UiTM ‘piratisation’ to hand Umno men RM8.6b, claims Rafizi

By Syed Jaymal ZahiidJune 12, 2014UPDATED: June 12, 2014 02:59 pm

KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 ― Putrajaya intentionally privatised the construction of six state-owned Universiti Teknology Mara (UiTM) campuses nationwide to allow Umno-linked firms to rake in RM8.6 billion of public funds, PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli alleged today.

The Pandan MP said the move meant the government must pay RM375 million in rent annually for 23 years, according to concession agreements revealed in a parliamentary reply by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on April 10 this year.

Rafizi today alleged that the six concessionaires have ties to Umno, the leading party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

“These concessionaires are all linked to Umno. Some are Umno leaders. As if it is not enough that they have gotten rich (from other contracts) now they are getting billions from UiTM,” he told reporters in Parliament lobby here.

“This is the continuation of the 'piratisation' of public funds by the Umno-Barisan Nasional government,” he added.

The Pandan MP noted that the government could have saved more than RM6 billion if it had built the campuses instead of leasing it to the concessionaires.

“In the case of the six campuses, the rakyat will have to bear the cost burden five times more expensive (the cost of building the campuses is only RM1.8 billion but the rakyat have to pay RM8.6 billion to the concessionaires)”.

Each campus is estimated to cost between RM280 and RM315 million, according to the same reply given by Najib on April 10.

Rafizi also noted that the total amount of rent paid to the concessions will eat up a whopping 11 per cent of the total amount allocated to UiTM by the federal government.

Rafizi said he will reveal the names of those behind the concessionaires next week.

“They are Umno leaders or popular cronies that hold positions in Umno,” he said.

UiTM is owned by MARA, a Bumiputera fund set up to boost the economic standings of Malaysia's ethnic majority as part of the race-based affirmative action New Economic Policy conceived in the 60s.

Until recently, more progressive Malay opposition leaders have suggested a revamp in MARA's direction ― that the fund be used to help the poor regardless of race including the opening up of UiTM to poor non-Malay applicants.

The idea met fierce opposition from Umno's hardliners who labeled the proposition as an attempt to undermine Malay special privileges.

Rafizi said today the revelation that Umno cronies were profiting MARA projects were proof that the Malay party was “never interested in safeguarding Malay interest but is using it to enrich their cronies instead”.

Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/uitm-piratisation-to-hand-umno-men-rm8.6b-claims-rafizi

Ticket to ride for cronies?

This is Barisan Nasional Government which will never give up their Crony-practices. If you are painful of your monies going to the cronies' pockets, all you have to do is to vote them out come 13th GE.
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By Bahaman Borhan

August 01, 2012

AUG 1 ― How on earth did a company that makes water meters and whose biggest project was RM40 million get the lucrative RM1 billion-odd contract for the Ampang LRT extension?

Why on earth did the Treasury choose the company and its partners after they failed both the technical and commercial evaluations phase for the tender?

How on earth can Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad announce the George Kent-Lion Pacific joint venture as the award winners after its technical committee recommended two other companies for the Ampang LRT Line Extension Project (LEP)?

Is this a crony deal as claimed by PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli? He has been at the forefront in exposing details of the deal despite denials from the authorities that the contract was already decided.

He was proven to be right yesterday when Prasarana announced that the George Kent joint-venture got the deal.

What can we make of this? That the Barisan Nasional (BN) government prefers to deal only with friendly parties who might not have the technical know-how and fail all evaluations, over those who have the technology and charge a lower price?

What does that say to international companies bidding for projects in Malaysia? That they still have to go through local front companies and commission agents who play golf with the right people to get projects? Or are contracts bloated so that they still go to international companies for the right sum, with the extra pocketed by the crony and split with some who have a say in awarding the contract?

I have always believed in the BN when it says that it was for development and progress. That its leaders are selfless and think of the people, which is why Kuala Lumpur needs a better public transport system using rail.

But the Ampang LRT deal and the various awards in the MRT project suggest that these infrastructure projects are just cash-cows for cronies who can jack up prices and win contracts even if they don’t know a thing about railway technology.

Can you trust someone who makes water meters to install a signalling system for a railway line? Was there any thought given to safety considerations? Or will the winning bidder just offer the project to his competitors and take his cut?

Is this how rotten and brazen it has become in Malaysia under BN? Can Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak explain that this deal is above board and was based on recommendations by Prasarana and the Treasury committee that decides the awards?

After all, the police are investigating the documents shown by Rafizi under the Official Secrets Act. So the documents must be genuine. And his claims could be true. Only Najib and Prasarana can tell us differently.

But I doubt they can. The Ampang LRT deal is a ticket to ride for cronies and not for Malaysians.

We’re being taken for a ride to enrich the select few, including a water-meter maker.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/ticket-to-ride-for-cronies-bahaman-borhan/

UMNO / BN Crony -- Sidek’s daughter has ‘no capital and no track record

Another example of UMNO / BN Cronies
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By Ida Lim

July 12, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 — The DAP’s Tony Pua today slammed the country’s renewable energy authority for awarding lucrative feed-in tariff (FiT) solar-power contracts to Petronas’ new chairman Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan’s daughter, saying that her companies have “no capital” and “no track record”.

Pua and his PKR ally Nurul Izzah Anwar had on Tuesday noted that both Suzi Suliana Mohd Sidek and her husband, Todd Morath, held a controlling stake in 12 out of a total of 32 companies that had won the contracts amounting to 32.4 per cent of the nation’s energy quota fixed for between 1MW (megawatt) and 5MW.

Pua (picture) today blasted Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) chairman Tan Sri Fong Chan Onn for reportedly saying that “the selection was above board as it was done through an online system.”

He refuted Fong’s claim in The Staryesterday that all companies selected had fulfilled the technical and financial requirements.

“A random check on two companies — Synergy Must Sdn Bhd and Trinity Creations Sdn Bhd — showed that they had only RM100 in paid-up capital each,” said Pua.

He noted that all 12 companies controlled by Suzi Suliana and her business partners “were set up only a few weeks before the 2 December 2011 application deadline”, with at least eight of them only set up on November 11, 2011.

“How is it that these companies with no capital, no track record and in all likelihood no employees as at the point of time of application, met ‘all the necessary technical criteria as well as financial commitments’?” asked the DAP national publicity secretary.

Pua urged SEDA to “reopen the bidding process for the solar energy quota to ensure that all players are given fair treatment”, saying that unqualified bidders should be “knocked out from the qualification process”.

Pua and Nurul Izzah had pressed Fong and Energy, Water and Green Technology Minister Datuk Peter Chin to explain the award and lay to rest allegations of foul play and favouritism among industry players.

They had also highlighted records they said showed Suzi Suliana, her husband and two business partners were handed the “lion’s share” of the limited contract introduced last year to enable homeowners and industry players to feed electricity produced by solar panels onto the national power grid.

The two opposition MPs had pointed out that together, the four business partners control “45.9MW or 32.4 per cent of the total quota allocated to companies producing 1MW to 5MW, much larger than established companies of Cypark and Petronas Power” which were respectively given 9.2per cent and 7.1 per cent.

Sidek retired as the Chief Secretary to the Government last month and was immediately named Petronas chairman.

Malaysia aims to have over 3,000MW of green energy on the national grid by 2020 and the federal government introduced a new policy last December to develop more independent power producers (IPPs), including households, to provide it.

This is not the first time the federal opposition pact has questioned SEDA’s FiT quota mechanism to encourage long-term use of cleaner energy.

Last February, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the system limiting energy producers to RM300 million on a first-come-first-served basis to each of the four renewable energy sources was not very efficient.

He pointed out that SEDA had invited the public, including households, and small-time IPPs who contributed up to 30MW, although it was limited to 5MW in solar PVs, to apply and book the amount of renewable energy intended for the national grid and suggested Malaysia learn from Germany.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/sideks-daughter-has-no-capital-and-no-track-record-says-pua/

民联揭获32%太阳能发电固打，称西迪哈山女儿公司无经验

这就是国阵55年治国带给人民的效绩 -- 国家财富都往朋党人士袋子塞，而人民却要付上吃西北风的代价。
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作者／刘伟鸿 2012年07月10日 2:22 pm 【本刊刘伟鸿撰述/摄影】 民联国会议员潘俭伟和努鲁依莎（Nurul Izzah Anwar） 揭露， 由前政府首席秘书西迪哈山（Mohd Sidek Hassan） 女儿通 过Sun Energy Ventures公司拥有的12间子公司， 获得介于1兆瓦 和5兆瓦（MW）发电领域的32.4%总太阳能发 电固打，违反永续能源 发展机构（SEDA）的透明、公平竞争 指南。 潘俭伟表示，在介于1兆瓦和5兆瓦发电领域中，“纸面上没有 任何 公司获得超过10%固打。”，但西迪哈山女儿苏兹哈山 （Suzi Hassan） 通过12间子公司，获得32.4%或45.9兆瓦 的固打。 他说，令他震惊的是，上述12间生产再循环能源公司，都是 在2010年 之后设立，而且都没有任何的相关发电经验。 来源： http://www.merdekareview.com/news_v2.php?n=25731