Ismail Sabri Sleeping On The Job

Datuk Ismail Sabri, the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister was approached by reporters on the fact that many Umno-linked companies have failed to file their accounts on a timely basis.

He responded that “Kita baru tahu dan kita akan siasat. Kita akan siasat jika menerima aduan. Kita tak pilih sesiapa (untuk jalankan siasatan)”.

[We only know (about it) now and we will investigate. We will investigate if we receive a complaint. We do not choose anyone (in conducting investigations)]

This is the absolutely laziest answer from a Minister.

Firstly, it is not the job of the public to do his job on checking if every company on Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) have duly submitted their accounts on a timely basis.  It is the role of CCM to do so and to enforce the law in accordance to the Companies Act 1965.

Secondly, and more importantly, the entire CCM companies’ database is electronic and has been so for many years.  This means that a complete list of companies who have not submitted their accounts on a timely basis can be obtain with the press of a computer button.  If even at such convenience the CCM has not done its job, and companies are allowed not to submit their accounts since 2006, then clearly the Minister and CCM are sleeping on the job.

What makes the entire situation worse is the fact that the Ministry has “received complaints” on Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd and hence is aggressively “investigating” the company.  However, the Minister until today has been unable to pinpoint not even a single irregularity with Suara Inisiatif’s accounts!  The persecution of Suara Inisiatif is clearly political and a complete abuse of power.

We would like to remind the Minister that our allegations against the UMNO-linked companies are not based on some airy-fairy allegations like “misleading” or “confusing accounts”.  It  is based on documents obtained directly from SSM itself which says that these companies have failed to submit their accounts for years.  The companies and their directors are listed here.

Datuk Ismail Sabri was in such a hurry to have Suara Inisiatif charged by the Attorney-General, despite the fact that the investigations were incomplete as highlighted by the latter.  In the cases of these UMNO-linked companies, the proof is clear as broad daylight.  There’s practically nothing else to investigate.  These companies have not filed their accounts in recent years, some since 2006.

We would like to repeat that if we fail to see immediate action against these companies and their directors under Companies Act 1965, we will file for a RM10 salary deduction motion against the Minister during the Budget 2013 debate supplementary stage.