They are tired of being given the runaround.
PUTRAJAYA: Investors in the Bestino gold scheme will demonstrate outside Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s office to pressure him to meet them over their grievances.
The “Occupy PMO (Prime Minister’s Office)” rally will begin on Oct 30, according to K Kunasegaran of the Bestino Action Committee. He did not say how long the demonstration would last.
He alleged that a PMO official treated the committee members badly yesterday when they tried to book an appointment with the Prime Minister and was dishonest about the whereabouts of Najib’s special officer for Indian affairs, Ravin Ponniah.
“We were told Ravin was in Parliament, but we knew that he had finished a meeting with Bukit Jalil ex-plantation workers in his office just five minutes before our arrival,” he said.
“This is just one example of how the Najib administration ignores the interest of the public while pleading for our votes.”
Bestino was the nation’s largest gold investment scheme. It had collected more than RM411million from investors before Bank Negara and Securities Commission officers raided it 2010 on suspicion of money laundering.
Since then, investors have been trying to get back their money by petitioning both Bestino and Bank Negara.
Kunasegaran’s committee claims to represent all of the investors, who number 6,746.
He told FMT that the PMO official who dealt with his team today appeared to have ignored a memorandum he had sent on Oct 4, which he said contained “complete details” of the Bestino affair.
Accompanying the memorandum was a letter seeking an appointment with the Prime Minister.
“Unfortunately, we received a letter from PMO asking the investors to refer back to Bank Negara,” Kunasegaran he said.
“This was ridiculous. Bank Negara had already suggested that we bring up the matter with the Finance Ministry.”
He said Bank Negara officials, after sitting through a series of meetings with the investors, had eventually told them that the central bank had little power over the matter.
Details from those meetings were included in the memorandum to Najib, he added.
“But the PMO decided to kick the investors back to Bank Negara,” he said.
“It is seems like the PMO official has not read the memorandum and simply diverted the issue back to Bank Negara.”
Compensation
FMT also learned today that the Bukit Jalil estate ex-workers who met Ravin Ponniah refused to discuss with him a new compensation offer from the government to the 42 families who are forced to relocate.
They were more concerned about the status of a Tamil school and a Hindu temple located on a site earmarked for a Muslim cemetery, according to S Balakrishnan, who leads a committee fighting for the former workers’ rights.
According to him, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) in 2006 divided the former plantation into cemetery plots for various religious communities, the largest being for Muslims.
“However, in 2010, DBKL came out with a new plan where the entire land was given to the Muslim cemetery,” he said.
“So what is the status of the school and temple?”
He said he also raised the question of why the land had two different lot numbers when it had entirely been earmarked for a Muslim cemetery.
“It is clear that something fishy is going on and we need the government to clear the air,” he said.
About the compensation offer, Balakrishnan said the new figure was RM85,000 per family.
The previous offer was RM35,000 plus a flat costing RM42,000. The new offer does not include a flat.
PUTRAJAYA: Investors in the Bestino gold scheme will demonstrate outside Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s office to pressure him to meet them over their grievances.The “Occupy PMO (Prime Minister’s Office)” rally will begin on Oct 30, according to K Kunasegaran of the Bestino Action Committee. He did not say how long the demonstration would last.
He alleged that a PMO official treated the committee members badly yesterday when they tried to book an appointment with the Prime Minister and was dishonest about the whereabouts of Najib’s special officer for Indian affairs, Ravin Ponniah.
“We were told Ravin was in Parliament, but we knew that he had finished a meeting with Bukit Jalil ex-plantation workers in his office just five minutes before our arrival,” he said.
“This is just one example of how the Najib administration ignores the interest of the public while pleading for our votes.”
Bestino was the nation’s largest gold investment scheme. It had collected more than RM411million from investors before Bank Negara and Securities Commission officers raided it 2010 on suspicion of money laundering.
Since then, investors have been trying to get back their money by petitioning both Bestino and Bank Negara.
Kunasegaran’s committee claims to represent all of the investors, who number 6,746.
He told FMT that the PMO official who dealt with his team today appeared to have ignored a memorandum he had sent on Oct 4, which he said contained “complete details” of the Bestino affair.
Accompanying the memorandum was a letter seeking an appointment with the Prime Minister.
“Unfortunately, we received a letter from PMO asking the investors to refer back to Bank Negara,” Kunasegaran he said.
“This was ridiculous. Bank Negara had already suggested that we bring up the matter with the Finance Ministry.”
He said Bank Negara officials, after sitting through a series of meetings with the investors, had eventually told them that the central bank had little power over the matter.
Details from those meetings were included in the memorandum to Najib, he added.
“But the PMO decided to kick the investors back to Bank Negara,” he said.
“It is seems like the PMO official has not read the memorandum and simply diverted the issue back to Bank Negara.”
Compensation
FMT also learned today that the Bukit Jalil estate ex-workers who met Ravin Ponniah refused to discuss with him a new compensation offer from the government to the 42 families who are forced to relocate.
They were more concerned about the status of a Tamil school and a Hindu temple located on a site earmarked for a Muslim cemetery, according to S Balakrishnan, who leads a committee fighting for the former workers’ rights.
According to him, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) in 2006 divided the former plantation into cemetery plots for various religious communities, the largest being for Muslims.
“However, in 2010, DBKL came out with a new plan where the entire land was given to the Muslim cemetery,” he said.
“So what is the status of the school and temple?”
He said he also raised the question of why the land had two different lot numbers when it had entirely been earmarked for a Muslim cemetery.
“It is clear that something fishy is going on and we need the government to clear the air,” he said.
About the compensation offer, Balakrishnan said the new figure was RM85,000 per family.
The previous offer was RM35,000 plus a flat costing RM42,000. The new offer does not include a flat.
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