MERDEKA: Wake-up calls, fellow Malaysians

ARE WE HEADING FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF BAILOUTS?
Just ten years after a massive one following the 1997/08 international financial meltdown and the regional and Malaysian stock market crashes, don't you remember?


STARTING TODAY, in place of the annual MERDEKA ESSAY SERIES, Desi's Place will run reports of the national state of affairs that are of great concern, IMHO, and if Malaysians do not do something about it, like speaking up and if possible, lobby for cooperartive action to stop the rot,I am afraid NegaraKu will headwards the ABYSS. And it is not Tian Chua's fanciful imagination or artistic expression relating to Deputy Prime Minister's outing or NameWee's creative rap song, though ill-thought wrapped aroung our National Anthem, NegaraKu, that are causing the nation's ship to be heading towards the disastrous zone.

Oh no, our nation's leaders must honestly look themselves in the mirror and ask of themselves:
Are we acting out another charade/sandiwara while the oil ruches run dry and out soon, maybe before 2020?
Leaders from UMNO, MCA and MIC chiefly, and all the other BN component parties; and also the major Opposition party leaders, from PKR, DAP and PAS, and other mosquito minors too, must do an honest review of the state of Malaysia, and answer truthfully: ARE WE ROTTING FROM THE HEAD ALL THE WAY DOWN?
If the answer is YES, are we responding with a good conscience as Malaysians, in the proper and responsible manner to check the rot?

TheSUN frontpage today, August 21, 2007, confirms once again that former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad indeed was right in being concerned that "There is something rotten in the state of Malaysia...", having adapted a quote from trhe Bard's "HAMLET", replacing Malaysia for Denmark. I share a common citizen's concern for the state of disrepair and foul stench in the air -- are we seeing another round of bailouts amounting to billions of tax-payers' funds, and perhaps even revenues and profits syphoned from national entities like the national oil corporation, Petronas?

The latest UPDATE by tenacious team of
R. Nadeswaran and Terence Fernandez --
who have won several press awards for
their investigative journalism, Syabas! --
must be less than fragrant Food for Thought
for NegaraKu much distracted by episodes
of PKR INFORMATION CHIEF MUCH-MALIGNED
Tian Chua's "French Dinner for 3" and
MALAYSIAN UNDERGRAD IN TAIWAN MUCH-MALIGNED
Wee Meng ChEE's "NegaraKuKu" rap song.

Govt's hand forced in bailout


The government has to bail out the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) because the Transport Ministry had given undertakings it was not authorised to do so.

The ministry issued "letters of support" which were used by the turnkey contractor - Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) - to raise bonds and get an AAA rating from the Malaysia Rating Corporation Bhd.

The four letters were issued between 2003 and 2006 for the issuance of bonds for the RM4.6 billion cost of the project. Ministry sources argue that they merely "supported" the applications but bankers contacted by theSun said that in effect, they were letters of guarantee which only the Treasury can issue.

This is because the letters from the ministry committed the government to ensure that at all times, the Port Klang Authority (PKA) will fulfil all its financial obligations to KDSB.

By then, PKA started having problems in attracting investors and could not meet its yearly payments to KDSB.

The bankers said since it was an undertaking by a ministry binding on the government, there was no option left but for the Treasury to issue fresh letters and make the guarantees retrospective.

This was inevitable as the letters of support, irregular as they were, could have put the government in an embarrassing situation as well as send the PKA into receivership.

"So, the government was left with little choice but to salvage the situation," said an industry source.

The financial circles are abuzz with the news of the letters and are asking if advice was sought from the Attorney-General's Chambers before they were issued.

"When you give such undertaking for that kind of money, common sense dictates that proper advice must be sought because such letters bind the government.

"Although the government can wash its hands of the deal and say it had nothing to do with it, it could not because the ministry - an arm of the government - had made the commitments," said a banker.

Industry sources said even before the deal between PKA and KDSB was signed in 2001, there were already veiled threats that the PKA would have to pay in excess of RM100 million in compensation if it reneged on its verbal agreements.

Under these circumstances, the government relented but not without asking the Auditor-General for a detailed audit on the whole project.

THE STORY SO FAR

1. July 18: Dubai-based Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone Authority (Jafza) announces it is pulling out of a management concession agreement to operate the PKFZ. Jafza said it was a strategic decision as it wants to develop free zones where it could retain operational control. The equity of the PKFZ is 100% held by the PKA.

2. Aug 13: theSun reports that documents and transcripts of correspondence between Jafza officials reveal that the pull-out was due to soured relations with the PKA.

The correspondence detail that Jafza was virtually chased out due to interferences from those with vested political and business interests, red tape and issues over the line of reporting concerning Jafza's general manager at the PKFZ, Noel Gulliver.

Gulliver was escorted out of his office to the Immigration Department headquarters for working without a permit, although it was the PKA's responsibility to sort out his documents.

The tax structure also had elements of evasion which made Jafza uncomfortable. Jafza's advisers said it should get out of the deal as Jafza's reputation could be at stake if the PKFZ gets into trouble with tax authorities, and that the PKA was not acting in good faith.

Letters to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy detailing some concerns were not replied.

1. The day the report was published, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the matter will be discussed and Chan will be asked to respond why the letters from Jafza were not entertained.

2. The same day, PKA general manager Datin Paduka O.C. Phang in an interview with Utusan Malaysia said PKFZ could proceed without Jafza and that Jafza had changed its representative here three times.

3. Aug 20: theSun reports that the PKA spent more than RM1 billion to buy land meant for the free zone, well aware that it was encumbered.

The Auditor-General in 2003, however, said the PKA could not fulfil its financial obligations to the free zone, despite the latter repeatedly assuring the government that the PKFZ will be self-funding.

However, the PKA was having problems drawing investors and asked the government for a RM4.6 billion loan in 2005.

DESIDERATA:

mGf and ER Helen @allofhelen.blogspot.com concurs with Desi there is no much "happenings" in the country to justify the Rakyat to join in the festive mood the Government would like us to take part in over the period leading up to August 31, 2007 when NegaraKu turns 50, a golden milestone.
TheSun's expose -- please NOTE all the highlights (thus BOLDED) are mine -- is an excellent piece of responsible and community-service oriented journalism, and ordinary folks like us, including Bloggers, must heed ex-PM Dr Mahathir's clarion call to speak out boldly and fearlessly as the mainstream media except for theSun have mainly defaulted on playing a meaningful role in keeping the citizens rightly and adequately informed on the true state of affiars.

A fish starts rotting from its head downwards, I seem to recall this saying well promoted famously by a former Transport Minister. Can my dear ER kick my brain cells a little in naming the Minister involved during the key period mentioned in the news report above, from 2001 to the present (August 2007) with refernce to "Industry sources said even before the deal between PKA and KDSB was signed in 2001,..." and "3. Aug 20: theSun reports that the PKA spent more than RM1 billion to buy land meant for the free zone, well aware that it was encumbered."

APPEAL TO READERS:

Dear Readers,
Should you have a well-written Essay on the nation's concerns and woes, and rotten scandals and mega-buck wastages -- like the current RM4.6billion Port Klang Free Zone fiasco -- especially in the economics and bsuiness arena, please Email to chongyl2000@yahoo.com to be included over the next 10 days leading to Malaysia's 5oth anniversary of Merdeka. Thank you. I can offer thee endless rivulets of tehtarik, tambah susu pun boleh. Lagi Cik Sunthi pun, arSENic TAK DAK!:) ~~ Desi