Selangor Umno deputy chief Noh Omar today claimed that the party had proof of irregularities in the sale of sand by the state government subsidiary, Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd (KSSB).

noh omar statement in paper parliament pc 301105 ignorant He claimed that based on information received, a company was given 22 percent or RM4 discount for each tonne of sand while others were only given a discount of 50 sen for each tonne.

"I was told that because of this, the company had taken advantage of the privilege and become a 'broker' for other companies and make a big profit.

"Is the company a proxy to any political party? Why is this company given such a privilege?" he told a news conference today.

Stop issuing permits

Noh, who is also the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister, also alleged that KSSB provided credit facilities to the company and five others to mine sand without having to pay deposits.

"These companies had also abused the privilege by not paying KSSB after they had mined the sand," he said.

He also claimed that KSSB allowed the contractors to process and sell fine sand in the mining area but issued receipts stating that the sale was for coarse sand.

Noh also said that the state government should stop the issuance of

sand-mining permit if it wanted to solve the issue in a transparent manner, and not blame the federal government for their failure.

On the move by the state government to name the companies and individuals who were given licence to mine sand between 2005 and 2007, the period before Pakatan took over the state government, Noh said it should also list the names of those given licence after Pakatan took over the state administration.

"I challenge the state government to dissolve KSSB to pave the way for an internal investigation," he said, adding that he also received complaints from KSSB staff about irregularities taking place in the company.

Noh said he was prepared to face the possibility of being sued by the state government for exposing the alleged irregularities.

"We have proof and we have witnesses. If they want to sue, let them sue," he said.

- Bernama