KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim criticised the practice of using the excuse of “helping Bumiputera” to misappropriate government funds for personal gain.
In the Dewan Rakyat today, Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said that the deception cannot be tolerated, adding that the ministry must make tendering processes more transparent to curb and prevent such practices.
“The practice of using the tenders allegedly to help the Bumiputera but instead misappropriate the funds cannot be allowed,” he said.
“There are policies to help Bumiputera, limited tenders can be given to Bumiputera firms, and there are no barriers to these.
“But you cannot use the excuse of helping the Bumiputera to ask the companies to give funds to yourself or your party,” he added.
Anwar said this in response to a question raised by Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad (Parit Sulong-BN) on what the government plans to do in ensuring transparency and accountability in the nation’s financial institutions.
In his response, Anwar also said he was proud to see appointed agencies – including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Bank Negara Malaysia, and police – being determined in investigating the Pandora Papers.
While unable to disclose much information before prosecution, he guaranteed that anyone involved in a crime will be investigated, while actions have been taken against a number of them.
“All names, albeit about 3,000 names, (will be investigated). There is no exception whether the funds are abroad or within the country,” he said.
“All those in tax havens, who run away from taxes and breached the law, are being investigated, and a number of actions have been taken.
“While I cannot provide much information before prosecution, I guarantee that agencies reporting under me were instructed not to take this matter lightly.
“Let this be a lesson that the country is no longer able to allow this matter to continue,” he added.
The Pandora Papers refers to 11.9 million leaked documents – amounting to 2.9 terabytes of data – that exposed secret offshore accounts of numerous world leaders, billionaires, celebrities, and business leaders.
It was publicly published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on October 3, 2021.
Names mentioned in the documents include former finance ministers Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and Tun Daim Zainuddin.
Jana Wibawa, also known as “Program Jana Ekonomi Pemerkasaan Kontraktor Bumiputera Berwibawa”, was an initiative set to expedite project execution by Bumiputera contractors, in an effort to boost the country’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The scheme involved pre-qualification tenders or direct awards, in accordance with Finance Ministry guidelines on direct award processes. – The Vibes, February 21, 2023
