A leading opposition figure has asked whether the marital woes of Mohd Effendi Norwawi, owner of radio station Wa FM, the reason for the station's closure scheduled tomorrow.

Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai said it is relevant to ask whether the multi-million ringgit divorce between Effendi - who also owns local TV station NTV7 - and his wife Farida Hashim contributed to the Oct 15 closure of the radio station, which is said to have incurred huge losses.

It was reported that Effendi who is also Malaysia's special envoy for higher education divorced his first wife Zariah Hashim @ Farida Effendi on June 2005.

Effendi (right) agreed to pay Farida alimony ( nafkah edah ) and gave her several million ringgit worth in assets.

In his debate on Budget 2006 in Parliament yesterday, Tan said that the timing between the closure of Wa FM and the change of ownership in local tv station NTV7 is "surprising."

On July 13, Wa FM station management - Synchrosound Studio Sdn Bhd - and NTV7 had entered into a 'collaboration and assistance agreement' with Media Prima Bhd - owners of TV3, 8TV and Channel9.

Media Prima holds a 43 percent stake in the New Straits Times Press (NSTP) group.

Probe any irregularity

Tan called for the Anti-Corruption Agency and Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to investigate whether there is any irregularity in the running of NTV7.

"It is further alleged that NTV7 and Wa FM owes the EPF more than RM1 million in arrears," he claimed, adding that EPF holds a 14.9 stake in Media Prima.

Tan said that Wa FM is well-known among its listeners for its two-hour evening segment that allows listeners to discuss political issues.

"The existence of such a programme is much appreciated and widely seen as a sign of the relative openness of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's government, compared to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's administration," he said.

"With a huge audience craving for contents in the Chinese language, the government has a role to prevent the closure of Wa FM as well as issuing more licences for the setting up of Chinese radio stations," he said.

Wa FM is one of the four Chinese radio stations operating in the country. The others are MyFM, 988 and AiFM.