MORE ‘RED FILE’ SCANDALS?
The finance minister says the secret files’ fiasco is far from over with more alleged wrongdoings likely to come to light. He also suggests that the new scandals do not involve billions of ringgit, but ‘are small ones, in millions’.
THE dust has not settled yet as Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng hinted at certain “red files” that will open a floodgate of scandals in the ministry.
“If you talk about scandals running into billions of ringgit, the nasty ones, I think that is about it. But the probe is ongoing. The others are small ones, in millions. We will deal with them later.
“Documents are being studied. It is a tedious process, but a necessary one,” he said on the one month of probing after the 14th General Election, which saw Pakatan Harapan pulling off a shock victory to take over Putrajaya.
On whether some files could have been destroyed, he said: “You can destroy documents but we can reconstruct them. There are money trails. So, it is difficult to hide.”
Lim said when he reported for duty on May 22, what was laid on his table had been worse than expected.
“I was shocked. I have been swimming in re d ink ( e ve r since).”
It was revealed that the previous government had forked out RM6.9 billion to service the debts of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) since April last year.
That was followed by a revelation that the Barisan Nasional government had used money raised from a deal with sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, as well as proceeds from a land sale to Bank Negara Malaysia, to service the 1MDB debt.
While Malaysians were grasping with these news, a gas pipeline scandal involving RM9.41 billion came to light, also linked to 1MDB.
“They were lying through their teeth. They (BN) said they were following IMF (International Monetary Fund) standards.
“So, it is a RM686.8 billion (debt). But, what about the government-guaranteed debts (amounting to RM199.1 billion)?
“And, public-private partnership projects worth RM201.4 billion, which all total up to RM1 trillion.
“In economic terms, a doubtful debt recognised as a bad debt should be written off.
“What we have here is bad debts that we are paying on behalf of companies like 1MDB.”
He said Malaysia was fortunate because of the change in government.
“We can address our debt issues,” he said, adding that the government was not into sugarcoating the facts.
He said people deserved to know the truth and it was important to establish a true picture of the country’s financial status.
“The Pakatan Harapan government had wasted no time in getting things done.
“The prime minister (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad) announced the zero-rating of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
“We have stabilised fuel prices. We announced the ‘Bantuan Sara Hidup Rakyat’ aid and the RM400 special payment for civil servants of Grade 41 and below (for Hari Raya Aidilfitri).
“The government also announced a RM200 special payment for pensioners. That is RM22 billion given back to the people. We can do all these without GST.”
He said more needed to be done to cut costs and save.
“As Dr Mahathir said, we cannot expect handouts anymore.”
Pressed for details on the government’s plan and about the 2019 Budget, he said: “Can you let me get through this year first?
“We have to take the (bitter) medicine. After all, our prime minister is a doctor. I think it (the country’s debt woes) can be cured.”