Petronas PR team for Pengerang doing well

Petronas PR team for Pengerang doing well

Today is really a good day. Spend some time at my favourite park in Serangoon after the airport. Despite the rain it was quite nice. A bit like in one of those poignant Japanese movies. Can't write much though. I'm now in the car using his Ipad. Borrow for awhile. He is driving. Going to spend some time in Malacca.  Meeting his parents. The mother a bit garang...Chinese lady tend to be like that lah...hehehe...but really, she has a kind heart.

Well, actually what I really can't wait to tell here is that I got a call from my journalist friend from Kota Iskandar this afternoon. He had just finished attending a briefing by Petronas people in charge of the Pengerang petroleum hub. He said it was a good briefing by their project director Wan Yusoff Wan Hamat. I know the guy to be quite a nice fella. Not sombong. This is a good move by the Petronas PR team. They have already started to make direct engagement with the locals, I guess. My friend said the Johor Oil and Gas Unit people were also there. I know their boss, that handsome boy Yazid. Very capable chap. Upen boss that Elias fella was also there. This mean they are really serious in engaging the locals. Very very good. Guess I was wrong about the Petronas PR people. Sorry guys. Well, good job too. Now those Pakatan troublemakers and their Malaysiakini gang will not have much room to manouver as far as Pengerang is concern. Oh, my journalist friend also said the Dialog people in charge of the port building have also started with engaging the locals. All these are making me very happy.

Ok lah. Cannot write more. Writing in a moving car give me head ache. All goyang goyang. Now, need to rest, ok? Must save energy before meeting the garang lady :-)

Cheers.

KPRJ and Danga Bay

KPRJ and Danga Bay

I had decided to abandon my KPRJ story.

The one I've written so far was too long and convoluted. I have to admit that I am not a good writer. Somebody scolded me today and said I am writing crap when I showed the one I had done so far and told me to throw it away into the longkang.

I would therefore like to apologise to those who have been waiting for that story.

Anyway, I don't want that KPRJ story to suffer the same fate as the long long  Khazanah's explanation on Medini in Utusan.

As compensation, here is the full speech delivered by Johor MB Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman at the 15th anniversary of  Danga Bay earlier today.

It is concise and easy to understand.

UCAPAN YAB DATO’ HAJI ABDUL GHANI BIN OTHMAN, MENTERI BESAR JOHOR DI MAJLIS SAMBUTAN 15 TAHUN DANGA BAY DI PUSAT KONVENSYEN DANGA BAY, PADA 12 FEB 2012.

Bismillahiirahmaniirahim

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh dan Salam Sejahtera.

Mengadap Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, Sultan dan Yang Dipertuan Bagi Negeri dan Jajahan Takluk Johor Darul Ta’zim.

Dan Duli Yang Maha Mulia Raja Zarith Sofia Binti Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah.

Ampun Tuanku,

Patik bagi pihak Kerajaan Negeri dan seluruh hadirin sekalian, dengan penuh hormat takzimnya merafak sembah menjunjung setinggi-tinggi kasih atas perkenan Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tuanku dan Duli Yang Maha Mulia Raja Zarith Sofia Binti Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah, mencemar duli berangkat ke Majlis Sambutan Ulangtahun ke-15 Danga Bay pada petang ini.

Sesungguhnya keberangkatan Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tuanku melambangkan kesungguhan dan sokongan yang amat sangat serta menambahkan lagi serinya majlis ini.

Ampun Tuanku

Patik juga menjunjung kasih di atas keberangkatan Duli Yang Amat Mulia Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, Tunku Mahkota Johor dan Yang Amat Mulia Tunku Idris Iskandar Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, Tunku Temenggong Johor, Paduka Putera-Putera serta Kerabat Diraja sekalian ke majlis ini.

Ampun Tuanku

Patik mohon perkenan untuk berucap kepada hadirin sekalian.

Yang Amat Berhormat Dato’ Seri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak
Perdana Menteri Malaysia dan

Yang Amat Dihormati Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor,

Yang Berhormat Menteri-Menteri Kabinet,
Ahli-Ahli Yang Berhormat,
Tan Sri-Tan Sri dan Dato-Dato
Serta Dif-Dif Jemputan yang dihormati sekalian.

1. Alhamdulillah, bersyukur kita ke hadrat Allah SWT kerana dengan rahmat dan limpah kurnia-Nya, dapat kita menghadiri majlis pada petang ini sempena ulangtahun ke-15 Danga Bay.

2. Bagi pihak kerajaan negeri, saya mengalu-alukan kehadiran YAB Dato’ Seri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, Perdana Menteri Malaysia, dan Yang Amat Dihormati Datin Seri yang sudi meluangkan masa melawat negeri Johor, khususnya ke Danga Bay. Kehadiran YAB Dato’ Seri dalam lawatan singkat ini, tentunya turut menjadi dorongan kepada usaha-usaha memakmurkan negeri Johor yang sedang pesat membangun.

3. Kerajaan Negeri pada 15 tahun lalu melihat bahawa Johor memerlukan pembangunan yang lebih seimbang lagi menyeluruh, lebih-lebih lagi dari segi keperluan asas rakyat, bukan sahaja di bandar-bandar dan pekan-pekan bahkan di kampung-kampung.

4. Sehubungan itu kerajaan negeri menubuhkan sebuah syarikat iaitu Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ) untuk melaksanakan pembangunan infrastruktur luar bandar melalui kaedah pembiayaan daripada pembangunan tanah yang dikurniakan kepada syarikat tersebut.

5. Selain pembinaan jalan-jalan kampung di seluruh negeri dan daerah, KPRJ juga membina penempatan semula perumahan setinggan termasuk di Kong Kong, Tok Siak, Bakar Batu dan Sri Stulang untuk dinikmati oleh 6,000 keluarga. Pendekatan ini membolehkan rakyat menikmati pembangunan keperluan asas tersebut dalam tempoh lebih cepat.

6. Dalam masa dua tahun pertama mulai tahun 1996, KPRJ menyiapkan 1,700 kilometer jalan kampung di 1,500 kampung di seluruh negeri Johor. Namun selepas itu, berlakulah kegawatan ekonomi dan KPRJ berdepan dengan keadaan mencabar untuk melunaskan pinjamannya kerana pembangunan tanah tidak dapat dilaksanakan.

7. Satu lagi cabarannya ialah tanah-tanah yang dikurniakan itu rata-rata merupakan kawasan paya, muara sungai, dalam air dan yang diduduki oleh setinggan.

8. KPRJ berusaha mencari pelabur untuk usahasama termasuk syarikat-syarikat yang tersenarai, tetapi mereka hanya bersedia menyertainya dengan mencadangkan nilai tanah pada harga beberapa sen sahaja setiap kaki persegi.

9. Dalam keadaan mencabar tersebut, muncul satu syarikat yang sanggup melabur dengan menilaikan tanah seluas 350 ekar itu, yang masih di dalam air, pada harga RM23 sekaki persegi. Melalui usaha ini KPRJ telah dapat melunaskan pinjaman sebanyak RM200 juta.

10. Selanjutnya pembangunan tanah-tanah tersebut dilaksanakan secara usahasama melalui kaedah Public Private Partnership (PPP) di mana kerajaan bersama-sama memegang ekuiti di dalam syarikat berkenaan iaitu Danga Bay Sdn Bhd.  Pelan pembangunan Danga Bay ini telah dilancarkan oleh Perdana Menteri ketika itu, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

11. Pendekatan pembangunan oleh Danga Bay Sdn Bhd ialah menyediakan kemudahan rekreasi untuk orang ramai terlebih dahulu sebelum tumpuan diberikan kepada pembinaan untuk tujuan komersil. Kawasan Danga Bay yang dahulunya tidak terurus, kini telah menjadi tumpuan keluarga, khususnya pada hujung minggu untuk beriadah.

12. Setelah 10 tahun pembangunan Danga Bay dilaksanakan, Kerajaan Persekutuan melancarkan pembangunan Iskandar Malaysia pada tahun 2006 dan menyalurkan dana pembangunan untuk meningkatkan infrastruktur yang membolehkan jadinya Pembangunan Iskandar. Ini telah mengukuhkan lagi pembangunan di Danga Bay.

13. Pembangunan melalui perkongsian Public Private Partnership di Danga Bay ini berkembang daripada kawasan Barat Johor Baru, iaitu di Danga Bay, ke Timur Johor Baru yang melibatkan kawasan di Lembangan Tebrau Plentong. Seterusnya, untuk mengukuhkan  jentera pembangunan  ini, KPRJ-Danga Bay telah dilantik untuk pembangunan semula pusat Bandaraya Johor Bahru (CBD). Pembangunan CBD ini dijalankan bersama-sama dengan pihak-pihak yang berkepentingan di kawasan yang terlibat.

14. Justeru itu, Danga Bay dijenamakan semula dengan nama Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd dan ditugaskan sebagai Master Developer untuk kawasan Timur, Barat dan Tengah Bandaraya Johor Bahru. Dengan ini, Negeri Johor telah pun melaksanakan satu projek yang benar benar merupakan perkongsian di antara awam dan swasta (Public Private Partnership).

15. Semua ini dapat diterjemahkan dengan sokongan dari Kerajaan Persekutuan, dan sokongan ini berterusan melalui dana Facilitation yang kini telah diluluskan untuk pembersihan Sungai Segget sebanyak RM200 juta serta RM200 juta lagi untuk projek “The Venetian” di Sungai Danga. Kerajaan Negeri sangat menghargai keperihatinan dan sokongan kuat Kerajaan Persekutuan ini dalam usaha membangunkan Negeri Johor.

Ampun Tuanku,

Sesungguhnya segala perancangan yang telah patik sembahkan, dengan ini patik memohon perkenan dan restu Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tuanku untuk dilaksanakan dengan jayanya.

Akhir sekali, patik berdoa agar Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tuanku sentiasa berada dalam peliharaan Allah SWT, sihat walafiat, selamat sejahtera, aman sentosa dan makmur berpanjangan.

Wabillahitaufik Walhidayah, Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

Ampun Tuanku.

A daring flying squirrel

A daring flying squirrel

I am going to concentrate on finishing my KPRJ story over the next few days.

Meanwhile, you all may ponder on this challenge by Mr Flying Squirrel About to Fall which he send on my previous posting.

Flying Squirrel About to Fall said...

The Medini Scam and Sri Lankan Connection

On the Medini deal, the multi-layer get rich scheme works like the following. Can Khazanah deny any of this?

1. IIB sold Medini land of 2,200 acres to Medini Iskandar S/B (75% IIB, 25% UWI Capital (One) Ltd) for RM 1 billion.
2. Medini Iskandar S/B later sold most of the land (2,120 acres) to Global Capital Devt S/B (60% Mubadala, 30% IIB, 10% Alpha (Five) Ltd) and Medini Central S/B (60% KFH, 30% IIB, 10% Alpha (Four) Ltd) for RM 4.2 bil (let's call them the Arab Consortiums).
3. Medini Iskandar S/B appoints Terra Lumina S/B as marketing agent to sell a section of 80 acres of Medini land, where Terra Lumina gets 30% commission on sales revenue. It is not known if the company has actually able to sell any land plot to foreign investors.

The questions are:

1) UWI Capital (One) Ltd, Alpha (Four) Ltd and Alpha (Five) Ltd are all domiciled in British Virgin Island. They are controlled by a person called Imran Markar, who sits on the Board of Medini Iskandar S/B, Global Capital Devt S/B and Medini Central S/B. Terra Lumina S/B is registered in Malaysia and is also controlled by Imran Markar.

Now the question is - who is Imran Markar? Why the need for offshore companies? Is he a proxy to some people who are supposed to get the kickback from Medini land sale?

2) Why is KNB itself investing in Medini when the land was supposed to attract Middle Eastern investors?

The initial purchase of Medini land by Arab Consortiums were supposed to attract investment from Middle East. But what happened now is that most of the lands acquired back by Khazanah JV and associate companies (eg. KNB-Temasek JV, KNB-Sunway JV etc, Gleneagles, UEMLand-IIB JV).

If Khazanah were to eventually buy back the Medini land from these Arab Consortiums, then there was no need to sell the land to them in the first place.

Why go convoluted ways (ie. KNB->IIB->Medini Iskandar->Global Capital Devt->Khazanah/SunwayJV) when you can just have direct transaction KNB->Khazanah/SunwayJV. By having multiple layers, you are creating profit leakage vehicles, which ultimately benefitting people like Imran Markar.

As an example, didn't Medini Iskandar S/B pay a dividend of almost RM 500 mil in 2008? Didn't this mean UWI Capital (One) Ltd's portion of 25% equivalent to a cool RM 125 mil? Guess who was the accounting auditor? It is E&Y!! The same culprit who went in to dig all procurement files of IIB!! And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Who knows probably the real figures could escalate up to RM BILLIONS when we sum up the total laundered money for all middlemen vehicle companies.

Compare that to the petty theft that Khazanah is pointing at IIB Management - they looked so pariah in comparison.

Now, who is that foreign agent Sri Lankan Imran Markar again? Isn't he the one bossing around in Iskandar and telling people that he has direct connection to Azman Mokhtar?

3 January 2012 01:03

A little chirpy bird and the IIB-gate

A little chirpy bird and the IIB-gate

When I read what rockybru posted in his Friday intermission, I was kinda curious about how such a story could be leaked from a supposedly highly confidential board meeting.  So I began digging around, but in a leisurely manner, you know, it was a Friday after all, and a long weekend at that.  But when A Voice posted this, my digging became a bit more urgent as I see that the speculative nature of that piece will adversely affect the diligent work done by BN Johor to ensure BN victory in the coming election.

After a bit of arduous digging, I got access to a little chirpy bird. 

This little bird (who does not represent KPRJ, by the way) told me that the matter on how to handle the "IIB-gate" was indeed discussed in the board meeting and that it was an open discussion, more in the nature of "how do we handle this?... if we do this, what will happen? ... if we do that - what will be the implications?" etc.  

Apparently it was an open discussion, but what was minuted was that the final decision was made unanimously, with no one dissenting.

Turned out the KPRJ representative was not the only one who had reservations about the option of making a police report, there were 2 or 3 others (the little bird couldn't remember the details as it wasn't minuted, more of a discussion, and it wasn't that recent, etc.) who shared the same concerns.

Mostly these people were concerned about how such a decision will affect IIB day-to-day operations, the image thing, etc. ... probably because these people were not involved in the operational management and decision-making within IIB.

It was therefore strange  when the story that came out in rockybru's was very particular about the representative of KPRJ, and of him being a representative of the Johor State, or probably in this case Johor MB, I suppose.  What about the other board members who shared his concerns?  Why no mention of which organisations they represent?  Was it because they are all based in KL? What about the board member who was adamant about not involving the MACC?  The way it was worded looked like it was also made by the same KPRJ rep, as there were no other board members identified, wasn't it?  In fact, A Voice more or less stated in his article that it was so.  Was it?

What got me curious was, that the Haji Johar Salim that I had the pleasure to have encountered, does not at all reflect the corporate shark potrayed here.  Maybe my gut feel is wrong, for once, but it just felt wrong.


Further on, in his article, A Voice then linked Johar Salim with Lim Kang Hoe, and then to Abdul Ghani Othman.  Aha!  That was just too convenient guys, but all the same, very revealing.  They will then link this with the Utusan and Berita Harian story, and people will jump immediately and say ya la, that must be true, so and so is an Umno politician, so he must be corrupt, kan?  Then people will begin to demand for independent audits of these Johor institutions.  So the corruption matter will stay in Johor and the "corrupt" Johor politicians/state GLC heads/IIB rogues/etc., and will not touch any of the "pristine" pure-as-snow Khazanah people in KL kan?  Can you people who leaked and spun the confidential board meeting discussions be a bit less obvious?

And another thing, if you do a bit of proper digging, you would know that Dato Lim Kang Hoe serves a different political master/partner lah, definitely not a Ghani Othman proxy.

As for the Kulim Board appointments, you should read Benchmark and make your own conclusions.  I have sorta made mine.

In the matter of QSR and KFC being sold to CVC, and being backed by CIMB Investment, which is deemed to be bad news by A Voice, I was planning to write about the rationale of that move (my own speculative insinuations will be at work here, hehehe), but I must first confirm some of my facts with sources within JCorp and of course PMO.  After all, CIMB Investment is controlled by you know who.  In short, I personally think the move is a sensible one for JCorp in the long run and should have been done a long time ago, but what do I, a curious cat, know about corporate wheeling and dealing?

For example, if I were an ambitious person in a position of decision-making for a GLC investment arm, I would structure all the investments in such a way that if I were kicked out of the GLC, I can still be in control within the public-listed entity that control all the businesses, provided I fight tooth and nail to stay in control of the public-listed entity of course, or keeping it intact while I fight to get control.  I don't have to worry about liabilities, because the investments were made by the GLC, which will have very little benefit from its investments because the corporate entity will be under my control.  Hmmm ... maybe I should not write about it as my tiny brain is incapable of thinking of all that complicated corporate stuff.

Instead, maybe  I should complete that little article I was working on about KPRJ and its role in fast-tracking rural development as well as the many social projects it does for the public and how their assets have now grown to billions over the last few years, while maintaining a very low operating cost and a very small team.  However, if I were to write about this, I may be accused of being a mouthpiece of whoever.  Hmmm ... maybe I should not finish that article after all.

Personally, I feel sorry for poor Haji Johar Salim and the few (about 12 I think) KPRJ staff in general - never mind guys, KPRJ may not have huge sophisticated offices, or super duper vice presidents running around earning 5-6 digit salaries, or massive PR budgets to waste on newspaper pull-outs, or multi-million ringgit consultants producing impressive-sounding blueprints, but KPRJ has done good for many ordinary folks in Johor and I for one have no major complaints about KPRJ.

In any case, I am going to sit back for now and see how this whole thing unravels, unless of course I come across more insinuations/speculations/etc. that perk my curiosity.  Eh, what exactly did they say about curious cats?

Tai-chi masters and my dream car

Tai-chi masters and my dream car

UPDATED

Please read this posting again CAREFULLY for better perspective

One brave blogger and three interesting comments

Thanks

ORIGINAL POSTING

Thought of going on an all out offensive against the Pakatan gang as the new year begins, but now it looks like I will have to tighten up a few things first.

Now, out of the blue there are people who tried to link Johor MB Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman and Johor Umno with the Khazanah-IIB corruption mess.

This I have to check as some of the allegations, though without any solid evidence could potentially damaged not only Ghani's reputation but also Johor Umno's and BN's efforts to defend the State in the coming general election.

I strongly believe that this is the work of some tai-chi masters from KL.

Well, I will try to get the truth on this as fast as I can, so that I can go back to the urgent business of going on the offensive against the Pakatan folks. This, I think going to involve some serious research works on my part. Actually, such a waste of time and effort having to defend from an internal attack with the general election just around the corner, But what to do....this is Johor.

For the time being, I will leave you all to admire my dream car.

Yup, that is my dream car. Cute isn't it?  Don't telll me you don't know what car is that.  I know, I will never get it, but no harm in dreaming , right? Cheers.

One brave blogger and three interesting comments

One brave blogger and three interesting comments

I always want to believe that I am brave but compared to this Benchmark fella, I am nothing lah. His/her take on the Khazanah-IIB fiasco was really an act of...

I was at awe when I read this posting

  Save the Sultan, Nab the Boys.

There was a mention of one Datuk ZZ being up to no good in that posting...it reminds me of this previous posting of mine A very sad day .

Suddenly, I feel that  I need to apologise to Johor MB Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman for doubting him.

You all connect the dotted line yourselves la. But do be careful. Don't end up being seditious ya.

Meanwhile, my postings on the Khazanah-IIB corruption issue have so far resulted in three very interesting comments -

FIRST COMMENT -

Anonymous said...

Funny enough BigCat...you put the map of Medini in this writeup. Perhaps you might want to find out more on how the Medini land deals were structured with the Arab Consortiums and a Sri Lankan individual, who hides behind few companies registered in British Virgin Island. How the hell Khazanah signed the deal with these suspicious companies is a mystery.

You will find out that the deal involved:

1) I sell to you Medini land at x dollar, but you can sell back to me at x+y dollar. (Never mind if you make profit y dollar from me atas angin).

2) When I sell to you at x dollar, you pay me in many INSTALLMENT over few years. But when you sell back to me at x+y dollar, I IMMEDIATELY pay you cash. (Never mind if you actually RECYCLE my money to pay me as the original land owner).

3) In addition, if you feel that you cannot make 20% profit from the land plots, you can return the land back to me, and I pay you higher at x+z dollar. (Never mind if you actually pass all the business risks to me because I am stupid).

3) Together we create many vehicles to undertake projects on Medini, we use government money to fund those projects, either using grant of soft loans. (See, the government cannot let us fail).

Let's not kill the excitement BigCat. You need to do some investigative journalism. Ask MACC if they are aware about this. By the way, all these agreements were signed by Khazanah people on behalf of IIB.

28 December 2011 21:31

SECOND COMMENT

IIB Watch said...

MACC PROBES ISKANDAR KICKBACKS -

The Khazanah people, especially Azman Mokhtar, should know that MACC is hinting something - they are now going through the files of all agreements signed by Iskandar Investment Berhad with foreign 'investors'. All these deals were signed by Khazanah Nasional on behalf of IIB.

Those who were called by MACC over the last 6 months were not only IIB staff in charge of procurement, but also staff who are in charge of corporate matters. And boy, MACC themselves were shocked on how much were revealed to them. Can't blame those IIB people, they were interrogated like criminals.

Many of IIB deals were lopsided, giving advantage to foreign investors. And yes, what MACC meant with "foreign agent" is a guy by the name of Imran Markar - a Sri Lankan who lives in Dubai and London. He claims to be a good friend of Azman Mokhtar, and he sits in the Board of three companies - Medini Iskandar Malaysia S/B, Global Capital and Development S/B and Medini Central S/B. And he also the benefiary of Terra Lumina S/B. All these companies are vehicles of Medini land sale. With the profit sharing, dividends, marketing commission being schemed up in the agreements between these parties, no wonder MACC called this 'legalised corruption'.

If any of the Khazanah people - those in the inner circle of Azman Mokhtar - read this, they should be afraid. Especially people like GS, ZKA and HZM. MACC knew this. Good luck and see you guys in jail.

29 December 2011 23:21

THIRD COMMENT

Silhouette said...

Bigcat and IIBWatch,

Amazing how detailed other people knew about Khazanah's debacle on Iskandar Msia. What I can add here is that GS has schemed things up far beyond anyone's thought - with his connection to the powers-to-be, he planted his allies in IIB through British graduate connections:
GS is a friend to Datuk ZZ (advisor to PM-5) Datuk OM (advisor to PM-6) and KJ (the son-in-law).
OO and ZA went to Oxford together.
ZZ, OO and SM were same batch studying at Bristol, Oxford and Imperial College respectively. Forgot to say GS was from Kings College.
AY in EPF Investment Division was a friend to ZZ, OO and SM. He studied at Southampton.
Whatever investment deal GS was about to conclude, he will refer to ZZ, OO and KJ. GS will then instruct SM to prepare papers for submission to IIB Board. ZA will prepare budget allocation for the investment deal. GS will then go to AY to get EPF support.
As far as Azman Mokhtar is concerned, as long as the powers-to-be and EPF are ok with the investment deal, he as Chairman of IIB will approve the paper.
Guess who will then has to follow up and implement the deal? Arlida lo...
Guess who will then be blamed for the mess? Arlida lo...

This is how Khazanah played their game. Planting spies, leveraging on connections and collude with powers-to-be. No wonder they cannot be touched.

30 December 2011 08:36

The good people of IIB and some questions

The good people of IIB and some questions

A friend called me this afternoon and among others we chit chatted about what is happening to his former work place; Iskandar Investment Berhad (IIB).

My friend, who is among the pioneers of IIB sounded quite sad.

"I feel sorry for our friends who are still in there (IIB). They must be quite anxious now. It's so unfair. Now every one of us are tarnished by this corruption case," he said.

"Looks like I have to take out IIB from my CV," he half jokingly added.

My friend was among the large group of mid-level management staff who left IIB last year. At that time he told me that he can't stand anymore the antics of a group whom he called "the inner circle".

"If only Arlida had stood up to them," he said, in reference to former IIB CEO Arlida Ariff whose husband was charged with alleged IIB-related corruption several days ago.

Then my friend pointed out something which have been bothering me all along.

"How come no one really linked all this with Khazanah?" he asked before proceeding with several other questions.

"All those people in the inner circle, aren't they appointed to their position by the Khazanah board of directors? I know one of them who started as an assistant vice president and within just over two years had become a director and heading one of IIB's major projects. The guy is just a marketing person and has no technical background. What were the Khazanah BOD thinking when they appointed him? Or was there something else behind it?"

"Another thing is that the E&Y people were send in by Azman (Mokhtar). How sure are the MACC that they did not cover up for Khazanah?"

Seriously, I had these doubts also about Khazanah back then, especially when I observed the manner of how Arlida was told that her services were no longer required by IIB. The way Khazanah distanced themselves from IIB at that time piqued me. I still remember how the Khazanah people washed their hands off the whole thing. What actually made me angry with them at that time is the fact that everytime IIB did well previously, they would had always been there to share the limelight.

Only the valiant effort of the small IIB corporate comm team at that time actually saved the day. Otherwise the whole thing could had been a media feeding frenzy with severe consequences on the whole of Iskandar Malaysia. The present IIB comm team (and Irda's too) should learn a thing or two from their predecessors in handling the current situation.

For instance, they should already have a plan to counter the front page "sources" stories on the IIB issue which appeared on several newspapers today. They should know by now where the sources of those stories came from and whether they are real or insidiously planted to confuse the public into believing that the whole corruption case is just confined within IIB.

As it was with my friend, I am actually symphetatic with the rank and file of IIB. I had the previlage of working closely with them once and I found them to be good people. Most were genuinely passionate about the development effort they are part of.

"We are building a whole new metropolis for Johoreans, how nuch more exciting it can be," said a bubbly young IIB lady as I had lunch with her team members at a riverside restaurant in Pendas Laut, Gelang Patah. That was about three years ago.

Honestly, at that time I found them to be very professional and much easier to work with than most people of other government agencies, including their "sister" Irda.

I really hope the best for these honest workers of IIB, present and past. If you all are reading this - please be strong and believe that God is fair. You all need not worry if you have done no wrong. Cheers guys and gals.

No scapegoat please in Iskandar Investment case

No scapegoat please in Iskandar Investment case

UPDATED

My bet for now is that I am going to be disappointed.

This report by Star indicates that some are to snitch and some are to burn..

JOHOR BARU: A former senior vice-president of an Iskandar Investment Berhad (IIB) subsidiary was fined RM20,000, in default two months' jail, after he pleaded guilty to a charge of corruption at a Sessions court here Wednesday.
The 51-year-old man's identity has been withheld as he is assisting the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in several other cases involving the IIB.
He was charged under Section 132(2)(b) of the Companies Act, and paid the fine.

Why is Star reports on this is so short one? Is it because of  this "exclusive" ?

KUALA LUMPUR: Two former directors of Iskandar Investment Berhad have been arrested for alleged graft as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission stepped up its investigation of the company's RM2bil package.
The duo, in their 40s, are expected to be charged in the Johor Baru magistrate's court today with corruption involving about RM5mil in connection with the construction of a highway and a boarding school in the Iskandar region.
The RM124mil highway and RM40.8mil school are part of the 3B package and the two were chief executive officers of IIB subsidiaries involved in the projects.


ORIGINAL POSTING

Innocent until proven guilty.

Yet, what happened today must have really signaled a warning to those involved in the development of Iskandar Malaysia - do not mess around.

This was what had happened -
JOHOR BAHARU -- The husband of former Iskandar Investment Bhd (IIB) chief executive officer pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here today to three counts of soliciting and accepting bribes to help a company secure a school construction tender last year.

 On the first count, Mohd Amin Suhaimi, 52, a private company director, was charged with soliciting RM816,900 in cash from Detect Engineering Sdn Bhd director Mohd Hassan Madon, 48, through middleman Mohd Iskandar Fahmi Abdullah, 52, as inducement to help the company secure a tender from IIB to build a secondary boarding school on lot PTD 154971 in Mukim Pulai.      

 He was alleged to have committed the offence at the Grand Paragon Hotel in Taman Century about 5 pm on April 22 2010.

 The second and third counts involved accepting RM500,000 and RM316,900 in cash from Mohd Hassan, through Mohd Iskandar Fahmi at two different locations, as fees for securing the same tender from IIB for the RM40.8 million project, on June 4 and 9 respectively.     

 The charges, under Section 16(a)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 provides for up to 20 years imprisonment and a fine of not less than five times the bribe amount or RM10,000 whichever was higher, upon
conviction.

 Judge Mohd Nasir Nordin allowed a bail of RM100,000 with one surety, ordered Mohd Amin's passport to be impounded and fixed Jan 27 2012 for remention and March 5 to 16 for the trial.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission DPP Abdul Ghafar Abdul Latif prosecuted and the accused was represented by Shamsul Sulaiman.  -- Bernama

What is going to happen to IIB former CEO Arlida Ariff? Honestly, I don't know.

When rumours of serious corruption within IIB first came into the open middle of last year, I remember worrying about it. Things within the organisation at that time had started to sour with various allegations of favouratism and victimisation with the culprits being a bunch of people identified as "the inner circle".

My checks then indicated that the allegations were really serious, and true enough, several weeks later Khazanah send in the E&Y people to do an independent audit.

It was believed that Khazanah had done so due to pressure from "higher up". I had at that time suspected that the Johor State government got something to do with it. MB Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman was known to be worried about what were happening.

That was when IIB middle management staff started to bail out by the dozens. These people were not guilty of anything, but simply want to get a fresh start as things seems to have reached an intolerable level in the organisation. These are the core workforce of IIB at that time.

When Azman Mokhtar called for the IIB town hall session at Persada in October last year to announce Arlida's departure, it confirmed my worst fear.

One of the things which caught my attention about Azman's speech that day was that he had not shown any sympathy towards Arlida, which was so different compared to when he announced the departure of Arlida's predecessor Dr Iskandar Ismail. He had at that time literally shed tears for his Macoba buddy (I am not kidding you). Arlida is by the way an alumni of Tengku Kurshiah College.   

If not for the superb handling of the issue by the then IIB's corporate comm team at that time, the whole thing could had been a major PR disaster for Iskandar Malaysia. I remember cursing the Khazanah media handlers for tai-chiing the whole thing to their IIB counterparts and pretended that their bosses got nothing to do with the mess.

Arlida had since joined Karambunai. IIB, under their new CEO Syed Mohammed Syed Ibrahim have been very quiet. Honestly, I am not really sure what they have been doing the past one year. Most of their activities and important annoucements were apparently decided and made in KL In fact, if you are to google Iskandar Investment Berhad CEO, the search result may initially make you think that Arlida is still heading IIB.

It's almost a year now since Arlida left IIB. Many believed that the whole thing had gone cold. Apparently not so, based on what happened to her husband today.

Personally, I like Arlida. She knows her stuff well, a friendly person and known to be ever willing to help those who are in trouble. Despite the allegations, IIB had done considerably well, especially during the early period of her tenure as CEO. My two favourite IIB's initiatives started during that time were the EduCity and Legoland projects.

But, the law must be above everyone. If there is any evidence against her, then Arlida need to answer for it. So does others who are implicated in the alleged wrong doings. I hope the investigations go all the way to even the level of Khazanah BOD. Let every single guilty person be punished.

I pray that no one be turned into a scapegoat so that others who are guilty may escape the law.

This case should be an opportunity for the government to prove that Iskandar Malaysia is a place of good governance and that investors as well as the locals there need not worry about any hanky panky among the authorities. 

To my friends who are still with IIB, do not despair due to this, continue to do your honest hard work and all the best.

To those at Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda), please learn from this.  

A very sad day

A very sad day

I am writing this with extreme sadness in my heart.

This posting by BigDog today really broke my heart -

JCorp Jumbo-Mumbo

I tried very hard the whole morning to find out what had happened but my efforts were futile.

Being an ardent supporter of Johor MB Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman, I find the appointments of Ahmad Zaki Zahid, Wan Mohd Firdaus Wan Mohd Fuad, Edward Leung Kok Keong and Natasha Kamaluddin into the highest positions of Kulim, the subsidiary of JCorp simply unpalatable. These people are part of the young liberals bunch who almost wrecked this country via the Fourth Floor Boys of the Pak Lah era.

Datuk Ghani, what have you done? Don't you realise these appointments will destroy everything good that you had done for Johor these past 16 years?

For one, Datuk, I know you are fond of your special assistant Wan Firdaus, but that boy is really no good. Are you aware of the kind of nonsense he pulled in Irda? Please check with your people. I mean, your people who have been loyal to you all these years and had sacrificed so much without expecting any "special" things from you. Check with them how Malik Imtiaz Sharwar, a member of the DAP's Penang government's think tank was invited to give a lecture on how great the Penang and Selangor administrations are compared to the the Federal government at the Irda headquarters on Oct 24.

Datuk Ghani, I still trust that you are the best man to lead Johor for now, as I don't see anyone else to replace you.  But really, I am tired. I don't know what is the rationale behind those appointments, but I believe the damage is done. The daggers are out to stab you Datuk Ghani. And these are not even the daggers of the Pakatan people.



My prayers with you Datuk Ghani.