Selcat meeting to resume on March 5

Three days set for public hearing on sand mining irregularities

SHAH ALAM: The public hearing of the Selangor Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) on the issue of sand mining irregularities involving Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd (KSSB) will resume for three days from March 5. The hearing had been earlier postponed. Selcat chairman Datuk Teng Chang Khim said the committee would hold a public hearing on two other cases involving Yayasan Selangor on its audit report in 2010 and two Selangor Agricultural Development Corporation (PKPS) companies – PKPS Agro Industries Sdn Bhd and Premium Agro Product Industries Sdn Bhd – on the purchase of machinery.

He said the decision to hold the public hearing was made after Selcat met on Feb 16.

On whether the hearing involving KSSB resumed only after the issue was brought up by blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Teng said the committee did not depend on his article but on current developments which required Selcat to complete the hearing on KSSB.

“We are holding the hearing since KSSB board members had made statements to deny irregularities involving them although the Selcat hearing has yet to be completed,” he said here yesterday.

On the public hearing on Yayasan Selangor, Teng said it would be held after Selcat obtained the report from its internal auditor regarding the appointment of the general manager of the foundation as well as several other administrative matters.

“The public hearing of two PKPS subsidiaries involves a Rm180mil grant provided by the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry for the purchase of machinery as raised in the Auditor-general’s report,” he said.

Meanwhile, KSSB yesterday claimed it had only sacked four employees for misconduct, after they were given a chance to defend themselves through show-cause letters and domestic inquiries.

“We wish to clarify the report that nine of our staff members were sacked or forced to resign was not that accurate,” it said.

KSSB added it was prepared to cooperate with Selcat during the public hearing scheduled next month.

Yesterday, The Star reported that nine employees of KSSB claimed they were either sacked or forced to resign for speaking up against alleged irregularities.

A sacked employee, T. Sivanesan, asked the company to explain why nine of them were out of jobs.

“No matter how the company puts it, nine of us are out of jobs after we expressed our concern to top management over wrongdoings in the sand mining operations in the state,” he said.

Another employee by the name of Halim said he was jobless not because he was sacked, but his contract was not renewed by KSSB.

Four other employees, including those from critical departments, said they eventually resigned from the company because they felt harassed by their superiors.