GLCs - Catching 'kleptocracy' criminals inadequate - Laws and policies to prevent future wrongdoings needed?

All these KLEPTOCRACY is happening in GLCs and government owned/controlled companies - and simply catching and prosecuting criminals who used these GLCs to steal away the peoples' monies is simply not enough. Laws and procedures need to be put in place to prevent any future wrongdoings of these kind...If not in a few years, we may simply be after current Pakatan Harapan-led government politicians and 'political appointees' doing the same thing ...thus the people will always be the victims.

Malaysians were shocked about how government-owned companies and Government-Linked Companies(GLCs) have been operating - how the peoples' monies(government monies) have been lost not simply by reason of efficiencies/mistakes but also kleptocracy and corruption. The past government placed 'political appointees'(many of who were from the ruling parties, former/current MPs/ADUNs) and interestingly many of these CEOs, Upper Management and Directors were paid unjustly high salaries/allowances... some even way higher than even the salaries/allowances of Prime Ministers, Chief Ministers and Ministers..

Now, the Auditor General, as of right do not even audit these GLCs - and make these reports available to the Public. The Federal government and State Government should really do the needful to ensure that the Auditor as of right audits, and provide reports of all these GLCs...maybe even be required to submit the reports in Parliament/State Assemblies.

Changes needed fast:-

* Legislations that control the wages/allowances of CEOs, Upper management and even Directors. No more should wages/allowances be exorbitant and certainly never higher than RM15,000 for even the CEOs. A share of the profits annually, could be be given as 'Bonusses' for CEOs, Management staff, workers if there is a profit...as an incentive. If there are no profits for the Malaysian people - why 'reward' the persons responsible for the well-being of Malaysian GLCs and government wholly owned companies.

CEOs of government owned companies earn more than PM, Ministers, Menteri Besar ?

* Auditor General should audit annually all GLCs, and these reports must be presented to Parliament and also made public. This will decrease wrongdoings.

* On-going monitoring of GLCs by Parliament through Select Committees set up for GLCs. There are so many GLCs so, it is only wise to have many different select committees maybe monitoring these GLCs according to sectors. Such Parliamentary Commitees shall have the power to receive complaints and also conduct public inquiries. They should also have the power to direct relevent agencies to conduct investigations, and even prosecutions. One PAC is insufficient.

Hard to probe into MAS as it’s a GLC, says Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC)?

* GLCs primary objective is to make profits that will be channeled back to government to be spend for the various areas of concern. Some private companies do expend monies under the guise of 'Corporate Social Responsibility'(CSR) - well, GLCs and government owned companies no need for CSR - simply channel profits back to government for use. [No need for GLCs to sponsor those going for Haj(this is duty of government and/or Lembaga Urusan Tabung Haji), no need to sponsor football teams(this is the Sports Ministry's responsibility and maybe the State government, no need to provide scholarships, etc. All CSR activities involves expense and it eats into company profits. Some companies do SCR to obtain 'tax exemptions' - well, taxes go to government. No need for GLCs to avoid taxes.

"Pada tahun ini, skop peserta program yang ditaja sepenuhnya Yayasan 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) ini turut diperluaskan kepada ahli Majlis Guru Besar dan Majlis Pengetua, Majlis Agama Islam serta pesara kerajaan.

"Sehingga tahun lalu, seramai 5,700 orang sudah menunaikan haji melalui program berkenaan," katanya. - Berita Harian, 23/1/2018

* Directorship - No more political appointees, and if an MP/ADUN or civil servant is appointed, then they shall not receive any extra allowances/wages because they already are paid public servants - and this must be part of their duties. Directors are responsible for the running of GLCs(and we are still waiting for the Directors of 1MDB, SRC and other related companies to be charged in court). They allowed this 'kleptocracy' and need to take responsibility. We need professionals and business experts as Directors - because they 'decide' on the actions/omissions of the company?

See earlier related posts:-

Polisi Syarikat Milik Kerajaan dan GLC - yang memastikan tak ada peluang kleptocracy atau pelupusan wang rakyat?

1MDB? GLCs? WHAT CAN BE DONE by Federal/State governments to avoid 'kelptocracy' and abuses?

Najib responsible for Malaysia's financial problems? Leakages? NO?

Gov’t has guaranteed RM177.8b worth of GLCs' debts? WHY? GLC not government-owned?

20 Days after MB Azmin said 'disclose SALARY of top management in GLCs' - looks like 'janji tidak ditepati'?

When very High Salaries/Allowance in Government Owned/Control Companies deprives all Malaysians of monies?

1MDB Arul Kanda salary is....? Paying too much to CEOs/Chairmans to the detriment of Malaysians?

 

Make GLCs politics-free, says don

KUALA LUMPUR: The running of government-linked companies (GLCs) must be free from politics if the new Pakatan Harapan government is serious about reforms, says a political economist.

Prof Dr Edmund Terence Gomez, who is a professor of political economy at Universiti Malaya, said the current reality was that politicians were being appointed to GLCs or GLICs (government-linked investment companies) without public discussion on how they were chosen.

There was a real danger of politicians sitting in GLCs to abuse their positions as seen in the past, Prof Gomez pointed out.

“If we don’t get politics out of GLCs, then we will not see the reforms that we need,” he said during the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) Third Liberalism Conference 2018 here yesterday.

Politicians, said Prof Gomez, must not have a direct relationship with the GLCs’ board of directors as there could be state intervention in the decision-making process.

Citing the Prime Minister’s appointment as Khazanah chairman, he said Pakatan had promised in its manifesto that the GLC board of directors should not comprise politicians.

Agreeing that the system must be dismantled and the GLCs’ management reformed, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chief strategist Datuk Dr Rais Hussin Mohamed Arif however called for patience while the government “fire fought” over the country’s management.

“I believe we can reform but please understand the context and circumstances,” he said.

“It will happen but please be a little patient because it’s not easy as the system has been anchored for 61 years. Reform will be done,” said Dr Rais, who was one of the panellists at the forum.

He said there were also senior civil servants still loyal to masters of the previous administration and against reforms, said Dr Rais.

In his opening remarks, Ideas founding president Tunku Zain Al-’Abidin Tuanku Muhriz said civil society must hold the government to account and speak up about what had not been delivered.

“Civil society is now a permanent feature of the Malaysian public life. We will never be afraid again and it is heartening that some in the government understand this innately,” he said, adding institutions such as Parliament, the Cabinet, the judiciary, police, and various commissions must be kept on track.

Universiti Malaya law lecturer Assoc Prof Dr Azmi Sharom, who spoke at a separate forum on the freedom of expression in Malaysia post-GE14, said in the push against extremism, the mainstream media must open up more space for moderate voices.

“These are people and bodies like Sisters In Islam who have been pushing against extremism.

“All they get is mockery. They get demonised and they just don’t get the necessary airtime. That’s what I’m hoping will change now,” he said. - Star, 23/9/2018

 

Analysts: Don’t only consider mega Chinese investments

 

 

“All these while, the focus has been on mega infrastructure projects. In fact, there are many other investment projects involving Chinese state-owned and private corporations in sectors such as manufacturing, services and agriculture, which we consider as productive investments,” Universiti Malaya (UM) Faculty of Economics and Administration professor of political economy Prof Dr Edmund Terence Gomez (pic) said.

Based on his recent research scrutinising China-linked investments in Malaysia, Dr Gomez noted that of 93 projects, 27% were in manufacturing sector, 9% in services and 1% in agriculture.

“A big portion is in construction. But there are also investments in manufacturing sector such as textile, machinery, food, renewable energy, petrochemical, biotechnology, which are productive investments,” he said, citing some of the findings from his research study “A New Normal in Malaysia-China Economic Relationship”.

“These projects include investments from telco giant Huawei and Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group, in sectors like research and development, oil and gas and education,” he said.

Dr Gomez said although Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad seemed concerned over the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, seen as highly inflated, the Prime Minister did look favourably at other China-linked projects.

“For example, there was a lot of discussion on palm oil.

“Dr Mahathir probably recognised that China has been investing in other sectors too, besides ECRL, Forest City, the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park, which came under the spotlight,” said Dr Gomez.

Centre of Public Policy Studies senior director Lau Zheng Zhou said the Mahathir’s visit to China managed to allay concerns over the Malaysia-China relations in the corporate world.

“Dr Mahathir has conveyed a clear message – the new government is not against China or Chinese investments but only the taxing mega infrastructure projects,” said Lau.

“He also gives more clarity on Malaysia’s direction.” - Star, 3/9/2018