience in rail projects. The company’s expertise is in the manufacture and supply “control instrumentation, telemetry, pipes, valves and fittings, industrial and domestic water meters, boilers”, as well as “fibre glass reinforced polyester (FRP) panel tanks for bulk water storage”.
But the industry feedback on the award as reported by the latest issue of The Edge is most damning on the integrity and credibility of the high-power Ministry of Finance Committee headed by Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself.
An industry executive was quoted saying that “George Kent might have to subcontract about 70% to 80% of the value of the contract since it is not the original equipment manufacturer of any of the components that are needed for the systems work”.
A top executive from Siemens has also confirmed that they have been approached by George Kent to participate in the project as a subcontractor. Similarly, another tenderer for the project Balfour Beatty has also been approached, but executives close to the UK-based group say it has “spurned” the offer.
A rail-sector project consultant was then quoted to say “subcontracting more than 30% of the specialised work packages, is questionable since the main contractor would have been selected for its specific technical capabilities”. This is as opposed to George Kent being awarded the contract despite having no such expertise in the industry.
The award shows that Ali-Baba like contractors who survive on their political connections as well as their expert navigation of the government procurement processes continue to dominate in Malaysia. At the same time, the complicity of the Prime Minister, who is also the Finance Minister in the award process proves full support for these companies.
We are completely aghast at how Datuk Seri Najib Razak can continue to talk about the “New Economic Model” and “Economic Transformation” when Barisan Nasional cronies continue to win lucrative government tenders via rent-seeking and patronage, and not because of competency, quality and price competitiveness.
I had openly applauded the statement on intent when it was first announced, but cautioned then against the sincerity and political will of the Prime Minister to carry out the necessary reforms to our distorted economy.
The recent award of the RM1.18 billion Ampang LRT Extension Project to George Kent Bhd has become just another one of the many nails hammered tightly into the NEM coffin. The award has proven that not only has Datuk Seri Najib Razak failed to rent-seeking and patronage in the Government procurement and tender processes, these behaviours are becoming increasingly blatant and flourishing in the country.
Over the past weeks, the various exposés have shown firstly that George Kent won the bid despite being priced RM167 million higher than the originally recommended bid the project owner Syarikat Prasarana Negara. Secondly, George Kent was awarded the contract despite failing the technical criteria which has caused the company to be initially rejected by the professional evaluation consultants.
Worse, George Kent won the bid over other establish rail players such as Siemens, Balfour Beatty, Bombardier, Posco and Colas despite having zero experience in rail projects. The company’s expertise is in the manufacture and supply “control instrumentation, telemetry, pipes, valves and fittings, industrial and domestic water meters, boilers”, as well as “fibre glass reinforced polyester (FRP) panel tanks for bulk water storage”.
But the industry feedback on the award as reported by the latest issue of The Edge is most damning on the integrity and credibility of the high-power Ministry of Finance Committee headed by Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself.
An industry executive was quoted saying that “George Kent might have to subcontract about 70% to 80% of the value of the contract since it is not the original equipment manufacturer of any of the components that are needed for the systems work”.
A top executive from Siemens has also confirmed that they have been approached by George Kent to participate in the project as a subcontractor. Similarly, another tenderer for the project Balfour Beatty has also been approached, but executives close to the UK-based group say it has “spurned” the offer.
A rail-sector project consultant was then quoted to say “subcontracting more than 30% of the specialised work packages, is questionable since the main contractor would have been selected for its specific technical capabilities”. This is as opposed to George Kent being awarded the contract despite having no such expertise in the industry.
The award shows that Ali-Baba like contractors who survive on their political connections as well as their expert navigation of the government procurement processes continue to dominate in Malaysia. At the same time, the complicity of the Prime Minister, who is also the Finance Minister in the award process proves full support for these companies.
We are completely aghast at how Datuk Seri Najib Razak can continue to talk about the “New Economic Model” and “Economic Transformation” when Barisan Nasional cronies continue to win lucrative government tenders via rent-seeking and patronage, and not because of competency, quality and price competitiveness.
Monday, August 06, 2012
George Kent LRT Award: Prasarana Must Disclose All
Syarikat Prasarana Negara must immediately declassify all tender documents and minutes of evalution meetings to prove that the George Kent-Lion Pacific consortium is the most worthy bid for the Ampang LRT Extension, both technically and financially
Pakatan Rakyat leaders and the Malaysian public have heavily criticised the award of the RM1.18 billion Ampang LRT extension project to the George Kent-Lion Pacific consortium, despite the multiple revelations by PKR Strategy Director Rafizi Ramli on the fact that the George Kent consortium had failed the technical evaluation conducted by Halcrow Consultants. In fact, in the leaked report by Halcrow, it was noted that the consortium was allowed to proceed to the next stage upon "instruction" from Prasarana.
Hence it comes as a complete surprise, and more than a little amusing that George Kent was the party to deliver the public statement to “strongly refute the baseless allegations that GKLP-JV failed the full technical and commercial evaluations”.
The statement had to add that George Kent has good track record in the construction industry and has delivered in many other "complex" projects. It said “we have successfully delivered large projects on time and on budget, such as the construction and design of the new Kuala Lipis Hospital valued at RM100 million…”
No one is questioning the ability of George Kent to deliver a RM100 million hospital. Neither is anyone question the competence of the company to manufacture and supply “control instrumentation, telemetry, pipes, valves and fittings, industrial and domestic water meters, boilers”, as well as “fibre glass reinforced polyester (FRP) panel tanks for bulk water storage”. In fact, whether the George Kent consortium may even be able to successfully deliver the Ampang LRT project.
The issue is, was George Kent the best consortium in terms of technical expertise and experience in rail projects with the best price to deliver the LRT project for Prasarana, among the various parties who bid for the project.
The only party who can answer this question is Prasarana, as well as the Ministry of Finance Committee headed by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself. No one from George Kent has the locus standi to tell Malaysians that they are the best company with the lowest price to deliver the project.
In fact, given the exposés to date which made available various government documents which showed that the George Kent consortium was far from the best bidder in terms of technical expertise and compliance, as well as in terms of price, the onus is on the Government to prove that that there was absolutely no abuse of power, and the controversial award to the George Kent consortium is entirely above board.
The best way for the Government to banish all accusations of cronyism and favouritism is by declassifying all related documents to the award of the project – from tender documents and submissions made for the project, to evaluation papers conducted by Prasarana and its panel of consultants as well as the minutes of meetings on decisions made by the Ministry of Finance in relation to the award of the project.
Such declassification of documents is completely in line with the Prime Minister’s Government Transformation programme led by PEMANDU, which called for full transparency and accountability in government procurement processes. In fact, it will be the only way to improve the outcome of the study conducted by PEMANDU where 71% of corporates claim “no transparency and openness” in the award of government contracts. (GTP Roadmap 2010 pg 134)
We hereby challenge Datuk Seri Najib Razak to convince us with physical proof that the manufacturer of water pipes and meters, George Kent is indeed the best choice to build the LRT system over other companies with complete track record in rail projects, despite the former being priced significantly higher than the latter.
Pakatan Rakyat leaders and the Malaysian public have heavily criticised the award of the RM1.18 billion Ampang LRT extension project to the George Kent-Lion Pacific consortium, despite the multiple revelations by PKR Strategy Director Rafizi Ramli on the fact that the George Kent consortium had failed the technical evaluation conducted by Halcrow Consultants. In fact, in the leaked report by Halcrow, it was noted that the consortium was allowed to proceed to the next stage upon "instruction" from Prasarana.
Hence it comes as a complete surprise, and more than a little amusing that George Kent was the party to deliver the public statement to “strongly refute the baseless allegations that GKLP-JV failed the full technical and commercial evaluations”.
The statement had to add that George Kent has good track record in the construction industry and has delivered in many other "complex" projects. It said “we have successfully delivered large projects on time and on budget, such as the construction and design of the new Kuala Lipis Hospital valued at RM100 million…”
No one is questioning the ability of George Kent to deliver a RM100 million hospital. Neither is anyone question the competence of the company to manufacture and supply “control instrumentation, telemetry, pipes, valves and fittings, industrial and domestic water meters, boilers”, as well as “fibre glass reinforced polyester (FRP) panel tanks for bulk water storage”. In fact, whether the George Kent consortium may even be able to successfully deliver the Ampang LRT project.
The issue is, was George Kent the best consortium in terms of technical expertise and experience in rail projects with the best price to deliver the LRT project for Prasarana, among the various parties who bid for the project.
The only party who can answer this question is Prasarana, as well as the Ministry of Finance Committee headed by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself. No one from George Kent has the locus standi to tell Malaysians that they are the best company with the lowest price to deliver the project.
In fact, given the exposés to date which made available various government documents which showed that the George Kent consortium was far from the best bidder in terms of technical expertise and compliance, as well as in terms of price, the onus is on the Government to prove that that there was absolutely no abuse of power, and the controversial award to the George Kent consortium is entirely above board.
The best way for the Government to banish all accusations of cronyism and favouritism is by declassifying all related documents to the award of the project – from tender documents and submissions made for the project, to evaluation papers conducted by Prasarana and its panel of consultants as well as the minutes of meetings on decisions made by the Ministry of Finance in relation to the award of the project.
Such declassification of documents is completely in line with the Prime Minister’s Government Transformation programme led by PEMANDU, which called for full transparency and accountability in government procurement processes. In fact, it will be the only way to improve the outcome of the study conducted by PEMANDU where 71% of corporates claim “no transparency and openness” in the award of government contracts. (GTP Roadmap 2010 pg 134)
We hereby challenge Datuk Seri Najib Razak to convince us with physical proof that the manufacturer of water pipes and meters, George Kent is indeed the best choice to build the LRT system over other companies with complete track record in rail projects, despite the former being priced significantly higher than the latter.
Saturday, August 04, 2012
Will Chua Tee Yong Ensure NFC's RM250 Million Is Recovered?
I concede that Deputy Agriculture Minister, Datuk Chua Tee Yong has been most exasperating in his crusade against the Selangor state government over the RM392 million debt recovery exercise from Talam Corporation Bhd.
Datuk Chua Tee Yong has made the serious allegation of the Selangor government under Pakatan Rakyat bailing out Talam to the tune of RM1 billion. According to Datuk Chua Tee Yong, the Selangor state has not only “paid” Talam RM392 million, we had help them settle nearly RM300 million in debt in order to rescue Talam from financial distress. It was because of the Selangor RM1 billion bailout, Talam was able to regularise its accounts and get out of its Practice Note 17 (PN17) status on Bursa Malaysia.
It has since been proven beyond doubt that Datuk Chua Tee Yong got his facts completely wrong, and made highly laughable accounting assumptions to come up with the above allegations. Instead of a bailout, the Selangor government was able to collect back from Talam the full amount of RM392 million from Talam in the form of cash and assets. The RM392 million was legacy debt from the Barisan Nasional administration since the 1990s which were never properly accounted for nor were they collected.
In fact, Talam shareholders must be rueing the day Pakatan Rakyat took over the Selangor government in 2008 because they had to pay up their debts within 2 years, as opposed to under the BN administration which did not make any serious attempts to collect these debts for more than a decade.
What is appalling is the fact that Datuk Chua Tee Yong continued his tirade against the Selangor state government, particularly over the valuation of the assets taken over from Talam with near daily press conferences. Despite continued embarrassment for getting his facts wrong or incomplete, the Deputy Agriculture Minister is happily touring Selangor visiting lakes and mountains to make all sorts of claims over the valuation of these properties.
Datuk Chua Tee Yong must surely not be so incompetent as not to know that these properties were valued not only by professional certified valuers but also by Jabatan Perkhidmatan dan Penilaian Hartanah (JPPH) (Property Valuation & Services Department), which is under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government’s Ministry of Finance. If both the professional valuers and JPPH were able to arrive at an agreeable valuation on the pieces of land – regardless of whether there’s a lake or mountain on it – then who is Datuk Chua Tee Yong to give these pieces of land a different value?
Has Datuk Chua decided that he will make a better property valuer than he will as an accountant?
If Datuk Chua spends as much effort as he does visiting all parts of Selangor to carry out the responsibilities of his Ministry, then perhaps the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) scandal would not have reached the ugly state it is suffering from today.
Let me ask Datuk Chua Tee Yong to state how many times has he visited the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) in the past year to resolve the NFCorp scandal? Did he even visit the NFC a single time to perhaps count the number of cows being bred in the farm instead of making multiple fishing trips to the scenic Bestari Jaya lakes?
Has Datuk Chua Tee Yong delivered his ministerial responsibilities by finding out why a RM250 million soft loan was extended to NFCorp owned by UMNO Wanita Chief Datuk Shahrizat Jalil’s family in 2008, 2 years before a project implementation agreement was even signed between Ministry of Agriculture and NFCorp?
In fact, has Datuk Chua ever took the trouble to find out why NFCorp has not paid a single sen back to the Government despite the RM250 million loan being due for its first repayment installment since January 2012? Can Datuk Chua provide an assurance to all Malaysians that every sen of the RM250 million will be collected back, whether in the form of cash or assets just as the Selangor government has managed to successfully collect back the RM392 million Talam debts?
If not, then perhaps Datuk Chua could give Malaysians a reason why he is fit to be the Deputy Minister of Agriculture other than to be the errand boy for the Selangor Umno warlord and Minister, Datuk Noh Omar.
Datuk Chua Tee Yong has made the serious allegation of the Selangor government under Pakatan Rakyat bailing out Talam to the tune of RM1 billion. According to Datuk Chua Tee Yong, the Selangor state has not only “paid” Talam RM392 million, we had help them settle nearly RM300 million in debt in order to rescue Talam from financial distress. It was because of the Selangor RM1 billion bailout, Talam was able to regularise its accounts and get out of its Practice Note 17 (PN17) status on Bursa Malaysia.
It has since been proven beyond doubt that Datuk Chua Tee Yong got his facts completely wrong, and made highly laughable accounting assumptions to come up with the above allegations. Instead of a bailout, the Selangor government was able to collect back from Talam the full amount of RM392 million from Talam in the form of cash and assets. The RM392 million was legacy debt from the Barisan Nasional administration since the 1990s which were never properly accounted for nor were they collected.
In fact, Talam shareholders must be rueing the day Pakatan Rakyat took over the Selangor government in 2008 because they had to pay up their debts within 2 years, as opposed to under the BN administration which did not make any serious attempts to collect these debts for more than a decade.
What is appalling is the fact that Datuk Chua Tee Yong continued his tirade against the Selangor state government, particularly over the valuation of the assets taken over from Talam with near daily press conferences. Despite continued embarrassment for getting his facts wrong or incomplete, the Deputy Agriculture Minister is happily touring Selangor visiting lakes and mountains to make all sorts of claims over the valuation of these properties.
Datuk Chua Tee Yong must surely not be so incompetent as not to know that these properties were valued not only by professional certified valuers but also by Jabatan Perkhidmatan dan Penilaian Hartanah (JPPH) (Property Valuation & Services Department), which is under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government’s Ministry of Finance. If both the professional valuers and JPPH were able to arrive at an agreeable valuation on the pieces of land – regardless of whether there’s a lake or mountain on it – then who is Datuk Chua Tee Yong to give these pieces of land a different value?
Has Datuk Chua decided that he will make a better property valuer than he will as an accountant?
If Datuk Chua spends as much effort as he does visiting all parts of Selangor to carry out the responsibilities of his Ministry, then perhaps the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) scandal would not have reached the ugly state it is suffering from today.
Let me ask Datuk Chua Tee Yong to state how many times has he visited the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) in the past year to resolve the NFCorp scandal? Did he even visit the NFC a single time to perhaps count the number of cows being bred in the farm instead of making multiple fishing trips to the scenic Bestari Jaya lakes?
Has Datuk Chua Tee Yong delivered his ministerial responsibilities by finding out why a RM250 million soft loan was extended to NFCorp owned by UMNO Wanita Chief Datuk Shahrizat Jalil’s family in 2008, 2 years before a project implementation agreement was even signed between Ministry of Agriculture and NFCorp?
In fact, has Datuk Chua ever took the trouble to find out why NFCorp has not paid a single sen back to the Government despite the RM250 million loan being due for its first repayment installment since January 2012? Can Datuk Chua provide an assurance to all Malaysians that every sen of the RM250 million will be collected back, whether in the form of cash or assets just as the Selangor government has managed to successfully collect back the RM392 million Talam debts?
If not, then perhaps Datuk Chua could give Malaysians a reason why he is fit to be the Deputy Minister of Agriculture other than to be the errand boy for the Selangor Umno warlord and Minister, Datuk Noh Omar.
Friday, August 03, 2012
George Kent LRT Award: What Says PEMANDU?
What is the point of setting up PEMANDU when the Prime Minister himself tramples on its proposals as he likes, putting to waste hundreds of millions of ringgit in developing, promoting and implementing the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and the National Key Result Areas (NKRA)
Those who are in the know, would be aware that I have a high degree of respect for Datuk Idris Jala, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office in-charge of the “high-powered” Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU), especially with regards to his sincerity in wanting to make change happen. I have at various times criticised policy proposals by PEMANDU, but that is directed towards making them better, and not questioning the intent of those who have worked at drafting the policies.
However, I can only see the sheer hopelessness of the efforts put in by Datuk Idris and his team, when some of these key proposals are given only lip service support. When it comes to the crunch, many of the policies drafted by the PEMANDU team and its highly paid consultants were either completely ignored or are trampled upon at will by the Prime Minister and his Ministers.
As seen recently, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has shown complete contempt of the PEMANDU GTP programme by repeatedly interfering with the award of the projects for the LRT Extension Programme for both the Kelana Jaya and the Ampang lines.
In June 2011, the Finance Ministry committee had ordered Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd to award the deal to the Hartasuma Sdn Bhd-Bombardier joint-venture, whose RM890 million bid is nearly 50 per cent higher than the lowest bid from the Prasarana-recommended Ingress Corp Bhd-Balfour Beatty Rail Sdn Bhd, of RM610 million, the lowest. The decision was subsequently reversed, and awarded to the Colas and CMC Engineering Sdn Bhd joint venture for RM670 million.
More blatantly, the same committee chaired by none other than the Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself, has overturned recommendations by Prasarana to award the Ampang Line project to George Kent-Lion Pacific joint venture this month. They have secured the contract for RM1.18 billion despite despite the fact that the consortium had failed both the technical and commercial evaluations for the contract.
What is beyond belief is that George Kent is a manufacturer and supplier of “control instrumentation, telemetry, pipes, valves and fittings, industrial and domestic water meters, boilers”, as well as “the manufacture of fibre glass reinforced polyester (FRP) panel tanks for bulk water storage” can be qualified for a billion ringgit LRT project. George Kent made only net profits of RM19.3 million on revenues of RM152 million for the financial year ended January 31, 2012.
PEMANDU has in its GTP paper clearly stated that “we will reduce leakages of funds allocated for national development and operational expenditure and ensure transparency in the award of contracts” and admitted that “currently the public perceives that there is a lack of transparency in our procurement processes.”
PEMANDU also wrote that “it is well established that transparency is crucial for a fair and efficient government procurement process. This is because transparency increases public scrutiny on the procurement process and helps ensure that accountability and well-defined policies, regulations and procedures have been put in place and followed closely.”
However, as shown in the above 2 LRT contracts, what PEMANDU proposed mattered little to the Prime Minister, who also holds the position of the Finance Minister. It is clear that PEMANDU’s role in the Najib’s administration is to present a façade of reformist credentials for the BN Government and to act as apologists for his failure to implement any tangible reforms.
As at June 2011, PEMANDU has spent RM27.5 million on “communicating” the GTP and ETP to the Malaysian public and another RM36.9 million running dozens of labs led by various consultants. The above forms only part of the overall NKRA operating budget of RM334 million in 2010.
Instead of spending the money to bring about real transformation by improving transparency, accountability and integrity, hundreds of millions of ringgit are wasted on thousands of pages of plans and presentations, dazzling publicity drives as well as half-hearted implementation efforts to present a semblance of reform to the general public.
If the Prime Minister is in reality going to ignore GTP and award contracts directly to his own preferred vendors regardless of the “open tender” outcomes, then he might as well save the people the hundreds of millions of ringgit spent on the dog-and-pony PEMANDU show.
Those who are in the know, would be aware that I have a high degree of respect for Datuk Idris Jala, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office in-charge of the “high-powered” Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU), especially with regards to his sincerity in wanting to make change happen. I have at various times criticised policy proposals by PEMANDU, but that is directed towards making them better, and not questioning the intent of those who have worked at drafting the policies.
However, I can only see the sheer hopelessness of the efforts put in by Datuk Idris and his team, when some of these key proposals are given only lip service support. When it comes to the crunch, many of the policies drafted by the PEMANDU team and its highly paid consultants were either completely ignored or are trampled upon at will by the Prime Minister and his Ministers.
As seen recently, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has shown complete contempt of the PEMANDU GTP programme by repeatedly interfering with the award of the projects for the LRT Extension Programme for both the Kelana Jaya and the Ampang lines.
In June 2011, the Finance Ministry committee had ordered Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd to award the deal to the Hartasuma Sdn Bhd-Bombardier joint-venture, whose RM890 million bid is nearly 50 per cent higher than the lowest bid from the Prasarana-recommended Ingress Corp Bhd-Balfour Beatty Rail Sdn Bhd, of RM610 million, the lowest. The decision was subsequently reversed, and awarded to the Colas and CMC Engineering Sdn Bhd joint venture for RM670 million.
More blatantly, the same committee chaired by none other than the Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself, has overturned recommendations by Prasarana to award the Ampang Line project to George Kent-Lion Pacific joint venture this month. They have secured the contract for RM1.18 billion despite despite the fact that the consortium had failed both the technical and commercial evaluations for the contract.
What is beyond belief is that George Kent is a manufacturer and supplier of “control instrumentation, telemetry, pipes, valves and fittings, industrial and domestic water meters, boilers”, as well as “the manufacture of fibre glass reinforced polyester (FRP) panel tanks for bulk water storage” can be qualified for a billion ringgit LRT project. George Kent made only net profits of RM19.3 million on revenues of RM152 million for the financial year ended January 31, 2012.
PEMANDU has in its GTP paper clearly stated that “we will reduce leakages of funds allocated for national development and operational expenditure and ensure transparency in the award of contracts” and admitted that “currently the public perceives that there is a lack of transparency in our procurement processes.”
PEMANDU also wrote that “it is well established that transparency is crucial for a fair and efficient government procurement process. This is because transparency increases public scrutiny on the procurement process and helps ensure that accountability and well-defined policies, regulations and procedures have been put in place and followed closely.”
However, as shown in the above 2 LRT contracts, what PEMANDU proposed mattered little to the Prime Minister, who also holds the position of the Finance Minister. It is clear that PEMANDU’s role in the Najib’s administration is to present a façade of reformist credentials for the BN Government and to act as apologists for his failure to implement any tangible reforms.
As at June 2011, PEMANDU has spent RM27.5 million on “communicating” the GTP and ETP to the Malaysian public and another RM36.9 million running dozens of labs led by various consultants. The above forms only part of the overall NKRA operating budget of RM334 million in 2010.
Instead of spending the money to bring about real transformation by improving transparency, accountability and integrity, hundreds of millions of ringgit are wasted on thousands of pages of plans and presentations, dazzling publicity drives as well as half-hearted implementation efforts to present a semblance of reform to the general public.
If the Prime Minister is in reality going to ignore GTP and award contracts directly to his own preferred vendors regardless of the “open tender” outcomes, then he might as well save the people the hundreds of millions of ringgit spent on the dog-and-pony PEMANDU show.
Thursday, August 02, 2012
Najib's Whistleblower Reforms Dead
PKR Strategy Director Rafizi Ramli has been charged in the Shah Alam sessions court this morning for allegedly breaching the Banking and Financial Institution Act when he exposed some of the worst abuses by National Feedlot Corporation (NFC).
Rafizi has led the charge to expose a long list of wrong-doings by the company and its directors, who are the husband and children of Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil, the recently resigned Minister of Women, Family and Community Development. Datuk Seri Shahrizat is still the Chief of UMNO’s Women’s Wing.
Despite the overwhelming evidence exposed to date, only Datuk Seri Shahrizat’s husband, Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh has been brought to court, and even then only on 2 key charges – for misappropriating RM40 million of NFC’s money, and for acquiring 2 units of luxury condominium in One Menerung, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur for RM13.5 million.
This is despite the fact that based on NFC’s last audited accounts, more than RM110 million has been misappropriated by the directors to set up a global chain of companies under their individual names. In addition, Rafizi has also exposed the fact that Datuk Seri Shahrizat’s family has acquired 3 luxury condominiums in Singapore worth some RM45 million, as well as a villa in Kazakhstan.
However, none of these assets have been frozen by the Malaysian authorities and none of the other directors have been charged despite holding various key positions in NFC, including the son, Izran Salleh who is the Chief Executive Officer of NFC.
Instead of pursuing the culprits who have abused the RM250 million government soft loan extended to NFC, the Government has chosen to exact revenge on the whistle-blower Rafizi Ramli who play the integral role in uncovering the lid on the litany of gross abuses by Shahrizat’s family.
The act by the Malaysian authorities marks a serious blow to the purported anti-corruption campaign launched by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself, under the Anti-Corruption National Key Result Area (NKRA) in the Government Transformation Programme (GTP). The spirit of the Whistleblower Act which was passed in December 2010 to encourage more to expose corrupt activities is clearly undermined with the persecution of Rafizi.
Only a week ago under the GTP2.0 Open Day, only 7 persons have sought protection under the Whistleblower Act today after more than 18 months, clearly pointing towards a complete lack of confidence in the Barisan Nasional government. Rafizi’s persecution will mark the death knell for the Act as no whistleblower will have any trust in the system to protect their interest.
The complete lack of urgency to bring criminal charges against Datuk Seri Shahrizat’s family members, and the speed at which Rafizi is being charged for blowing the lid on the scandal proves that Datuk Seri Najib has no qualms in protecting the powerful in Barisan Nasional, and quashing his political enemies. Such blatant abuse of power will only confirm in the eyes of the world that Najib’s reform agenda is pure hogwash.
We in the DAP will stand firm and together with Rafizi to ensure that truth and justice will prevail. Our leaders may have been detained without trial, sent to jail on trumped up charges and sued for defamation but we are committed to remain steadfast to our principles and will continue to fearlessly expose all misdeeds and wrongdoings committed by the BN leaders, their associates and cronies.
Rafizi has led the charge to expose a long list of wrong-doings by the company and its directors, who are the husband and children of Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil, the recently resigned Minister of Women, Family and Community Development. Datuk Seri Shahrizat is still the Chief of UMNO’s Women’s Wing.
Despite the overwhelming evidence exposed to date, only Datuk Seri Shahrizat’s husband, Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh has been brought to court, and even then only on 2 key charges – for misappropriating RM40 million of NFC’s money, and for acquiring 2 units of luxury condominium in One Menerung, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur for RM13.5 million.
This is despite the fact that based on NFC’s last audited accounts, more than RM110 million has been misappropriated by the directors to set up a global chain of companies under their individual names. In addition, Rafizi has also exposed the fact that Datuk Seri Shahrizat’s family has acquired 3 luxury condominiums in Singapore worth some RM45 million, as well as a villa in Kazakhstan.
However, none of these assets have been frozen by the Malaysian authorities and none of the other directors have been charged despite holding various key positions in NFC, including the son, Izran Salleh who is the Chief Executive Officer of NFC.
Instead of pursuing the culprits who have abused the RM250 million government soft loan extended to NFC, the Government has chosen to exact revenge on the whistle-blower Rafizi Ramli who play the integral role in uncovering the lid on the litany of gross abuses by Shahrizat’s family.
The act by the Malaysian authorities marks a serious blow to the purported anti-corruption campaign launched by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself, under the Anti-Corruption National Key Result Area (NKRA) in the Government Transformation Programme (GTP). The spirit of the Whistleblower Act which was passed in December 2010 to encourage more to expose corrupt activities is clearly undermined with the persecution of Rafizi.
Only a week ago under the GTP2.0 Open Day, only 7 persons have sought protection under the Whistleblower Act today after more than 18 months, clearly pointing towards a complete lack of confidence in the Barisan Nasional government. Rafizi’s persecution will mark the death knell for the Act as no whistleblower will have any trust in the system to protect their interest.
The complete lack of urgency to bring criminal charges against Datuk Seri Shahrizat’s family members, and the speed at which Rafizi is being charged for blowing the lid on the scandal proves that Datuk Seri Najib has no qualms in protecting the powerful in Barisan Nasional, and quashing his political enemies. Such blatant abuse of power will only confirm in the eyes of the world that Najib’s reform agenda is pure hogwash.
We in the DAP will stand firm and together with Rafizi to ensure that truth and justice will prevail. Our leaders may have been detained without trial, sent to jail on trumped up charges and sued for defamation but we are committed to remain steadfast to our principles and will continue to fearlessly expose all misdeeds and wrongdoings committed by the BN leaders, their associates and cronies.
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
George Kent LRT Award: Najib Broke All Rules
Datuk Seri Najib Razak shamelessly broke every single rule on transparency, accountability and integrity, making a complete mockery of the Ampang Line LRT “open tender” and exposed his cornerstone “Government Transformation Programme” as nothing more than rhetorical propaganda
After playing hide-and-seek with the Malaysian public for more than a month, Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (Prasarana), the project and asset owner for the LRT Line Extension Project (LEP), said in a statement today that the contract for “Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Testing and Commissioning of System Works” for the Ampang Line Extension Project has been awarded to a George Kent-Lion Pacific joint venture.
The consortium led by George Kent, is at the centre of repeated opposition allegations that it received preferential treatment from the government is understood to have secured the contract for RM1.18 billion. This is despite the fact that the consortium had failed both the technical and commercial evaluations for the contract.
PKR Strategy Director Rafizi Ramli has exposed that the MoF’s Acquisition Committee, which met this January 25, had originally over-ruled initial lower-priced recommendation from Prasarana decided to award the contract to British engineering firm, Balfour Beatty-Invensys Consortium, which bid RM1.01 billion for the job.
Subsequently it was exposed that the MoF Acquisition Committee headed by none other than the Prime Minister himself, reversed the earlier decision to awarded an even higher priced contract to the George Kent consortium.
What is completely beyond belief in the sheer abuse of power by the Prime Minister himself is that George Kent a manufacturer and supplier of “control instrumentation, telemetry, pipes, valves and fittings, industrial and domestic water meters, boilers”, as well as “the manufacture of fibre glass reinforced polyester (FRP) panel tanks for bulk water storage” can be qualified for a billion ringgit LRT project.
What is worse is the fact that George Kent made only net profits of RM19.3 million on revenues of RM152 million for the financial year ended January 31, 2012. What justification can be given by Datuk Seri Najib Razak that a company with only RM152 million in revenue could be awarded a RM1.18 billion ringgit contract, despite having been disqualified technically from the project?
The Ampang LRT project isn’t the first to suffer from abuse and controversy. In June 2011, the Finance Ministry committee had ordered Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd to award the deal to the Hartasuma Sdn Bhd-Bombardier joint-venture, whose RM890 million bid is nearly 50 per cent higher than the lowest bid from the Prasarana-recommended Ingress Corp Bhd-Balfour Beatty Rail Sdn Bhd, of RM610 million, the lowest. The decision was subsequently reversed, and awarded to the Colas and CMC Engineering Sdn Bhd joint venture for RM670 million.
The decision to proceed with the award proves beyond doubt that Datuk Seri Najib Razak is willing to shamelessly break every single rule on transparency, accountability and integrity, despite the scandal having been exposed. The decision and announcement makes a complete mockery of the Ampang Line LRT “open tender” which does not play by the book and will severely dent the confidence of Malaysians in the multi-billion ringgit projects to be similarly awarded via “open tender” such as the RM53 billion MRT and RM8.7 billion Langat 2 water treatment plant.
The blatant crony award of the RM1.18 billion contract above also confirms that the Prime Minister’s cornerstone “Government Transformation Programme” (GTP) to improve transparency and reduce corruption is nothing more than rhetorical propaganda. This is because none other than Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself has chosen to dismiss the policies proposed with the GTP.
Malaysians are expressing both outrage and disappointment with the Prime Minister who has promised so much with his “transformation” agenda but delivered so little. Despite all the promises and pledges, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has chosen to continue the crony capitalism practices carried out by his predecessors at the expense of good government and the rakyat’s interest.
After playing hide-and-seek with the Malaysian public for more than a month, Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (Prasarana), the project and asset owner for the LRT Line Extension Project (LEP), said in a statement today that the contract for “Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Testing and Commissioning of System Works” for the Ampang Line Extension Project has been awarded to a George Kent-Lion Pacific joint venture.
The consortium led by George Kent, is at the centre of repeated opposition allegations that it received preferential treatment from the government is understood to have secured the contract for RM1.18 billion. This is despite the fact that the consortium had failed both the technical and commercial evaluations for the contract.
PKR Strategy Director Rafizi Ramli has exposed that the MoF’s Acquisition Committee, which met this January 25, had originally over-ruled initial lower-priced recommendation from Prasarana decided to award the contract to British engineering firm, Balfour Beatty-Invensys Consortium, which bid RM1.01 billion for the job.
Subsequently it was exposed that the MoF Acquisition Committee headed by none other than the Prime Minister himself, reversed the earlier decision to awarded an even higher priced contract to the George Kent consortium.
What is completely beyond belief in the sheer abuse of power by the Prime Minister himself is that George Kent a manufacturer and supplier of “control instrumentation, telemetry, pipes, valves and fittings, industrial and domestic water meters, boilers”, as well as “the manufacture of fibre glass reinforced polyester (FRP) panel tanks for bulk water storage” can be qualified for a billion ringgit LRT project.
What is worse is the fact that George Kent made only net profits of RM19.3 million on revenues of RM152 million for the financial year ended January 31, 2012. What justification can be given by Datuk Seri Najib Razak that a company with only RM152 million in revenue could be awarded a RM1.18 billion ringgit contract, despite having been disqualified technically from the project?
The Ampang LRT project isn’t the first to suffer from abuse and controversy. In June 2011, the Finance Ministry committee had ordered Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd to award the deal to the Hartasuma Sdn Bhd-Bombardier joint-venture, whose RM890 million bid is nearly 50 per cent higher than the lowest bid from the Prasarana-recommended Ingress Corp Bhd-Balfour Beatty Rail Sdn Bhd, of RM610 million, the lowest. The decision was subsequently reversed, and awarded to the Colas and CMC Engineering Sdn Bhd joint venture for RM670 million.
The decision to proceed with the award proves beyond doubt that Datuk Seri Najib Razak is willing to shamelessly break every single rule on transparency, accountability and integrity, despite the scandal having been exposed. The decision and announcement makes a complete mockery of the Ampang Line LRT “open tender” which does not play by the book and will severely dent the confidence of Malaysians in the multi-billion ringgit projects to be similarly awarded via “open tender” such as the RM53 billion MRT and RM8.7 billion Langat 2 water treatment plant.
The blatant crony award of the RM1.18 billion contract above also confirms that the Prime Minister’s cornerstone “Government Transformation Programme” (GTP) to improve transparency and reduce corruption is nothing more than rhetorical propaganda. This is because none other than Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself has chosen to dismiss the policies proposed with the GTP.
Malaysians are expressing both outrage and disappointment with the Prime Minister who has promised so much with his “transformation” agenda but delivered so little. Despite all the promises and pledges, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has chosen to continue the crony capitalism practices carried out by his predecessors at the expense of good government and the rakyat’s interest.
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