KOTA KINABALU: Former Sabah Chief Minister Yong Teck Lee has dared the Barisan Nasional government to take action against him if there was any wrong committed by him as the chief minister at the time Saham Amanah Sabah was launched.
He also reiterated his challenge to the BN government to be transparent and publish a full account of the SAS debacle.
Yong was responding to a statement by the new Warisan Harta Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Rahman Ghani at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) on Monday that the company had finally recovered from a share swap deal that went sour a decade ago.
Rahman told the AGM that the deal was executed during the chairmanship of a former chief minister in December 1997.
Rahman said Warisan Harta, the state government's investment arm, was hurt in the share swap of its very strong blue-chip counter, MISC, in exchange for the shares of North Borneo Timber Corporation (NBT), a trading company, and the shares of fast-food company Sugarbun Corporation Bhd (Sugarbun).
The deal involved 32 million MISC shares -- disposed of at RM5.70 per share valued at RM182.4 million in exchange for three million NBT shares transacted at RM32 apiece valued at RM96 million and 4.76 million Sugarbun shares traded at RM7.60 each valued at RM36.176 million.
He said NBT was de-listed when it was trading at 19 sen per share and Sugarbun (now changed to Borneo Oil) is trading at 14.5 sen.
The losses continue to affect Warisan Harta Sabah's financial position and it was estimated that Warisan Harta Sabah had registered unrealised losses exceeding RM200 million. This does not include profits derived from any bonus issue, rights issue of shares, price appreciation and dividends declared by MISC.
White Paper
Rahman said Warisan Harta Sabah had taken legal action against Suniwang Holdings Sdn Bhd for breaching a condition of the sale of shares agreement, in particular, the "put option" that was emplaced to protect Warisan Harta Sabah's interest.
However, in November 2001, a winding-up order was issued against Suniwang and subsequently Warisan Harta Sabah submitted its claims against the company through the official assignee.
Yong, who was the chief minister at the time referred to by Rahman, said the BN Cabinet should now publish a White Paper to reveal the culprits, if any, behind the SAS fiasco since Rahman has revealed possible malfeasance in the dealings.
He, however, regarded Rahman's statement as political in nature rather than an attempt to get to the bottom of the share fiasco that affected thousands of Sabahans who lost their savings.
“I want to congratulate Rahman for his excellent achievements as the chief executive officer of Warisan Harta.
“But it is strange that his press statement was released by the Chief Minister’s Department at his company’s AGM. The timing was perfect for political purposes.
“Rahman was careful not to suggest that the 'massive losses of RM114 million' was caused by me.
“Instead, Rahman protected himself by merely stating that the share swap was 'executed during the chairmanship of a former Chief Minister.'”
Political masters
Yong said Rahman had served the interests of his political masters to attack him but without saying if he had done any wrong.
Yong urged the state government to reveal the truth behind the flop.
“Why should ministers be cowards like at the April sitting of the State Legislative Assembly when the Cabinet relied on the trick called 'defeated by time' in avoiding the issue of a White Paper on the SAS fiasco?
"Who are the culprits that the BN government is trying to protect? Yee Moh Chai (Minister of Resources and Information Technology) and his PBS cohorts have been the most vociferous on the SAS issue but yet chose to remain dumb and mute when the issue was raised in the State Legislative Assembly."
He said the government's silence has left the people wondering if it was trying to protect the real culprits.
Yong, who is also Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president, reiterated that Yee is the best person to tell more on the NBT-Warisan case, because he had lodged reports with the then Anti-Corruption Agency in 1997 and 1998.
He noted that the issue was litigated in the High Court from 1998 to 2003 in the defamation suit of “Yong Teck Lee vs. Yee Moh Chai”.
But on Sept 11 2003, Yee had agreed not to continue with the proceedings.
26 comments:
It was obviously YTL's fault in the SAS issue. He cheated the rakyat's money.
If it wasn't because of Musa Aman, we would not get a single cent back from our investments.
Sudah buat Salah tu..mengaku saja la...jgn la nak salahkan orang lain atau cuba divert attention orang....APaaaaraa!!
beliau tidaklah se'perfect' yang disangkakan.. terdapat kepincangan dalam pentadbiran beliau yang masih menjadi pertimbangan rakyat sebelum memilih beliau..
sebelum ini beliau lantang mengkritik BN, sekarang gilirannya menerima kritikan..
Alligator in denial. Agak2 lah nda mo mengaku..Mismanagement. chet.
YTL loves to talk empty. He didn't do anything either.
Actually, Yong Tek Lee is the one who started it all, but I noticed that he kept pushing the responsibilities to others.
He keeps trying to stir up the issue and make someone take the blame and responsible for him. Make it as if he's the hero trying fight for the people's rights. But actually, he is just a pot calling the kettle black. If he want to do anything for the people, he should have done something while he was the CM. No, he shouldn't have starting this SAS the first place!
Biarlah dia dengan labu2nya.Dia tu berani bersuara ja but pointless.
MACC should probe him and expose him and all his cronies that are involved with the Saham Sabah case.
YTL is fault..nde mgaku lagi bah..adui.. tu la tu, kalau suda buat salah jangan mahu babitkan orang lain pula..
YTL should confessed at her offence. do not prevaricate more. do not want blame other person more.
RM114 million bukanlah satu nilai yg sedikit, nampaknya Yong Teck Lee mmg tak dpt mentadbir sabah dgn baik. KM Sabah sekarang iaitu Musa Aman lebih baik. dia telah byk membangunkan negeri Sabah.
Consequently, not only heritage property loss in the financial year of RM200 million due to falling prices of both stocks, but also loss of profit from the right issues, rising stock prices and dividends of MISC.
Yong Teck Lee also directs BOD Amanah Saham Sabah (SAS) to purchase shares of NBT and Sugarbun, that caused SAS suffered severe losses, and until today the value is become worse and many Sabah local investors suffered losses.
according to his background, i don't think he is a good leader to take over the current state government. he is far behind compared with Musa..
Right, RM114m is not the small amount..YTL can't administer Sabah in fact detrimental Sabah. Datuk Musa make many development for sabah and help sabahan people during he become CM.
Naa apa lah YTL rasa kalau dikritik.. Tu lah sebelum ni sibuk ja kan kritik orang mcm dia ja yg sempurna...
ni barulah karma. hehhee
Lain kali jangan kasi mula kalau nda cukup hebat. hehehe
aku bukan marah siapa2 tapi tu la agak-agak lah bro...
Rakyat makin bijak buat penilaian ba.. so janganlah kasi putar2 tu fakta..
Kenapa ba kau berubah kenapa bah!!!!
Mula2 cakap lain, sekarang cakap lain lagi..
alahai....
OMG!!!! Berani lagi kunun dia menegakkan benang yang basah. doii dogo.. Berani buat beranilah tanggung bah.
Apapun Musa Aman memang yang terbaik:)
Hidup DMA:)
kalau rasa diri itu bersalah jangan mahu salahkan org pula. rajin mengkritik orang, nah sekarang ini YTL rasa sendiri bila di kritik orang. macammana rasanya..
How about you dare yourself and stand in the crowd?
This is actually a non-issue. YTL just wanted to bring up old issues to gain attentions.
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