A 'letter to the editor' published by online news portal malaysiakini was mentioned in Parliament yesterday by Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang as part of his speech during the debate on the 2007 Budget.

Lim alluded to the Aug 15 letter, Open letter to PM on Scomi , written by reader Sulaiman Rejab, which asked Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to explain the press reports about government projects which had been awarded to a company owned by his son, Kamaluddin.

"I do not know whether this is the letter which the prime minister had referred to when he mentioned about it containing 'information' which he did not know since he did not manage his son's business," said Lim (DAP-Ipoh Timur).

However, the opposition leader said many questions on the issue "cry out for answer". Among them are:

  • Why did it take the prime minister almost one full month to realise that he did not have proper 'information' about Kamaluddin and Scomi's business activities involving the government, leading him to make a false statement to the public in a television interview?

  • Why must he learn of this error from a letter when such information are easily available in the public domain and are in the possession of the government even before his TV3 interview?

    • The letter details some of the government projects secured by fledgling oil and gas services company Scomi culled from news reports in the past six months.

    On Saturday, Abdullah said he would apologise if he had inadvertently erred when he spoke about Scomi during a special television interview last month.

    He added that he had asked Scomi to submit a report of its business activities, especially those relating to government projects.

    According to Abdullah, he had received a letter accusing him of lying about the activities of Scomi, in which his son Kamaluddin has a major stake.

    At the TV3 interview on Aug 7 , Abdullah had said hat his son had never asked for and had never received business favours from the government.

    He added that Kamaluddin had, in fact, been forced to seek business opportunities outside the country.

    Abdullah said the letter contained some 'information' which he did not know since he did not manage his son's business and he did not ask his son to report to him about his business.

    "While Abdullah must be applauded for his candour, humility, honesty and honour that he will apologise if he had made a mistake during the TV interview, the issues involved go well beyond the question of an apology from the prime minister for making an wrong statement," said Lim.

    More inaccurate information

    This was not the only "inaccurate information" made by Abdullah in his TV interview, said the opposition leader.

    "There were others ... in his defence of the highly controversial Khairy Jamaluddin, his son-in-law's loan-and-acquisition of shares of ECM Libra, which went on to effect a reverse takeover of a larger government-linked company, Capital Avenue, to form the new ECM Libra Avenue raising serious conflict-of-interest questions directly affecting the prime minister, who is also finance minister."

    Lim said that there was also Abdullah's denial that no Malaysian company was being controlled by a foreign company, although private hospital operator Pantai Holdings was controlled by Singapore-based Parkway Holdings.

    "Immediately after the TV interview, Khairy disposed of his ECM Libra Avenue shares under even more controversial circumstances while the Treasury had to acquire a substantial stake of Pantai Holdings through a new acquisition vehicle Pantai Irama because of two privatisation concessions, Fomema and Pantai Medivest.

    "The finance minister should give a full report to Parliament on the Fomema-Pantai Medivest concessions scandal, the total outlays of taxpayers' funds which had been expended by the Treasury to re-acquire these two concessions, and what lessons had been learnt."

    In his three-hour speech, Lim also criticised the Abdullah's 2007 Budget announced last Friday as being "long on the minutiae of handouts, offered no vision or concrete measures that are urgently needed to put the nation back on track."

    "The government is rudderless, adrift, and incapable of taking on the deep-seated issues that pose a threat to long-term prosperity and economic stability."

    He lambasted the government for its "general lack of leadership and sense of direction on a whole spectrum of issues".

    "In less than two months it will be Abdullah's full-third anniversary as prime minister. What has he got to show in terms of delivering his reform pledges? He cannot continue to offer excuses for the national malaise and inertia."