State basis for highway award to Umno men, PKR tells Najib...

Datuk Seri Najib Razak owes Malaysians a personal explanation as to why a RM2.2 billion highway contract was awarded to companies linked to Umno lawyer Datuk Hafarizam Harun and the wife of former Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi, PKR said today.

PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar demanded the prime minister state whether the awarding of the lucrative contract to Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) to Emrail Sdn Bhd and Zabima Engineering Sdn Bhd was conducted via an open tender process, saying that details on the deal were very sketchy at the moment.

“Publicly state the reasons, basis, and criteria for the tender awarded to Zabima Engineering and Emrail. Who were the other parties considered, and was an open tender called to ensure public interest is protected?

“What are the complete terms of concession, toll rates and future profit sharing arrangements?” she said in a statement.

Nurul Izzah (picture) said it was the PM’s responsibility to clarify how did the award of concession to the two companies in accordance to his administration’s strategic reform initiatives.

Controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin yesterday alleged that former Chief Justice Zaki and Hafarizam, two key figures in the Perak constitutional crisis of 2009 were awarded the highway contract as a gift for helping Barisan Nasional (BN) topple Pakatan Rakyat in the northern state.

Hafarizam is a director in both firms while Zaki’s wife, Toh Puan Nik Sazlina Mohd Zain, is a director in Emrail. Hafarizam confirmed the award today but said that any suggestion of a deal struck because of his role in the Perak constitutional crisis in 2009 was “tainted with mala fide (bad faith) and intended to bring me and Tun Zaki into public odium, scandal and disrepute.”

Nurul Izzah also urged current Chief Justice Tan Sri Ariffin Zakaria to order Zaki to declare, in writing, his and his family’s assets in light of the allegations.

‘As such, both individuals must be open to public scrutiny considering their involvement in the high-profile Perak takeover by BN, and the current entanglement they find themselves in the awarding of the RM 2.2 Billion Kinrara-Damansara Highway (KIDEX) concession,” she added.

The Edge Financial Daily had reported on February 17 that the government had called a tender for the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex). The announcement mentioned that seven companies are bidding for the job, which includes Bina Puri, Mudajaya, and Pesona Metro Sdn Bhd.

“The tenders are just out and it is not certain yet on the tenure of the concession as the CA has not been finalised,” said a source.

The highway will link Kinrara and Pusat Bandar Damansara and will divert traffic on the LDP.
According to The Edge, the concession was suppose to be awarded to PLUS Expressways but Pesona Metro Sdn Bhd has been tipped as a frontrunner for the project. -malaysian insider

PM harus memberi penjelasan ‘hadiah’ lebuhraya RM2.2 bilion

Kontroversi terbaru timbul berhubung pemberian konsesi bernilai RM2.2 bilion Lebuhraya Kinrara-Damansara (Kidex) kepada dua tokoh yang terlibat dengan rampasan kuasa oleh Barisan Nasional (BN) di Perak.

Menurut Naib Presiden PKR, Nurul Izzah Anwar, dua tokoh tersebut ialah bekas Ketua Hakim Negara, Tun Zaki Azmi dan penasihat undang-undang Umno, Datuk Hafarizam Harun.

Beliau yang juga Ahli Parlimen Lembah Pantai berkata, Hafarizam merupakan pengarah dua buah syarikat yang menerima konsesi tersebut Emrail Sdn Bhd dan Zabima Engineering Sdn Bhd.

“Sementara isteri Zaki Azmi merupakan pengarah syarikat Emrail, sebuah syarikat yang tidak mempunyai rekod di dalam pembinaan lebuhraya.

“Kenyataan syarikat tersebut sendiri menyatakan mereka berhasrat menjadi “Syarikat Kejuruteraan Rel Utama di Malaysia dan Rantau ini,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan media hari ini.

Justeru itu, Nurul mendesak Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak memberi penjelasan tentang beberapa isu yang timbul ekoran dari pemberian projek lebuhraya Kidex ini.

Beliau mahu Najib menyatakan pendiriannya berkenaan Seksyen 9 Kod Etika Hakim 2009 yang menyatakan “seorang hakim akan, pada masa pelantikan atau mana-mana masa kemudiannya sekiranya diminta oleh Ketua Hakim Mahkamah Persekutuan membuat perisytiharan bertulis semua asetnya kepada Ketua Hakim Mahkamah Persekutuan.”

Isytihar aset 

Merujuk kepada peruntukan ini katanya, Ketua Hakim Negara pada masa ini, Tan Sri Ariffin Zakaria mestilah meminta Zaki Azmi membuat perisytiharan aset beliau dan keluarganya secara bertulis berikutan tuduhan-tuduhan ini.

Nurul juga mahu kerajaan mendedahkan sebab dan kriteria pemberian tender kepada Zabima Engineering dan Emrail.

“Apakah syarikat-syarikat lain yang dipertimbangkan, dan adakah tender terbuka dibuat demi memastikan kepentingan orang ramai terpelihara?

“Bagaimanakah pemberian konsesi dan pakej kontrak ini selari dengan dasar pentadbiran ini, khususnya Model Ekonomi Baru, Inisiatif Pembaharuan Strategik dan lain-lain lagi?  Apakah terma lengkap konsesi, kadar tol dan perkongsian keuntungan?,” soal beliau.

Menurut Nurul, Hafarizam dalam smsnya kepada sebuah portal berita mendakwa bahawa syarikat-syarikatnya diserang memandangkan mereka merupakan antara sebilangan kecil syarikat Bumiputera yang dianugerahkan projek ini.

“Malang sekali apabila sebuah isu tentang ketelusan dan kebertanggungjawaban yang akan memberi impak kepada semua rakyat sekali lagi dilihat dari perspektif kaum.

“Hakikatnya, sekiranya tuduhan ini terbukti benar, sekelompok kecil kroni akan sekali lagi mendapat durian runtuh sedangkan ramai rakyat Malaysia, termasuk majoriti masyarakat Bumiputera terpaksa menjadi mangsa projek ini,” terangnya.

Nurul juga mahu terma perjanjian antara kerajaan dan syarikat-syarikat yang dipilih didedahkan agar projek ini tidak menjadi satu lagi konsesi yang membebankan rakyat Malaysia.- FMT

Highway to hell 

The thing that troubled me most about the latest expose in Malaysia is the seemingly cozy relationship between the current Umno lawyer and the former chief justice, who incidentally is a former Umno lawyer.

I am beyond griping that the contract was not awarded through an open tender because open tender means competition and competition means level playing field — all the things that our friends like Ibrahim Ali, Mahathir Mohamad don’t like.

But it does disturb me that there appears to be a business nexus between an Umno lawyer Hafirizam Harun and Tun Zaki Azmi. In most developed countries, judges and especially chief justices keep an arms length from lawyers because they don’t want to be accused of bias or bringing the judiciary into disrepute. The more strict judges do not even socialise with lawyers.

So I can’t imagine the head of the Supreme Court of the USA or India or even the Chief Justice of Singapore getting a government contract or being involved in a business with a lawyer, especially one who acts for the government.

It just does not appear proper and throws up all kinds of permutations, not the least of which is the blurring of lines between the independence of the judiciary and the government.

If today there is a bunch of conspiracy theories on the Perak outcome and any other decisions which went the way of the government while Zaki was the CJ, the Najib administration have only themselves to blame.

Even by the recent bungling standards of the administration, this was a bad, bad one.-Lucius Goon,malaysian insider

cheers.