SHAH ALAM (Sept 11, 2009): An assistant district officer took just one minute to clear a mountain of applications for funds from assemblymen which landed on his table before the dissolution of Parliament on Feb 13, 2008.
Sepang assistant district officer Tahir Bujang, who was at that time the ADO for Gombak, told the Selangor Select Committee for Competency, Transparency and Accountability (Selcat) inquiry today that these included:
> 90 applications for RM496,509 from the Batu Caves assemblyman
> 103 applications for RM393,342 from the Gombak Setia assemblyman
> 225 applications for RM500,700 from the Hulu Kelang assemblyman
> 149 applications for RM496,500 from the Kuang assemblyman
> 86 applications for RM500,000 from the Taman Templer assemblyman and
> 235 applications for RM603,198 from the Rawang assemblyman.
Sepang ADO Tahir Bujang (left) and Gombak DO Huzaini Samsi during Selcat hearing.
He admits he approved a mountain of applications for funds in 1 minute.
Due to the rush of applications, Tahir told the panel he did not look into the details of the community project (Mesra Rakyat) fund applications which he approved and therefore was not aware that among the payments he endorsed was rent for an Umno operations centre.
Panelist Haniza Mohd Talha, who is deputy speaker and Taman Medan Assemblyman, then told him to go back and read all the circulars that spelled out what he had to do to adhere to the guidelines stipulated by the state government.
“If this is how all our district officers’ work, then we have an uphill task ahead in our bid to implement good governance policies," she said.
The Selcat inquiry, which started on Tuesday, is to examine the expenditure of Selangor assemblymen from January last year to June this year. It will determine how an allocation of more than RM2.7million for assemblymen was spent within the first three months of 2008 by 54 Barisan Nasional assemblymen.
This is the second Selcat hearing. The first was held in late March to scrutinise the excesses of the Selangor Wives of Parliamentarians and Assemblymen Welfare Organisation which used funds donated by state companies to, among others, go on extravagant trips and organise elaborate dinners.
Tahir earlier got a earful from Selcat chairman Teng Chang Khim for saying that the allocations for assemblymen was a “contribution” from the Menteri Besar.
“I am surprised with your statement, please go back and do your homework,” he said. “This is a budget allocation that is passed by the state legislative assembly, not a contribution from the Menteri Besar.”
Later on, Tahir was again reprimanded by Teng when he said he had approved an allocation to be given to the University Malaya treasurer for a student project because the applicant for the fund was a resident in Gombak.
“So what happens if the applicant is studying in the University of London, in Africa, Australia and so on, are you still going to approve the funds because the applicant is from
Gombak or because his father is a voter in Gombak?” Teng asked.
“Your reasoning does not make sense, it looks like you have to go back to Intan (Institute Tadbir Negara) for retraining,” he told Tahir.
Earlier, panelist Shaari Sungib asked Gombak district officer Huzaini Samsi whether he knew what happened to monies sought for Mesra Rakyat programmes and about records showing payments being made out to 33 MIC branches in the Gombak and Batu Caves area.
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