Talam - it is not a 'bail-out' - it is a debt recovery exercise, says Selangor Menteri Besar..
Talam owes money, i.e. RM391 million to Selangor State Government companies....and then Selangor State Government company, the Selangor Menteri Besar Incorporated, takes out Selangor Money and what.... they take over the debt, is that it. Now, does Talam owe the State Government...and will Talam settle its debts...or will now Selangor Menteri Besar Incorporated write off the debts when Talam cannot pay back...
I think that this is all 'creative re-naming' of what really is a bail-out...
I believe that Talam is a developer...and as such, it really do not have any fixed assets...land, etc..like Plantation Companies, and hence what security do you have. Do you have personal guarantees from the Directors and major shareholders?
I see the action as stupid...merely delaying what may still happen - i.e. the rakyat of Selangor spending money in a kind of 'bail-out' which has a potential risk of non-recovery. [Or has Selangor government taken over Talam - i.e. bought shares in Talam worth RM391 million]
The action may have also put Talam into a better position - i.e. the Selangor government cannot allow Talam to fall soon...hence will most likely give it a preference on most development projects (even if they are not the best tender). Selangor now cannot 'black-list' Talam....
I hope someone with an economic background can explain this better... Tony Pua is blogging about the Federal Government 'debt recovery' or 'bail out' of Syabas - maybe he should also blog on Talam and the Selangor Government...
Interesting how Pakatan Rakyat people sort of ignore the Talam issue - RM391 million of the rakyat's money, which could have been better spent for other needs of the people...
How is Khalid going to ensure that Talam settles its debts....that is what we really want to know. Just saying without telling the people more is not enough..
Remember transparency...accountability...
Khalid: Menteri Besar Inc will ensure Talam fulfils its debt obligation
SHAH ALAM: The Selangor government has reiterated that the debt recovery exercise by state investment vehicle, Menteri Besar Inc (MBI), involving debts owed to it by Talam Corp Bhd is not a bailout.
Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said the exercise would see Menteri Besar Inc taking over the responsibility to recover the debts from Talam, which owed the state RM391mil after several joint venture real estate development projects with state subsidiaries over the past 10 years.
'Menteri Besar Inc will now carry out its plan to ensure Talam fulfils its debt obligation. All debt collected by Menteri Besar Inc will be injected into the state government consolidated funds,” he said yesterday at a forum called “Menyelamatkan Perolehan Hutang Rakyat Selangor.”
Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim ... ‘The state will risk writing off the debt if no proper action is taken.’
The state subsidiaries involved in the projects with Talam were Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd, Permodalan Negeri Selangor Bhd and Yayasan Pendidikan Selangor.
On Nov 9, the Selangor State Assembly approved an additional budget of RM391mil for Menteri Besar Inc to buy the debts of Talam from the state government.
In a Nov 9 statement, Khalid said it was important to note that “previously the debts were in most cases neither fully recognised nor well recorded in the books of the state subsidiaries as the creditor.”
“No efforts have been made by the previous state government to recognise and claim the debts and the state will risk writing off the debt by the respective state subsidiaries if no proper action is taken,” he said.- Star, 8/12/2009, Selangor govt: Debt recovery not a bailout
Khalid said it was important to note that “previously the debts were in most cases neither fully recognised nor well recorded in the books of the state subsidiaries as the creditor.” - so then, is that not a crime against the company...and in this case the people of Selangor. Should you not be making police reports about this, and going after the CEOs and the Directors (and accounts staff) for their 'hanky panky', negligence, incompetence....?
Have there been 'sacking' of these CEOs and Directors of the State government companies? Or just like BN, the PR State government sweeps everything under the carpet..
Be open tell us the whole truth and nothing but the truth...[Maybe, the problem is Khalid, who comes from a 'corporate culture', where all this is 'OK' and normal, but for the ordinary person it may not be]
In Malaysia, a talk and forum is normally one sided - with little or no opportunity to question the speaker. All is expected to sit, listen, absorb and accept. And, a good speaker will speak with terms and language that the ordinary person may not even understand...and who wants to be seen as 'stupid' for asking the meaning of this word or that phrase. Hence, politicians can get away with it....That was the BN way...is it also the Pakatan way?
Let's have a public inquiry about TALAM - appoint an independent investigating team to find out what happened? Whose mistake it was? Recommend necessary legal action against those who are at fault? And, wonder whether this new move was the right move...
TALAM is safe now...for Selangor will treat them with child's gloves...preferential treatment for after all RM391 million has been invested in them...and this is so wrong, and necessarily not good governance...
See earlier posts about Talam:-
Hi Charles,
ReplyDeleteI'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
Because ...
ReplyDeleteWhy Do Malays Need Alien To Speak For Them?
http://thextalks.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-do-malays-need-alien-to-speak-for.html
Don't you understand, the $391 million was not paid to Talam or croonies, so it cannot be called bailout. Disappointed to read a post like this in this blog.
ReplyDeleteI think Charles, you should sit with some business/economic experts and understand this before writing such an article. Your intentions may be noble but if you cry wolf all the time, people will stop believing you. If you want to publish something on your blog, please do some homework and research, it will serve you well. Just saying what you feel is unfair and close to contempt.
ReplyDeleteTalam 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.
Sorry if I have been blunt