The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) today took to task Employees Provident Fund (EPF) chairperson Abdul Halim Ali for his contradictory statements with regard to the Fund's controversial purchase of Time dotCom shares.

"Abdul Halim is fumbling. He's trying to defend EPF's action but there are too many holes," said MTUC secretary-general G Rajasekaran when contacted by malaysiakini .

In the Berita Harian daily today, Abdul Halim was quoted as saying that EPF had 'never saved' any big companies though loans were given out to 'some deserving ones'.

"If the application for loans from these companies do not carry due merit, we would not give them loans.

"The accusation that we bailed out big companies such as Time dotCom is not true," he said.

EPF, the Pensions Trust Fund (Kwap) and the national debt restructuring body, Danaharta, bought up the 76 percent unsubscribed portion Time dotCom's initial public offering (IPO) of RM1.88 billion.

This was following the public subscription shortfall of the telecommunications company, with applications for only 142.86 millions shares out of the 571.7 million shares made available to the public.

Subsequently, the initial IPO pricing of RM3.30 per share fell to RM2.12, causing many to question EPF's action.

Rajasekaran said he had hoped that the appointment of Abdul Halim just four months ago would bring about a positive change in the EPF which has 9.7 million subscribers.

"But I have lost confidence in this man. I thought that when he became chairperson, there would be a revival within the Fund but I do not see any.

"If you want to come clean you have to admit your faults and poor judgment. If you don't, the same attitude will continue," Rajasekaran added.

'One more month'

MTUC had threatened to stage a nationwide picket in May to demand for more transparency within the Fund, among other demands. But the picket was postponed to August at the eleventh-hour when Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad gave his assurance that the MTUCs demands would be studied.

According to MTUC, the three-month grace period would give them the opportunity to observe just how well Mahathir's assurances were carried out.

"Well, we still have one more month to judge, but so far the EPF is not getting any better and is still making excuses," Rajasekaran said.