Amanah concerned Tabung Haji falling under Putrajaya's sway

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Former Kuala Selangor MP Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad today expressed concern that Lembaga Tabung Haji (Pilgrims' Fund Board) could be pandering to the whims of Putrajaya, following what he termed as 'political appointments'.

Dzulkefly, who is also the Parti Amanah Negara strategic director, questioned the recent appointment of attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali, to its board of directors as well as its chairperson, Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, who was appointed in 2013.

He feared this may lead to bad investment decisions if the board did not follow recommendations made by professionals in the fund.

He pointed out that Bank Negara governor, Zeti Akhtar Aziz, in the central bank's issued advisory last week, expressed concern over its slipping reserves compared to its liabilities.

The central bank governor, he said, had advised TH of the need to buck up on issues of governance and supervision in the management of its funds.

“She expressed concern that given the current global climate, TH may not be able to withstand the impact of financial shocks.

“Zeti has similarly alluded the need for more board members with technical know-how and experience in the financial sector to tide it through the expected tough times. This immediately bring to mind the political appointment to critical roles in TH such as chairperson Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim,” Dzulkefly said in a statement.

Similarly, Dzulkefly questioned the rushed appointment of Apandi which only added to the trust deficit of the institution.

This follows, he said, with the recent move to purchase 1MDB's Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) land at 43 times its original purchase price which he said was not prudent and extremely regrettable, as well as pandering to Putrajaya.

Till today, Abdul Azeez, who had promised that TH would sell the land, had not done so. However, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department J amil Khir Bahrom, had said the TRX was too good an investment to sell.

No dividend this year?

Dzulkefly also expressed concern that TH may not be able to pay dividends to depositors this year, based on its own Act.

According to him, Section 22 of the Tabung Haji Act 1995, says the fund cannot declare dividends if its assets are less than its aggregate liabilities at the end of its financial year.

“Since the bulk of its liabilities are in the form of customer deposits, this must mean the value of the assets has to grow faster than the deposits coming in.

“In other words, it has to ensure strong investment returns in order to keep paying high dividends especially in trying times. Again, this points to the urgent need of a strong investment committee with vast experience and acumen. Can depositors be assured of that?”

He also said to his knowledge, TH has only 98 sen in assets, for each ringgit in liability.

Dzulkefly said with these current expose on its slipping reserves, discerning Malaysians and particularly depositors, want to know why internal audit had not picked up on these issues earlier, and wondered if negligence and incompetence were involved.

“More importantly, depositors want to be assured and convinced that complaints by internal auditors won't fall on deaf ears,” said the Amanah strategic director regarding concerns of political interference.

The former federal lawmaker said if one were to look at the central bank's analysis of TH, depositors must be concerned about TH's risk management.

He also asked if the fund's risk management reports were presented fairly and transparently to the risk management committee.

“And again, are they given due attention and are the decisions made without pandering to political masters?” he asked.

Zulkefly also queried if it was true that risk management committee chairperson Hashim Meon had just resigned. “If so, what were his reasons?” he asked.



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