MACC urged to investigate KCB’s failed investment in PNG

(Bernama) — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has been urged to investigate the possible power abuse and misappropriation of fund by the Kedah government-owned company Kedah Corporation Berhad (KCB) in its logging and plantation project in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Bandar Baharu District Youth Council chairman Helmi Abdul Khan said the Auditor-General Report 2011 on the project had raised many suspicions such as goodwill payment to vendors in PNG to open new land and lobbying a minister for the project.

He also urged Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak not to point fingers on the issue, adding that as the chief executive of the state, he should handle the case professionally.

“As a Mentri Besar, it doesn’t make sense that he did not know about the multi-million ringgit investment. The people in Kedah demand to know details of the project,” he told reporters after lodging a police report at the Bandar Baharu district police headquarters here, Tuesday evening.

Several leaders from the Barisan Nasional component parties had also lodged similar police reports yesterday to urge MACC to investigate the case.

Meanwhile, the Kedah People Progressive Party PPP) youth secretary M. Sethupati hoped that MACC would urgently investigate the case as it had incurred huge losses since the project was signed in Oct 12, 2008.

The Auditor-General Report 2011 had noted that KCB had to bear RM13.49 million in losses after the RM31.21million project in PNG failed.