PM must tell the truth about Perwaja: PRM
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad must come out with the truth on investigations into the mismanagement of Perwaja Steel, said opposition party PRM today.
Party president Dr Syed Husin Ali said that there were conflicting reports on the progress of the investigations into Perwaja's mismanagement which resulted in losses of about RM10 billion.
"Mahathir must come out clean on the scandal. The country is rife with suspicion that he has not been telling the truth," said Syed Husin in a statement today.
The veteran politician was referring to a malaysiakini report yesterday that the Swiss government refuted Mahathir's statement that it was being unco-operative in providing details of accounts held by persons connected to Perwaja in Switzerland.
An official of the Swiss Justice Department was reported to have said in a Swiss newspaper on March 1 that Malaysian authorities were provided with information on two bank accounts last May.
< London remark
Mahathir, while addressing Malaysian students in London on Feb 26, had said that the Swiss authorities had refused to reveal identities of account holders though they admitted to holding some money, and were unwilling to testify in Malaysian courts about their clients.
"Now it has come to light that four days after Mahathir made his remarks, the Swiss government claimed that it had provided information to the Malaysian authorities," said Syed Husin.
Syed Husin said it is now imperative for Mahathir to tell the truth on everything related to the Perwaja scandal.
"Otherwise he will only confirm the growing suspicion that he is resorting to all means and methods possible in order to protect not so much Perwaja, but one of his cronies (former Perwaja chairperson Eric Chia)."
Chia was handpicked by Mahathir in 1988 to head Perwaja and turn it into a profit-making entity. However, Chia was criticised by opposition leaders for the continuous loss suffered by the state-owned company, which was blamed on his alleged mismanagement.
The opposition also accused Chia of approving the transmission of RM76.4 million to a Hong Kong-based company that was later found to be non-existent while the missing funds were said to have been channelled to Swiss accounts.
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