Kami takkan sumbat semuanya ke penjara, kata Khalid Ibrahim...

Para pegawai negeri yang terbabit  dalam ketidakaturan perolehan barang dan perkhidmatan untuk Karnival Terima Kasih Rakyat, telah ditegur, kata Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, tetapi menegaskan bahawa beliau tidak akan menyumbat "kesemua mereka ke penjara".

Khalid berkata, siasatan dalaman telah menemui beberapa ketidakaturan dalam proses perolehan yang melibatkan RM1 juta untuk karnival tersebut yang diadakan bagi meraikan ulang tahun keempat pentadbiran Pakatan Rakyat di Selangor-pada 25 Mac di Kuala Selangor, yang menyebabkan kebanyakan bayaran telah dibekukan.

"Apabila saya dapati aktiviti itu tidak dijalankan dengan betul,
saya minta Perbendaharaan negeri mengaudit karnival tersebut untuk memastikan semua dibayar mengikut nilai.

"Dalam pengurusan... jika ini tidak dilakukan dengan betul, maka kita akan memaklumkan kepada mereka dan minta mereka memperbetulkannya.

"Bukan berkata, kami akan sumbat semua orang ke penjara... tetapi kita bagi tahu mereka jika mereka buat lagi,  mereka habis," tegas Khalid dalam satu wawancara dengan Malaysiakini baru-baru ini.

Perbendaharaan negeri mendapati perolehan untuk karnival tersebut yang bernilai lebih daripada RM50,000 tidak mempunyai sebut harga, seperti yang dikehendaki dalam peraturan negeri, dan beberapa pembekal yang tidak berdaftar, sama ada degan Perbendaharaan negeri atau pusat, atau mengendalikan kerja-kerja di luar skop mereka.

Khalid berkata beberapa pegawai kerajaan negeri yang terlibat dalam proses perolehan untuk karnival tersebut, menjustifikasi perkara itu dengan mengatakan mereka "berada dalam keadaan tergesa-gesa" tetapi ini, tegas menteri besar, tidak boleh dijadikan alasannya.

Menyedari bahawa pemimpin parti adalah antara mereka yang telah mengemukakan tuntutan yang tidak mengikut prosedur, maka Khalid berkata, sebarang perolehan pada masa depan, akan memerlukan mereka mengisytiharkan kepentingan mereka dan hubungan mereka dengan kerajaan negeri.

"Ia tidak bermakna jika anda seorang ahli parti, anda boleh mendapatkan (kontrak) Jika anda mahu, maka tawarkan harga yang paling rendah," katanya.- malaysiakini

We're not sending everyone to jail, says Khalid...

State officers responsible for irregularities in a state-level publicity carnival five months ago have been reprimanded, Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim says, but he will not be sending "all of them to jail".

Khalid said an internal investigation had found several irregularities in the procurement process involving RM1 million in the March 25 Karnival Terima Kasih Rakyat in Kuala Selangor, which led to a freeze on most payments.

"When I noted that the activities had not been carried out properly, I asked the state Treasury to audit the carnival to make sure everything is paid for according to value.

"In management... if this is not done right, then we will inform everybody and tell them to correct it.

"Not to say, we'll send everyone to jail... but we tell them that if they do it again the next time, they're out," Khalid added in an interview with Malaysiakini recently.

The state Treasury found that procurement for the carnival costing more than RM50,000 did not have quotations, as per the state rule, and some suppliers were not registered with either the state or the federal Treasury, or were handling work outside their scope.

Khalid said some of the state officers involved in the procurement process for the carnival justified the oversight by saying that they "were in a rush" but this, he stressed, was no excuse.

One of the officers was state exco member Ronnie Liu, who was the carnival coordinator. He told Malaysiakini earlier that he had very a short time to organise the carnival.

Noting that party leaders were among those who had submitted claims that did not follow procedures, he said future procurement would require them to declare their interest and their links with the state government.

"It doesn't mean that if you're a party member, you can get (a contract). If you want it, then offer the lowest price," he said.

Balancing state and party interests

Asked about his relationship with PKR, particularly in balancing party and state interests, Khalid described the situation as "mutually cordial".

"It is not easy to do a song and dance, but we respect one another. Our mission is to deliver and if you deliver, the people will have confidence in you. That is what the (party's) political bureau and state government have in common."

The reason why Pakatan and PKR were accepted by the people in 2008, he stressed, was because of the reformasi agenda.

"If we change to the old way of doing things, then they will never remember us. They (the people) are now testing us, so we must show them."

Asked whether the resignation of PKR legal bureau chief Latheefa Koya (right) as Petaling Jaya city councillor - after he revealed his plan to sack her - was due to her vocal stance on the squatter issues, Khalid argued this was a separate matter.

"The responsibility of a councillor is in the person, like when you become a director on the board of a company, you accept the responsibilities that go with it.

"If you don't want to accept those responsibilities, you don't become the board director. If you don't have time for it, then it's for you as an individual (to decide)."

Yayasan Selangor GM reprimanded

Pressed further as to whether the problem with Latheefa was about balancing party activities with council duties, Khalid said: "If you feel you cannot match both these duties... a decision has to be made."

Responding to Yayasan Selangor general manager Ilham Marzuki's admission before the Selangor Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) to financial irregularities under his to watch, Khalid said Ilham had been reprimanded.

"We have put a stop to it. We monitored his work for three months and we didn't increase his salary.

"State secretary Khusrin Munawi has recommended that Ilham's service be extended for only another year. It's to give him a chance, as he has proven that he is following the rules now," Khalid added.

Khusrin (left in photo), too, had previously been in the centre of a storm in Selangor, after the state government vehemently objected to his appointment as state secretary by the federal government, triggering a constitutional crisis.

However, Khalid said, his relationship with Khusrin has been "professionally cordial", adding that the work carried out since the crisis has quelled any animosity between Pakatan elected representatives and the state secretary.

cheers.