Maika Holdings chief executive officer S Vell Paari today said he was ready to meet a group of shareholders led by Pakatan Rakyat leaders on July 30.

vell paari vellpaari "They can come to my office and I will give them a briefing on my proposed solution for the Maika problem," he told Malaysiakini .

He was responding to a proposed visit undertaken by several Pakatan leaders and some shareholders to Maika's office in Kuala Lumpur to find out the status of the MIC investment arm's financial situation.

Shareholders are angry with the lack of any returns from Maika even after almost 30 years of investments.

The visit will be led by Pakatan leaders such as Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy, DAP leaders M Kulasegaran, M Manoharan, V Sivakumar and PKR leader S Manikavasagam.

Vell Paari said he was not worried about the visit, adding that the delegation knows why there was a delay in paying off the shareholders.

"They know that in 2007 I had obtained the approval of the shareholders to sell off our insurance company to pay off the shareholders.

"They also know that it is the injunction by Nesa Cooperative which is stopping us," he said.

"I will nevertheless explain to them the situation and tell them my proposals to pay off the shareholders. I hope they will accept my explanation," he added.

Nesa Cooperative is linked to former MIC deputy president S Subramaniam, a long-time political adversary of Vell Paari's father and MIC president S Samy Vellu.

Diversion tactic

On the same note, Vell Paari also felt that the visit could be a diversion tactic to cool things in relation to the Kampung Buah Pala issue in Penang.

"On that day I will have with me some residents from Buah Pala and I hope Ramasamy will be kind enough to explain to them what he has done for the villagers.

"It’s only fair that he give an explanation as well, just like how he wants one from me," he added.

Vell Paari also said he would invite some other Maika shareholders on that day so that "we can march towards Nesa's office (in Kuala Lumpur) to protest their decision to keep the shareholders unpaid."

He invited the Pakatan leaders to join in the protest march as well.

"They must know that it is not me or the Maika board which has stopped the sale. The blame must go to Nesa," he said.

Nesa's injunction was filed to compel Maika to fulfill certain conditions pertaining to the sale. The case has not come up for hearing yet.

Samy welcomes protest

Meanwhile, Samy Vellu told Malaysiakini that he is aware of the SMS being sent around that Pakatan leaders are going to stage a protest on the Maika issue.

"I am not surprised by the circulation of this SMS and we welcome the move. Then only they will know who the real culprit is and who stopped the sale of the insurance firm," he said.

Although he did not name the person, it was obvious that the president was referring to Subramaniam.

kampung buah pala penang p ramasamy meeting 120609 01 "This is a matter which is very important to the Indian community and I am very happy that Ramasamy ( left ) and his colleagues are resorting to street demonstration," quipped Samy Vellu.

"We are slowly beginning to understand the culture of Ramasamy. Being a deputy chief minister he is unable to open his mouth on the Kampung Buah Pala issue.

"He is not capable enough to convince the (Penang) chief minister (Lim Guan Eng) to do what is necessary for the settlers. But now he wants to do something big," he added.

Additional reporting by Humayun Kabir.