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What people dont see is that this company's bid has actually been tailored and briefed by this Datuk Reza about the tender amount and how much UEM is expected to pay for the supply.
As the dust settles in Bolehland, the country that had sent man into space, scaled the highest peak, walked the southenmost tip, jumped the northernmost plateau ... the list is never ending; people are beginning to count the number of days that the current Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, has went without calls from several quarters for him to step down or foe his head in the conundrum faced by the BN and UMNO during the last general elections. Such is the heavy responsibility of leaders nowadays that they are lauded like heores when the party wins, but blamed as rudderless in defeat. In Abdullah's case, the public outcry might be justified, following the many questionable decisions and the apparent influence that others, especially his son-in-law, has over the administration of his government. Today, the sounds coming from them are but whispers about where will they go if the PM is removed from office. Many has already made plans about leaving for greener pastures, as if the outcome is as inevitable as their failure to listen instead of just speaking. The underlying truth hurts, many of the things and announcements by Pak Lah were very warming in 2004, but aftr 4 years of waiting, the public, used to the samespeck of lies and unfulfilled pledges under Dr M, has decided enough time was given. What irks the pblic most is not Pak Lah's inherent failure to change the Malays, to counter the old adage of UMNO, nor to strengthen the economy. Its his failure to transcend the mileage needed for transparency and integrity that has made him, his "immaturish decision to remarry" and his failed Islam Hadhari concept a laughing stock among Malaysians. Corruption has been recognised as the main problem plaguing good governance and growth in the country. During Dr M's time you feel as if the problem has come to a hilt and that when Pak Lah takes over, the end will be spoken of the malaise. Sadly, under Pak Lah, though he did take some noble strides in hispromise - Isa Samad to name one, he has clearly fallen short in terms of providing the public with a clear indication that transparency and integrity has moved up at least a notch. The questionable dealings involving the IDR and Singapore's keen interest soon became clearer with allegations of Khairy Jamaludin's involvement. Even the Arabs had retracted from their early promise to invest, and instead had gone south across the muddy waters to Singapore. Secondly, it seems that his lavish ideas of bringing in trillions of investment for the NCER and ECER, also fell flat as the real money is in the central region, most of which is currently occupied by the Barisan Rakyat - DAP, PKR and PAS. We cant call them opposition in a sense as they are the administrators in 5 states, although they form only 82 seats in Parliament. But it is not only the government's failure to combat corruption that irks the public. GLCs too have come under fire recently for their fastidious and apparent lack of transparency, especailly in giving out contracts, sub-contracts and awards for minor projects under their meage projects belt. One such company, UEM (Builders) comes to mind. The company now has been revitalised following its huge failures in the 1990s, and has been given the chance to participate in the 2nd Penang Bridge Project. We expected the management's mentality to change. But lo and behold, its top management, some changed to include a CEO who was behind the failure of Rapid KL to improve its services and was removed from that post (and even got a Datukship for it), still holds tight to the old belief of helping their kin, their friends and their "cronies" even though these people include his close friend who is an Ali Baba who do not even have knowledge and business in this field. The sub contract involves the about to be awarded supply of sand (worth millions) to the project, by a company called Corporate Cross World and its affiliate Golden Cross Sdn Bhd. What people dont see is that this company's bid has actually been tailored and briefed by this Datuk Reza about the tender amount and how much UEM is expected to pay for the supply. As such, this company will definitely be one of the favourites, if not the sole company who will win the job outright. It is actually run by a few Chinese traders with sand supply license, but as many are aware, they needed some Bumiputra interest. And here comes this schoolteacher, who has included his family members in the company including a Rapid KL engineer close to Datuk Reza when he was there. Sources from UEM who is unhappy with this development claims that other companies are not treated equally, yet this company is briefed every week by Datuk Reza on the developments of the project. There are other tenders up of grabs, and these sources claim Datuk Reza own most of its interests. This is a clear case of abuse of power and corruption, but the sources claim that the top management and the police have yet to act upon it. What better way to clean the image of the new CEO then to let the police investigate this allegation and prove it wrong, right? this is the question being asked by the sources and several other key UEM Builders staff who has overheard and seen meetings involving Datuk Reza and the company represented by his good friend. He is even now advising them on strategising ways to play around with the other shareholders who actually own the license so that they will reap maximum benefit from it. A check on the telephone records say the source will prove favourtism towards this particular company and friend. This practise is claimed to have continued from the past - meaning it is a common practice in UEM to help friends and relatives to get big contracts, at the expense of the honest hard working sand suppliers who happen not to know the CEO!! This i the magis of Malaysia, and why Islam Hadhari will fail to deliver. So the story continues in Bolehland, as the public begin to expect certain changes with the new Penang state government. Can Lim Guan Eng answer this question, or is the answer the same, it is the prerogative of the federal government - meaning, it is the government's decision to continue with corruption. All we can do now is wait, and see if the company is awarded the tender, and see thereafter how his good friend will reward the CEO. Any takers? By The Delimma
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