Hasan Ali says expenses above board, claims others spent more
(The Malaysian Insider) – Sacked Selangor executive councillor Datuk Hasan Ali insisted today that his expenses while in office of least RM850,000 that was questioned last week by Azmin Ali were all approved by the state government.
The former state PAS chief, who was sacked from PAS and the state government in January for continuously attacking Pakatan Rakyat (PR) for not respecting Islam, Malays and the royalty, also called on the state to investigate similar expenditure by other excos and state subsidiaries.
“The renovations were for my exco office, to fit 19 staff. The cost is lower compared to the offices of Dr Xavier Jayakumar and Dr Halimah Ali,” the Gombak Setia assemblyman told a press conference, referring to his former exco colleagues.
Hasan also alleged that state financial officer Datuk Arif Abdul Rahman has been given RM250,000 a year by state-owned firms to go on overseas holidays and receives a monthly salary of up to RM100,000 for “being a silent director” on these companies.
On Friday, PKR deputy president Azmin accused Hasan of spending RM300,000 to renovate his office, RM550,000 for the launch of the Selangor Malay Customs and Heritage Corp (Padat) when he chaired the state body and bypassing open tenders for road maintenance contracts when he was exco for infrastructure and public amenities.
But Hasan said the Gombak MP “has no locus standi to question my credibility” as the latter has also not explained various financial and personal allegations.
He instead called on Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to order a full investigation into expenses made by other excos and state companies.
“I want him to compare each exco and see how much we’ve spent per capita for each staff and floor space.
“Then we will see where is Hasan Ali. I am sure compared to some state companies, they have spent up to three times more,” he said.
He claimed the alleged benefits and wages received by SFO Arif from state-linked firms such as Kumpulan Darul Ehsan, Worldwide Holdings and PKNS since 2008 as an example of the lack of transparency in Khalid’s administration.
He also explained to reporters that RM550,00 was spent for the Padat event as there were several other programmes held in conjunction with the launch, all of which were approved by the state government.
Hasan was sacked from the party on January 8 after urging opposition supporters to avoid a rally the next day in support of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as his sodomy trial verdict was handed down.
The former Selangor PAS chief was later also removed as state exco for religious affairs, Malay customs, infrastructure and public amenities.
