RM1.2 million expenses by Balkis members questioned - Sun

by Karen Arukesamy

SHAH ALAM (March 11, 2009) : Permodalan Negri Selangor Berhad (PNSB) records show the company spent RM1.2 million in travelling expenses for members of Wives of Selangor Assemblymen and MPs Welfare and Charity Organisation (Balkis) throughout 2007.

“There was a ‘technical’ visit to Disneyland, Tokyo by the members of the Balkis. What kind of ‘technical’ visit is this?” asked Azmin Ali (PKR-Bukit Antarabangsa) during his debate on the Sultan’s address at the Selagor state legislative assembly today.

“This ‘technical’ visit did not end at Disneyland, because Mickey Mouse had ran away, so they had another two ‘technical’ visits -- Hongkong and Korea,” said Azmin who called for an explanation of the visit and a report on the outcome, if it brought any benefit to the state.

“Maybe (they) want to bring Disneyland to Sg Panjang (former Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Khir Toyo’s constituency). I do not know; please explain,” he said, gesturing towards the opposition bench.

Deputy Speaker Aniza Talha remarked that they (opposition assemblymen) are not Balkis members, to which Azmin retorted: “They are not Balkis members but they sleep with Balkis (members).”

Azmin also revealed that Balkis had received a large contribution/allocation, supposedly for welfare, but according to the information received, it was used by the members for their clothing and accessories.

“We cannot allow such robbers to roam in Selangor anymore and they use institutions like the attorney general’s office, the police and Election Commission (EC) to continue threatening us,” he said.

Azmin also revealed how the tax payers’ money was misused by “irresponsible” officers in what is now called Selangor State Development Office (previously Unit Perancang Ekonomi Negri Selangor) which had held discussions on how to overthrow the present Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state administration and return power to the Barisan Nasional (BN).

He said on Feb 6, 2009, the first task on the list at the Jawatankuasa Kerja Tindakan Persekutuan Negri’s meeting discussed how BN could wrest the state back from PR at the next general election.
Second on the agenda was how to sustain the reign of the BN federal government.

“This proves how desperate the federal government is to bring down the PR government,” he said.

“People of Selangor pay tax for the development of the state and not for Umno and BN,” he added.

He also questioned the presence of members irrelevant to the development of the state like National Security Council (NSC) and the EC.

“What is the connection between NSC and EC and the state’s development?” he said.

“We have exposed many things yet all they can see are the ‘cows’. Why should we feel ashamed of meeting under the tree when they are not ashamed of robbing the people of their rights?” Azmin said.