Lee comes to Selcat’s defence

By Pauline Almeida
www.mmail.com.my/content/13839-lee-comes-selcat%E2%80%99s-defence

ANOTHER member of Selangor’s special select committee for competency, accountability and transparency (Selcat) has spoken up in defence of the body that was set up to ensure good governance by the State government.

Bukit Gasing assemblyman Edward Lee Poh Lin, who sits on Selcat’s seven-member panel, is of the view that the body should continue to function the way it has all this while.

He also expressed support for Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s recent statement that the State’s legislature could not undermine Selcat with an independent group, as it was not within the framework of the legislative assembly.

“We should follow what he has instructed us to do and support what Selcat is doing,” he said when contacted yesterday.

Lee was expressing his views on State Exco member and Pas commissioner Datuk Dr Hasan Ali’s suggestion that Selcat be replaced with an independent committee comprising prominent people without political leanings.

Hasan made the call as he felt Selcat members were employing overly tough questioning tactics that were victimising State and district civil servants.

He had called for Selcat sessions to be held behind closed doors instead of making it public.

Lee confirmed that the district officers were being questioned and the Selcat panel had been conducting this process with civility and politeness.

“We don’t think we were unusually harsh, but the facts can be harsh. How else can we do it without sacrificing the truth?”

He acknowledged that Selcat had held only two public hearings in the last six months; one on the long list of expenses by the Wives of Selangor Elected Representatives Charity Organisation (Balkis) and former Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo’s RM24 million mansion.

The other is the on-going inquiry into the allocations of the previous State assemblymen.

“We are doing this in support of good governance and this is nothing personal. I don’t agree that we’re victimising State officers. We are well-meaning people,” added Lee.