It's All Khalid's Fault!

Selangor govt at a standstill as construction and development projects are unable to proceed due to freeze
---
The failure of the Selangor government to appoint new councillors at all 12 districts in the state is causing hardship to developers and contractors operating in the state, bringing development in the most developed state in the country to a standstill.

The state government has delayed appointing district councillors due to the on-going spat between Bukit Antarabangsa state assemblyman Azmin Ali and Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

“Both PAS and DAP have given their list of preferred councillors but the problem is PKR. Azmin being the state party chief has a name list while Khalid is not agreeable to the list…so there is a delay. Both these leaders must stop thinking about themselves. Think of the people of Selangor,” said a party source familiar with the issue.

While the two leaders are busy fighting each other, developers and contractors are out of jobs as district councils are unable to tender out work because there are no councillors to approve projects.

Developers and contractors want the Menteri Besar to concentrate on his job at hand rather than spend time politicking.

The source said the term of councillors ended on Dec 31, last year and after nearly a month the state government was still silent on the matter.

“It is Khalid’s responsibility to appoint new councilors for 2014. However, this infighting with Azmin has caused problems in appointing councilors. The lack of councillors is making district councils a lame duck,” he added.

While the delay is affecting developers and contractors, the state is also losing millions of Ringgit in revenue.

A developer from Puchong said the lack of projects in the state has caused him a RM100,000 loss.

“All projects are now pending appointment of councillors. We do not know when this deadlock would end,” he added.

He also reminded political leaders in the state to ensure their spat does not in any way effect the state’s economy.
The discord between Khalid and Azmin dates back to 2009.
Azmin recently criticised Khalid openly over the Menteri Besar’s move to raise pay for the state assemblymen and excos.

Two weeks ago Azmin was sacked as a board member of the Selangor State Development Corporation(PKNS).

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim had publicly stated that Azmin’s termination was not valid and instructed Khalid to reinstate Azmin.

Read More

MB Khalid: PKNS wrongly understood Selangor State EXCO's decision

- do you agree with this reason? Are the PKNS directors so inept that they would have misinterpreted Azmin's action in returning the PKNS car prior to GE13 (which was required under policy before state elections) as an indication that Azmin has been dropped as Selangor Exco?
- was Azmin the only Selangor State ADUN that returned his car prior to GE13?
---
(Jan 25): Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said that the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) had misinterpreted the state executive council (exco)'s decision over Azmin Ali's status as PKNS board member.

Khalid explained that there was no mention by the exco that Azmin, who is also PKR deputy president, would be dropped from the board.

He said the exco had merely wrote down a note from PKNS that Azmin, who is also PKR deputy president, had returned his official PKNS car.

Azmin returned the car in April after Parliament was dissolved to make way for the 13th General Election. He did so in the interest of not using public property until and if he was re-elected.

Khalid said: "PKNS made that report. We copied that report and presented it to the exco (in the minutes of meeting),

"The exco didn't want to discuss the matter. That's the story," he said today after handing out mandarin oranges at his Bandar Tun Razak constituency today.

Khalid said that if the exco did not take note of the matter, another controversy over transparency would have surfaced.

"If we did not write it down, people will ask why wasn't it noted, why wasn't it discussed," he said, referring to minutes of meeting last Nov which stated that Azmin's position as a board member would be studied. However, the exco did not make any decision over the matter.

"PKNS misinterpreted (it)... but such actions can't be ignored...because if future contracts and agreements are signed by unauthorised official, disaster will befall PKNS. We have to be alert of this," added Khalid.

Earlier this month, PKNS had sent a letter of termination to Azmin. PKNS is said to have used these minutes as a basis to drop Azmin.

Khalid denied the state exco was involved in the sacking but later PKNS executive secretary Norita Mohd Sidek in a statement said that the decision to drop Azmin was made pursuant to the exco meeting decision on Nov 14 and another one on Dec 4.

As a result, both PKNS general-manager Othman Omar and Norita have been transfered over the debacle pending an internal investigation.

Read More