Umno Sabah: Talk a lot but say nothing

MALAYSIA TODAY - SPECIAL REPORT

Umno Sabah, being a political party, speaks like a politician -- it talks a lot but says nothing. And this is what it has done to ‘explain’ the scandal behind its new building being built in Karamunsing in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. And Umno Sabah’s so-called explanation is as clear as the skies above Kuala Lumpur during an outbreak of an Indonesian forest fire.

According to the Star of late last week,

“Sabah Umno is of the view that everything is in the clear for its new RM35mil, 11-storey headquarters now under construction in the city.”

So, it is confirmed, the building costs RM35 million. That is what Malaysia Today wanted to know. We had estimated it could be anything between RM30 million to RM50 million. What is most interesting is that key people within Umno Sabah themselves do not know the actual figure. Now, of course, they do.

(See: The Umno Sabah building scam perpetuated by Musa Aman).

“As far as Sabah Umno is concerned, I can assure you that everything is above board,”

Rahim Ismail, Umno Sabah’s Information Chief, said.

‘Above board’! That is the key word and the catchphrase of the year. In fact, it’s almost an oxymoron.

What exactly does Rahim mean by ‘above board’? Was the figure of RM35 million confirmed at any Umno Sabah meeting prior to Umno Sabah embarking on constructing the building? Was a building committee set up? Was a finance committee set up? Was a Board of Trustees set up?

The answer is no, no and no to all questions. In that case, how can the whole thing be ‘above board’? How can the ‘Musa Aman finance-building-trustee one-man committee’ decide everything on his own, on behalf of Umno Sabah? Is Umno Sabah a private family enterprise just like the provision shop on the corner or is it a legally registered association, a political party, owned by many members?

On why Musa Aman decided to build Umno Sabah’s new building on a 0.48 hectare site in Karamunsing, which is not owned by Umno, instead of Umno’s own 2 hectare land in Sembulan, Rahim, who is the spokesman and supposedly a member of the so-called ‘building committee’ that was never set up, refused to comment further other than repeating that ‘everything about the project was above board’.

Yes, we remember another Rahim, Rahim Noor, Malaysia’s one-time Police Chief, declaring that Anwar Ibrahim is safe and well looked after as he lay unconscious on his lockup floor. When they say “don’t worry, everything is okay”, that is the time we should start worrying.

What Rahim Ismail conveniently left out in his explanation is: who is paying for this RM35 million building? Is Umno paying for it or is this too, just like the land, being paid for from donations from ‘friendly parties’ and rich benefactors who share Umno’s perjuangan (struggle)? No one in Umno Sabah seems to know and, if Umno Sabah is paying for it, then this is news to the senior Umno Sabah officials who are hearing this for the first time.

And what about the donations collected? How much has been collected so far? It is estimated that between RM100 million to RM200 million has been collected to date. And why is the donation drive still going on? Who were the ones who donated the money? Are all these donors companies and businessmen that have benefited from State jobs and contracts? And who is keeping the money collected? Why have no accounts been tabled at the Umno Sabah meetings?

Umno Sabah has confirmed that the land was ‘donated by a private company, with the full knowledge of the party leadership’. Okay, since we are talking about being above board here, can Umno Sabah then please confirm which company donated the land? After all, Umno Sabah did say,

“There is nothing secret about this deal.”

So, can we have the name of the donor please?

Is the donor ACCORDON SDN BHD, the company already identified by Malaysia Today as owned by Musa Aman’s brother-in-law, M. Sapawak @ M. Sapawai Bin M. Tussin? (See: Musa Aman caught with his pants down).

Okay, what about the following companies?

PEMBINAAN KEKAL MEWAH HOLDINGS SDN BHD
PEMBINAAN KEKAL MEWAH HERBAL SDN BHD
PEMBINAAN KEKAL MEWAH TRADING SDN BHD
PEMBINAAN KEKAL MEWAH ENGINEERING SDN BHD
PEMBINAAN KEKAL MEWAH AQUACULTURE SDN BHD
PEMBINAAN KEKAL MEWAH (KOTA KINABALU) SDN BHD
PEMBINAAN KEKAL MEWAH (KOTA MARUDU) SDN BHD
PEMBINAAN KEKAL MEWAH (BEAUFORT) SDN BHD
PEMBINAAN KEKAL MEWAH (KENINGAU) SDN BHD
PEMBINAAN KEKAL MEWAH (TAWAU) SDN BHD
PEMBINAAN KEKAL MEWAH (SANDAKAN) SDN BHD
PEMBINAAN KEKAL MEWAH SDN BHD
PEMBINAAN KEKAL MEWAH REALTY SDN BHD
PEMBINAAN KEKAL MEWAH RESORTS SDN BHD

Did any of these companies donate the land to Umno Sabah? And, if so, what did they get in return? What about RENTAK HASIL SDN BHD? Is this company the one that donated the land?

Yes, that is right, things may not be as ‘above board’ as what they claim. The Pembinaan Kekal Mewah group of companies is owned by Robert Tan and his brother, William Tan. Every man and his dog in Sabah know who these two are. And William Tan also owns Rentak Hasil Sdn Bhd.

In fact, Pembinaan Kekal Mewah Holdings Sdn Bhd is not really that much to shout about. Its current assets are about RM5.9 million but its current liabilities are also RM5.9 million. Therefore, it is not that cash rich as what many may believe. The same goes for Rentak Hasil Sdn Bhd. Its current assets are RM5.7 million while its current liabilities are RM5.6 million. But its turnover is something else. Though it may not be that cash rich, it still managed to turn in a revenue of more than RM70 million.

Nevertheless, its ‘strength’ is not in its balance sheet but in its contacts. As they say, it is not what you know but who you know, and know-who is more important than know-how. And that is how Rentak Hasil Sdn Bhd and the Pembinaan Kekal Mewah group of companies can bring in hundreds of millions in government contracts every year. And what is most amusing, everyone in Sabah knows this. It is no secret. Yet nothing is done about it. And what is the most open of open secrets is the fact that Anifah Aman, Chief Minister Musa Aman’s brother, is partner-in-crime with the Tan brothers, Robert and William.

To know what the Tan (Robert and William) and the Aman (Musa and Anifah) brothers have been up to we must first look at Sabah Softwood Sdn Bhd, a company owned by Yayasan Sabah (Sabah Foundation).

If we can remember, Yayasan Sabah was the centre of a RM3 billion -- that’s right THREE BILLION RINGGIT -- scandal during the time of another two infamous brothers, Pairin and Jeffery Kitingan.

Why are crimes in Sabah always perpetuated by two brothers?

Anyway, the then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that RM3 billion had been siphoned out of Yayasan Sabah that was being headed by Jeffrey at the time Pairin was the Chief Minister and he ordered Price Waterhouse to conduct an audit. Jeffrey was subsequently removed and Musa Aman took over as the new head of Yayasan Sabah.

The audit report was never made public and till today no one knows what happened to the RM 3 billion. Yayasan Sabah, which used to be the richest organisation in Malaysia, is now in dire straits. Shouldn’t someone be brought to book for this crime? Why is there a cover-up? After all, RM3 billion is not a paltry sum?

Back to Sabah Softwood; this Sabah Foundation owned company sits on hundreds of thousands of hectares of land rich in timber, cocoa and palm oil. It is one of the few money making subsidiaries of the many that Sabah Foundation owns -- the rest are haemorrhaging profusely due to mismanagement and corruption. In short, it is Yayasan Sabah’s only cash cow. Sabah Softwood is where all the big bucks are. Therefore, if you want to siphon out anything, Sabah Softwood is the company that should be the target of manipulation and exploitation.

Sabah Softwood was supposed to be listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange but after blowing RM500,000 on the listing exercise Musa Aman decided to abort the whole exercise. If Sabah Softwood was listed, then its accounts would be open to public scrutiny and no longer could the company be milked for all it is worth.

Earlier this year, Sabah Softwood signed a joint venture agreement with Rentak Hasil to form a company called Regional Harvest Sdn Bhd. Regional Harvest is going to be the new vehicle used to bleed Sabah Softwood and siphon out it assets while Sabah Softwood will be lumbered with all the debts and liabilities. This is one way of milking the cow while leaving Yayasan Sabah the unpleasant task of feeding the cow.

Regional Harvest will be the main vehicle for Yayasan Sabah’s palm oil activities, an investment paid for by the citizens of Sabah but the profits enjoyed by the Tan and Aman brothers.

Prior to that, Kekal Mewah was given a 20-year contract to maintain all unlisted or rural roads throughout Sabah. Considering Sabah is predominantly rural this means almost every road in Sabah will come under the Tan and Aman brothers until long after they are dead and buried in their graves. When they talk about a licence to print money, metaphorically speaking, this is exactly what they mean.

Anyway, one cannot accuse the Tan or Aman brothers of enriching themselves with the people of Sabah’s money. As Musa Aman is fond of telling anyone who would care to listen, he was already worth RM300 million before he became Chief Minister. In fact, this was the figure he declared to the Prime Minister when he first became Chief Minister. What he did not explain, though, was how he came into that money in the first place. Surely the RM300 million could not have been his salary saved through the years? And will he still be worth RM300 million by the time he leaves his job as Chief Minister or will this figure multiply many fold? No prize for the right guess!

Another scandalous act that is yet to become public knowledge is the aborted paper and pulp project that has already swallowed hundreds of millions of Ringgit. The Chinese partner that was supposed to joint venture with Yayasan Sabah in Papua New Guinea and Bentawan decided to pull out after they smelt a rat. Musa paid a Singapore ‘consultant’ USD10 million to secure the deal that never happened. What is puzzling is, though the project had been put to sleep, logging on the 300,000 hectare site is still going on. Why are they logging the site if there is not going to be a pulp and paper mill after all?

Someone is definitely getting filthy rich selling logs that were supposed to be turned into paper. And why is Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi still prepared to risk his career and make a mockery of his Islam Hadhari by reappointing Musa Aman as Sabah’s Chief Minister when it is clear this man is robbing the state in broad daylight? Is Abdullah just naïve or is he turning a blind eye, knowing full well what is going on?