Talam - 'Bail-out' or 'Debt Recovery' : Some light has been shed on this by Tony and others

Talam: 'Bail-out' or 'Debt Recovery'

What leaders must do is to explain matters clearly and simple lay-people language, which they fail to do...

Remember also that the people, particularly PR supporters, need to really explain matters to others as well...and that is why it is important to explain matters clearly. There should be no need for people to have to seek out and ask 'business/economic experts' for them to understand matters. It is the obligation of the Selangor MB, Selangor Government and the Pakatan Rakyat MPs/ADUNs to explain clearly.

From what I have gathered:-

1- Talam owed Selangor Government companies RM391 million BUT apparently the debt was not 'clear'. [Assume that proper records were not kept, or the debts records were consciously tampered with which may allow Talam to escape not paying the debts...]

2- Selangor Government , i.e. Selangor Menteri Besar Incorporated, took over the debts from these Selangor government companies, and will now chase Talam for the money. Hence, that RM391 million was not given to Talam but was given to the Selangor government companies.

3. QUESTION: Have Talam acknowledged the fact that they now owe Selangor Menteri Besar Incorporated the sum of RM391 million?

4. QUESTION: "what actions are the state taking to recover these debts, what actions has been taken, what actions are to be taken, timelines, milestones that they expect to achieve?.." (taken from one of the comments.

Comments really help a lot. It gives one the opportunity to express oneself. It also can sometime help educate me (and other readers). I must thank Tony P, MyBlog  and others for their comments which has enlightened me about this Talam issue. Quotes from their comments are as follows:-

I've got no idea how the RM391 debt recovery from Talam is considered a bail out.

Unlike a RM320m interest free, unsecured, backloaded 20-year loan facility that's given to SYABAS, the Selangor government is not giving a single cent to Talam.

In fact this debt was completely hidden in the subsidiary's books, and was uncovered by auditors appointed by the S'gor govt.

hence if we want to let off Talam, we might as well have left the hidden debts where they were.

But instead, Tan Sri Khalid, took over the debts from the useless subsidiaries and is now squeezing Talam hard to repay these debt. In fact any cent that we collect from Talam will be a bonus for the previous government didn't even realise Talam owes us money.

On another little point, Talam has assets which are worth >RM1b on paper. I'm not sure if we can collect RM391m, but certainly, we can collect a substantial amount.

Tony

And from another commentator

Talam is not a bail out in any sense. These are very old debts whose recovery is suspect. So Selangor has done the next best thing, to buy them from the Selangor govt. companies, consolidate it and try to recover using the might of the state machinery as now the state will be legally entitled to do so. It helps the state govt companies to carry on without this burden so that they can be more productive. In any case the money from the right pocket (Selangor State) has gone to the left pocket (Selangor state companies).

Now the state has to deal with Talam and try to recover these debts. If anything, you should be asking what actions are the state taking to recover these debts, what actions has been taken, what actions are to be taken, timelines, milestones that they expect to achieve. Push this agenda for recovery of the debts rather than chasing ghosts.