Selayang Municipal Council’s claimed ignorance of a royal link in company given concession to manage Selangor Intelligent Parking shows lack of accountability – C4 Center
PETALING JAYA: The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center) says it is alarmed by the claims of the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) that it was unaware that Selmax Sdn Bhd – the company awarded the concession to manage the Selangor Intelligent Parking (SIP) initiative for multiple city councils across Selangor – had links to royalty.
Citing a report in Malaysiakini that the Raja Muda Tengku Amir Shah had a beneficial stake in Selmax through two other holding companies: Tanah Perwira Sdn Bhd and Greyscale Holdings Sdn Bhd, C4 Center said the MPS’ claims of ignorance was a clear sign that the concession process not only lacked accountability but was also completely inadequate in identifying and mitigating conflict of interests risks, leaving the door wide open for abuse.
C4 Center had raised concerns regarding the SIP initiative earlier this month, stating that “Selangor Government must clear up all suspicions regarding Selangor Intelligent Parking concessions”. Among the concerns were the opaque concession process, shifting concession structure, and inadequate safeguards against conflict of interests.
The MPS has also stated that the decision to appoint the company was made by the state government. “What is clear is that the Selangor state government is heavily invested in the SIP initiative. Whilst the concession structure experienced changes, what was kept consistent was the ability of the state government to collect revenue from this initiative. The original concession structure allocated 10% of parking revenue directly to MBI Selangor, whilst the current structure allocates 10% to Rantaian Mesra Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MBI Selangor.”
C4 Center reiterated its calls for more transparency and among other measures, has urged the Selangor state government to revert the SIP initiative concession to the contracting stage and issue new requests for proposals.
KUASA strongly condemns pilot project for the mining of NR-REE in Kenering, Perak
Several environmentalists including Persatuan Activis Sahabat Alam (Kuasa) have strongly condemned the in-situ leaching (ISL) pilot project for the mining of non-radioactive rare earth elements (NR-REE) in Kenering, Perak where the operations of two mining sites there were recently ordered to stop operations in connection with the discolouration of the Sungai Perak waters, which had turned blue.
There had been various reports by the media in the recent weeks about uncontrolled REE mining and its potential for landslides and other disasters in the area.
On November 19, Acting Natural Resources, Energy and Climate Change Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said the two mining firms’s operations would be suspended for three weeks.
According to him, the waste generated from the in-situ leaching process at the MCRE site recorded readings of up to 13 becquerels, far above the limit approved under the environmental impact assessment.
–WE