Auditors find debt recovery exercise in order

SHAH ALAM: Based on records provided by the state, the audit review on the Selangor government's debt recovery exercise with Talam Corporation had been completed and found to be in order.

KPMG advisory unit executive director Chan Siew Mei said the company took about a month to complete the audit review .

“Our scope of work was strictly to check the transactions and documents based on records of the state,” she told reporters at a joint press conference with Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim here yesterday.

However Khalid said a detailed report would only be made public after it was tabled at the next state assembly sitting in November.

The review stated that the RM392mil debt recovery exercise was “purely a debt settlement arrangement” comprising nine plots of land, two property and 60% shares in a subsidiary of Talam and “cash/debt assignment”.

The review stated the state government made a “sound commercial decision” under the circumstances at that point in time in relation to the settlement arrangement.

The settlement process is still ongoing and based on currently available information, the gross consideration is sufficient for Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) - recovering the debts on behalf of the state government and its subsidiaries - to recover the Talam debts, with no debt waiver by MBI, it said.

Khalid said the review showed that there was no bailout of Talam as alleged by some parties.

Sources: The Star 6 Sept 2012

LA: Haish,what happened MB:)

Scuffle at PKR headquarters

PETALING JAYA (Sept 5, 2012): A scuffle broke out at the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) headquarters today when non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in support of Barisan Nasional (BN) tried to hand over a memorandum to party representatives.

About 20 members from the Nambikkai United Coalition, Waris Malaya, Perkasa and several other NGOs marched in front of the party headquarters shouting slogans against the opposition and accused them of being responsible for the hoisting of the controversial flag, "Sang Saka Malaya", during Janji Demokrasi gathering at Dataran Merdeka on Merdeka eve.

Some of the men were clad in t-shirts printed with the words "Waris Malaya", "Melayu Berwawasan", and "Sayangi Selangor, Yakini BN".

About 40 PKR members, who waited outside the building, engaged the protesters in a shouting match. Some PKR members threw eggs and coins at the direction of the NGO supporters, provoking retaliation. However, police stepped in to prevent the situation from worsening.

Nambikkai United Coalition president Kalai Vanar said the NGOs were fed up with Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's politicking.

"They (PKR) did not invite the Sultan. They brought a new flag, 'Sang Saka (Malaya)' to the Merdeka celebration. They are trying to turn Malaysia into a republic," he told reporters.

Kalai also said the provocation and egg throwing by PKR members proved the party is violent.

Meanwhile, an aide to Anwar, R. Sureshkumar, admitted that PKR members did throw eggs at the NGO crowd. However, he denied they had resorted to violence.

In an unrelated development, a DAP Hari Raya open house in Penang on Tuesday night was marred by a group of hawkers demanding to be allowed to carry out their business at Padang Kota.

Some 20 unlicensed hawkers gathered near the Balai Rakyat Jalan Patani at about 8.30pm, where the state DAP was holding an open house attended by some 300 people, state party leaders and members, as well as PKR leaders.

The group had demanded to meet state leaders as they wanted to be allowed to carry out their business in the area.

The group was not allowed entry into the building and later tried to stop the cars of Komtar assemblyman Ng Wei Aik and state exco Wong Hon Wai from leaving by repeatedly hitting the car and blocking their path. However, swift action by voluntary patrol police prevented the incident from escalating.

Sources: The Sun 6 Sept 2012
 LA: if you want people to respect you, the best way is for you to respect them, in advance.

No hanky panky in Selangor-Talam deal

SHAH ALAM (Sept 5, 2012): KPMG Transaction & Restructuring Sdn Bhd (KPMG) – the audit firm tasked to review the Selangor-Talam debt recovery exercise – had declared the exercise to be "a sound business decision and done accordingly".

In announcing the findings of the audit, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said KPMG – appointed in July – had found the exercise to be "above board" and "there was no hanky panky involved".

The audit was prompted by allegations that the Selangor government lost RM1 billion through the exercise.

"From the review, KPMG is of the view that the Selangor government made a sound commercial decision under the circumstances at that point in time in relation to the settlement arrangement.

"The settlement process is still ongoing and based on currently available information, the gross consideration is sufficient for Mentri Besar Selangor Incorporated (MBI), being the party tasked with recovering the debts on behalf of the Selangor government and its subsidiaries, to recover the Talam debts, with no debt waiver by MBI," he told a press conference after the state exco meeting today. Also present was KPMG Advisory Unit executive director Chan Siew Mei.

A detailed audit report will be tabled at the next state assembly sitting scheduled this November and would be followed by a white paper.

Abdul Khalid said four spokesmen had been appointed to speak on the issue to the media and the public. They are Kuala Selangor MP Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad, Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, Selayang MP William Leong and political secretary to the Mentri Besar, Faekah Husin.

Abdul Khalid also said the state is preparing a brochure with a list of frequently asked questions on the debt recovery exercise – vetted by KPMG – to confirm the accuracy of the facts and details to assist the media and the public in understanding the issue.

Meanwhile, Chan said the review was conducted over a period of one month but was not specifically to check into allegations by Barisan Nasional that the deal was not "done in a proper way".

"Our scope of work was not to see if allegations (against the state) were true or not. It was done strictly to check on transactions and supporting documents," she added.

Asked whether they found instances where the value of land assets involved were lower than the debt was off-set, she said: "The short answer is yes."

"But the details are answered in the (state prepared and KPMG-vetted) frequently asked questions," she added.

To this, Abdul Khalid pointed out that "at no time was the state shortchanged as provisions were put in place to ensure that Talam would make up the difference if the land does not match the value of the debt."

Sources: The Sun 6 Sept 2012

LA: honesty is telling the truth instead of what you want the otherperson to believe.