Saturday, November 04, 2006

Why isn't the Govt curious where Happy Balls Zakaria's money is from?

Good article by Kim Quek, a guest columnist on Malaysia-Today. He eloquently and in detail, asks the most important question: Why isn't the govt curious where Happy Balls Zakaria got all that money from?

Could it be that they already know?
Could it be the same place where their land & palaces come from?

Zakaria scandal: fiasco to UMNO?

...the UMNO supreme council deliberated the Zakaria case on 2 November. Emerging from the meeting, Abdullah announced that the only action to be taken against Zakaria was to ask him to withdraw himself from the swearing-in ceremony for councillors scheduled on 8 November. Asked why no further action was taken against Zakaria including his position as UMNO’s Kelang division chief, Abdullah said Zakaria had been a good division leader and his wrongdoings were not party matters. Abdullah said: “It has to do with the government. It is enough for us to decide that he should not be appointed councillor”.

Such arrogance and contempt for public opinion by UMNO and the Prime Minister in covering up the wrongdoings of the ruling elite is a matter of the gravest concern to the nation, as it not only signifies that Abdullah has given up his pretensions of his reform agenda, but also brings into serious doubt his ability to uphold the rule of law in this country. To understand how serious the implications are, let us look into the details of these scandals, itemized as follows:

1. Zakaria has constructed his luxuriously finished 4-storey 17 room mansion, reputed to cost RM8 million, without any building approval from the Kelang Municipal Council (MPK).
2. The land on which the mansion was built, a 43,000 sq. ft. plot situated in a low-cost housing area, was alienated by the Selangor state government to Zakaria’s wife for RM180,000, which was grossly below the market value. The well-to-do recipient of the land was obviously unqualified to apply for this land which was meant for the poor.
3. Zakaria has built a restaurant without building approval, on an illegally occupied state reserve land.
4. Zakaria has failed to pay assessment for his house for the past 12 years.
5. Zakaria, his son Zainuri and daughter-in-law Rosalinda Abdul Jamil were all appointed to the Kelang Municipal Council.
6. Zakaria, appointed a senator on 30 July 1991, had illegally remained as senator since 10 September 1992 when he was declared a bankrupt and became disqualified.
7. Zakaria was suspected to be involved in a dubious sale of land from Selangor Development Corporation (PKNS) to the Selangor Badmintion Association (SBA) in 2004. The 7-acre land in Shah Alam was offered at RM18 per sq.ft., which was grossly below the market value; and Zakaria was then the chairman of the PKNS land committee approving the sale while he was also the SBA president.
8. Apart from Zakaria, two other Kelang Municiapal councillors – Mazlynoor Abdul Latif and Faizal Abdullah -- also built their mansions without building approval. Mazlynoor is UMNO’s Kelang division deputy chief, while Faizal is UMNO’s Kapar youth chief (also in Kelang).

Complex as the above case may be, still, the first question that comes to the mind of anyone who has seen a photo of the awesome mansion must be: Gosh, where did he find all that money to build this palace -- being only a councillor, not a business tycoon himself?

Regrettably (or rather expectedly), none in the authorities has expressed this curiosity...

The complete text of
Kim Quek's article is here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You scratch my back, I scratch yours back;

You dig my shit, I LAGI dig yours!