By Neville Spykerman
SHAH ALAM, Nov 18 — The Selangor mentri besar has defended the acquisition of debts by Talam Corp Bhd from state subsidiaries as a state matter after PKR secretary general Datuk Salehuddin Hashim reportedly criticised him for not consulting the party.
But Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim (picture) stressed that all major public policies including the decision on Talam which he described as a “financial issue” were discussed at all levels including within the party.
When contacted by The Malaysian Insider, Salehuddin declined to comment on Khalid’s reply to his criticism which was front-paged by The Star daily.
Talam owes three state companies RM392 million, accumulated and uncollected over a decade, forcing the state assembly last Monday to approve a supplementary budget of RM392 million for Mentri Besar Incorporated (MBI) to undertake the debt recovery exercise by first buying up the debts from the state firms.
The Star reported today that Salehuddin had emailed PKR MPs and state lawmakers to demand an explanation as the party had been ‘kept in the dark’ while speculating the debt buy-out would incur additional cost including consultancy charges that could profit some quarters.
“There is no consultant. I am the one who initiated the move and I am not charging the state anything,” Khalid explained, adding any additional cost would be for legal, taxes and banking charges.
“I am the consultant, you think I should charge?” quipped Khalid, who was speaking to reporters after the weekly state executive council meeting.
State executive councillor Teresa Kok stressed the decision was a collective one made by the executive council, while all Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state lawmakers were briefed before State Assembly sitting, which ended yesterday.
“Decisions are made every week and PR party leaders must trust us,” said Kok, who pointed out the move was necessary in order to recover debts, which would otherwise been uncollected.
“Since taking over, we have corrected so many wrongs and saved so much cost for the state government”
“We would not short change the people or the state,” she said.
The Selangor government has this week also appointed PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as its economic adviser. It is not known if the appointment is related to the Talam debt recovery plans.
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Only stupid ass who knows nothing about prudent corporate management will bark like nobody business, claiming they are championing public interest.