Khalid to be quizzed over YBK remarks - 19/2/2010 (www.mmail.com.my)

Police opens file on Selangor MB's alleged defamatory statements

BY Azreen Hani

PETALING JAYA: Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and Batu Tiga assemblyman Rodziah Ismail will be called up for questioning in connection with the seven police reports lodged against the Selangor Menteri Besar and his officers over the Yayasan Basmi Kemiskinan (YBK) Selangor contoversy.

Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar told The Malay Mail this morning that the police will seek for an appointment with both of them but declined to give a time frame.

Investigations into alleged criminal wrongdoing by the MB against YBK stepped up a gear yesterday as YBK chairman Datuk Zainal Abidin Sakom was called in by police to provide information on the case.

Zainal was called in at 10am to discuss his allegation of criminal defamation against the Menteri Besar at the police district headquarters in Shah Alam.

"I was called in to give my statement following the police report I made on Jan 29. The police wanted to check on my claims pertaining to their investigations," he said, adding he spent about 30 minutes with the police.

YBK has been embroiled in a bitter feud with the State government after the latter, at the end of last year, rejected the foundation’s application to develop its 448-acre land in Serendah into Universiti Teknologi Mara's (UiTM) new campus.

YBK had claimed that the State government had used the foundation’s inability to settle its quit rent arrears, which was outstanding for eight years, as a "bargaining chip" to get the MB and exco member Rodziah Ismail, among others, appointed to the foundation's board of trustees.

Yesterday was the second time the chairman has been called by the police. The first was on Jan 30, the day after he lodged a report against the MB for allegedly spreading defamatory statements on YBK.

"I have cooperated with the police. I hope they will take appropriate action." He said he will continue to assist the police should they require more information.

Zainal said police involvement in the matter is vital to YBK as the claims made by the MB were malicious and slanderous to the foundation.

"The perception seems to be as though we had been misusing the foundation’s fund.

"The fact is, as a non-governmental organisation, we have been working hard to ensure our foundation would bring benefits to the needy. What the Menteri Besar has done to us is demoralising and defamatory."

The MB had previously said that the State government's involvement in YBK would ensure transparency and accountability in handling its funds.

Yayasan Melaka came forward to YBK’s aid earlier this month by offering to settle the outstanding RM5.6m quit rent.

However, the State government rejected, saying quit rent could only be paid by the landowners as stated in Section 98 of the National Land Code.

Chronology of events

JAN 6: Yayasan Basmi Kemiskinan (YBK) rejects order by Selangor State financial officer Datuk Mohd Arif Ab Rahman, in a letter dated Dec 7, to appoint Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and Batu Tiga assemblyman Rodziah Ismail as trustees of the foundation. This results in YBK's Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) campus project on a 448-acre site in Serendah, Selangor, not getting the green light to take off. In its letter to the State government, YBK explains that it needs the State's go-ahead for the project so that it could pay off its quit rent arrears.

JAN 8: YBK seeks legal advice on whether to lodge a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on the State government's post-for-project demand. Its panel of lawyers advises that this be done. The State government explains that a seat for it on the YBK board will ensure the foundation's transparency and accountability in handling funds.

JAN 9: Malacca State government offers YBK an alternate site in Jasin for its UiTM campus project.

JAN 11: A non-governmental organisation called Bersih Bangun Selangor (Bebas) files a report with the MACC against the Selangor MB over the UiTM campus project issue. Bebas chairman Mohd Abdul Raof Mokhtar says the report is to ensure the matter will be investigated by the commission.

JAN 13: State government demands audit reports of YBK's financial accounts and administration matters for the past five years. The foundation responds that it need not submit such reports to the State government, but only to the Attorney-General's Chambers.

JAN 18: YBK says it is willing to sell its 1,300-acre plot of land in Serendah — part of which is for the UiTM project — to the State government at half the price if the land indeed costs RM540 million as alleged.

JAN 21: YBK's legal panel pours cold water on the Selangor MB’s demand that the trustees appoint him as foundation chairman because they don’t have the power to do so. Malacca State government approved a 200-acre plot in Kampung Seri Mendapat, Mukim Semujuk, Jasin, for the new UiTM campus.

JAN 29: YBK lodges a police report against the Selangor Menteri Besar's office for allegedly spreading defamatory statements on the body and its trustees. The foundation learnt their application to extend the deadline for quit rent payment had been rejected by the State government via a letter.

JAN 31: Yayasan Melaka makes full payment to settle YBK's outstanding RM5.6 million quit rent but the Selangor MB says payment was made too late, although the land still remained in YBK's hands and yet to be seized by the State government.

FEB 2: The Selangor MB quotes Section 98 of the National Land Code that stipulates only a landowner was required to pay quit rent and not a third party. As such, he says the Selangor State government had ordered the Land and Mines Department of the Hulu Selangor Land and District Office to refund the payment made by Yayasan Melaka.

FEB 15: Political secretary of the Selangor MB, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, said the State government will declassify all of YBK's accounts by the end of the month to reveal how much had been given to YBK for its projects and how much was spent, as well as who gained from the projects.

FEB 16: YBK announces plan to lodge a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), stating that the action by the State government was tantamount to denying a landowner's right to develop its land.

FEB 17: Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar says seven police reports had been lodged against the
Selangor MB and his officers over the YBK affair, and following investigations, the Selangor MB is being investigated under Section 500 of the Penal Code for criminal defamation over two of these reports. He says since similar abuse of power allegations were made against the Selangor MB with the MACC, the police will refer the remainder five police reports to the anti-graft body.