It is interesting how SELCAT (Selangor Select Committee for Accountability, Competency and Transparency) is demanding accountability and transparency of all, including the Pakatan ADUNs...keep us the good work.
Is it open to the public? It should be ....and maybe the minutes should also be posted on the net so that even those who missed the session will know what happened...
Before every SELCAT session, the public must be informed of the date/time/venue, and most importantly the Agenda...
And let us not get distracted with someone drinking water during the meetings - but stay focused on the issues, the questions and the answers...
Let us consider Ronnie Liu, and what came out in the Malaysiakini report - and we see that there is a lot of gaps (question marks?)
* Ronnie spend RM600,000 (for his seat), and RM1,000,000 for 2 other State seats held by the Opposition-BN, and he used up 99% within 1st 6 months of 2009
* Money was given to 168 entities - We would like to know who, and for what? And apparently 48 of these were religious bodies, guilds and associations - again a list, the amount given and for what will be good...(or is it all 'secret')
* There are allegation that money was given to some 'unregistered bodies' - Again we need more information about this
* He organised 3 "durian festivals" - is this not a waste of money?
* Surely, there must be guidelines as to how these money should be utilized - it should maybe be used to help the poor and oppressed, emergency assistance, etc... (for, if not monies from the State and Federal government should be used through its relevant departments....)
Is this RM500,000, or in cases like Ronnie Liu's, RM1.6 million for 3 State Constituencies really 'bribe money'
Maybe this RM500,000 should be used by the ADUN for:-
- Rental & Maintenance of Service Centres
- Salaries for his support staff
- Posters, Pamphlets, Banners, etc for his/her constituency
- Emergency assistance especially for the poor and oppressed.
...certainly not for "durian festivals
And, I think that is the State Government of Selangor is giving this allocation of RM500,000 for each State Constituency through the ADUN (State Assemblyperson) - then the money should be going directly to the ADUNs, irrespective of whether he/she is from Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO-BN, Independent, etc ...but it looks like the money is only going to the Pakatan Rakyat ADUNs
So, Pakatan Rakyat is following the 'bad practices' of UMNO-led BN - shame on you, Pakatan Rakyat.
Yes, the BN ADUNs/MPs may be getting funds from the Federal Government, PM's Department, etc... that is all under the control of the UMNO-led BN... but that does not excuse Selangor Government's failure to provide this RM500,000 to the non-Pakatan Rakyat ADUNs in Selangor...
Pakatan Rakyat has to set the example ....the good example... and not behave just like the BN.
Remember that Malaysian people want greater Transparency & Accountability....
There was pyrotechnics galore at the Selangor Select Committee for Accountability, Competency and Transparency (Selcat) right from the start of the hearing this morning but with a dramatic difference.
Unlike previous hearings, state officials were left out in the cold as two Pakatan assemblypersons turned on each other.
State watchdog committee chairperson Teng Chang Khim kept trading verbal punches with his DAP colleague Ronnie Liu during the morning session over the latter's style of disbursing constituency allocations.
Things even reached the stage where Teng decided to switch off Liu's microphone to stop him from speaking.
Hauled up
Liu, who is the state assemblyman for Pandamaran, was one of three Selangor Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers hauled up by Selcat to explain spending discrepancies in their constituency allocations.
The other two were Sri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Sri Muda assemblyman Shuhaimi Shafiei.
Liu of DAP is state executive councillor for local government and research.
He is also in charge of dispersing the allocations for the other two seats won by the BN, former Selangor menteri besar Khir Toyo's Sungai Panjang and MCA assemblyman Yap Ee Wah's Sungai Pelek.
Nik Nazmi, the political secretary to the present Selangor Menteri Besar, and Shuhaimi are both from PKR.
Liu, Nik Nazmi and Shuhaimi were said to have exhausted 99%, 87% and 71% respectively of their yearly allocation within the first six months last year.
Every state seat is entitled RM500,000 as constituency allocation while the amount for an exco member and the Speaker is RM600,000.
Warning for drinking water
Liu was the first to testify this morning and shortly after received his first warning for openly drinking water for which he was ruled out of order by Teng.
Teng said consuming food is forbidden during the hearing which considered part of the state assembly session
However, Liu ignored the Speaker and continued drinking, forcing Teng to give instructions for the bottle to be removed.
In his defence when questioned, Liu blamed the enormous number of religious bodies, guilds and associations in Klang for the speedy end to the funds.
His constituency Pandamaran is situated at the heart of the town.
But when Liu listed out the beneficiaries at Teng's demand, it showed that there were only 43 under those categories out of the total number 168 entities.
Liu was also found to have disbursed funds to a number of unregistered bodies and was rapped by Teng for not keeping to the rules and thereby setting a dangerous precedent.
He also drew blood when he described Liu's way of distributing funds as being no different from that of the BN when he and the DAP had attacked a former BN assemblyperson for using up his annual allocation within the first two months of 2008, the last general elections year.
Durian feast questioned, duo sails through
The biggest controversy surrounding Liu's testimony was over the RM16,583 spent on organising three 'durian festivals'.
It was revealed during the hearing that one such function cost a whopping RM10,000.
When quizzed on the number of durians served by Selcat member Saari Sungib, Liu did not provide a number and replied that he was out to serve "quality durian" to the people.
Both continued to slam each other over allocation promises with Liu interrupting Teng until the latter switched off the former's microphone.
This is the first of such incident to mar a Selcat hearing since last year's initiation of the annual two sessions.
In stark contrast to Liu, Nik Nazmi and Shuhaimi's testimony was relatively short. Combined, their afternoon testimonies lasted about 30 minutes.
The duo explained to the Selcat member that their constituencies were suffered several floods in 2008 and 2009, which caused them to use a big number of the allocations to aid the flood victims.
At a press conference later, Teng described Nik Nazmi and Shuhaimi's testimony as "superb" but graded Liu with a mere "average".
"It is (Liu's) first time. This is a learning experience for all of us," said Teng.
Liu: My accounts 'clean'
Teng also likened Liu's testimony to the performance of district officers during another Selcat inquiry regarding state allocation previous BN assemblypersons.
He said Selcat had concluded its inquiry into constitutuency allocatios and will submit a report to the state assembly for further action.
At another press conference, Liu said he was not "hurt" by the inquiry. He also denied that he was being "grilled".
"I only not allowed to drink water, you know when you are testifying, your lips will feel dry," he said.
He also stressed that he is "clean" and all his accounts were above board. - Malaysiakini, 1/2/2010, Selcat fireworks: Teng switches off Ronnie
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1 comment:
It is true that PR gave their fund through Bapa Angkat to be distributed in BN won DUN. It has to be this way, because the BN ADUN had already got their fund from Federal Govt. I (NGO) have ever approached BN ADUN for fund to run a program but was flatly turned down. Only manage to get through from PR ADUN.
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