CONTROVERSIAL: The Legend Water Chalets in Port Dickson — Pic: Hussein Shaharuddin
PUTRAJAYA: Two premium chalets for RM850,000 — and they were never used since 2006!
The Malay Mail learnt that the National Sports Council (NSC) purchased two units of the Legend Water Chalets in Port Dickson without the approval of the council's board of directors.
This was revealed in the 2008 Auditor-General's Report. The report suggested "disciplinary action" be taken against officials involved in the transaction.
The purchase of the chalets, installed with jacuzzis and see-through floor panelling with a view of the sea, was not in compliance with the Government Contracts Act 1949 (revised 1973) and NSC Act 1971. The NSC comes under the ambit of the Ministry of Sports.
Section 2 of the Government Contracts Act states:
FLASHBACK: Our report in 2008
"All contracts made on behalf of the government shall, if reduced to writing, be made in the name of the government of Malaysia and may be signed by a minister or by any public officer authorised in writing by a minister."
Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad was NSC director-general from 1993-2005. He was succeeded by Datuk Dr Ramlan Aziz. Mazlan admitted to having purchased the chalets during his tenure.
“I had no ill intentions in buying the chalets. It was for the benefit of the NSC community…from the officials to the athletes,” said Mazlan.
When asked why the Board had no knowledge of the acquisition, Mazlan added: "I had the power (to purchase anything below RM3 million) as vested by the Board to facilitate my day-to-day operations.
"I explained this to the Auditor General’s department and even the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. I’ve nothing to hide. The only ‘mistake’ in this whole transaction was that the management didn’t record it properly.”
The Sports Ministry’s secretary-general, Datuk Mohd Yassin Salleh, also confirmed the purchases and added that they “were not done in a proper manner”.
While not wanting to mention the names of the individuals involved, Yassin said:
“You and I know who were involved and they have been referred to the disciplinary board. Through the mandate of the Minister (Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek), I have been appointed as the disciplinary board chairman for this particular case. Letters were issued to the said individuals several months ago to explain the purchase. I’m still waiting for their reply,” Yassin added.
Meanwhile, Section 4(2)(g) of the NSC Act reads that the council is only able to "acquire or purchase or dispose of any movable or immovable property dealt upon such terms as the board deems fit".
Also in consideration is Section 4(2)(e) of the Act whereby the council can only act "with the approval of the sports minister in consultation with the minister of finance, to enter into equity participation in the development of sporting enterprises, and the provision of sports facilities and attractions".
It was revealed that the then director-general of the council gave a "verbal" directive to the management director to buy the chalets.
The sale and purchase agreement between NSC and the developers, KL Metropolitan (M) Sdn Bhd, was signed on Feb 6, 2004.
However, there is no evidence showing that the board approved the acquisition. The chalets have not been used since 2006.
Even if the council sold the said property without the knowledge of the board, it would still be deemed "illegal" based on the said Acts.
The Malay Mail visited the resort on Monday but were told to contact NSC in KL for further information on the chalets.
The Paper That Cares also spoke to several sports officials who were, however, in the dark about the chalets.
The Thomas Cup badminton team is expected to begin team building in Port Dickson in April but will be staying at a nearby hotel instead.
"Even if NSC sold the chalets, they had no right to buy it in the first place,” said an official.
“The NSC are fearful of ghosts terrorising athletes in the hostels but the real ‘ghosts’ are those sitting in the offices,” added another official, alluding to a supernatural incident that allegedly took place there recently.
This is not the first time NSC had been ticked off by the Auditor-General. On April 29, 2008, The Malay Mail published an article headlined "NSC’s RM22 million bill raises eyebrows".
NSC was found to have spent a whopping RM22,335,867 for "professional services, celebrations and hospitality" throughout 2006.
NSC also recorded excessive spending of RM86.55 million under the National Sports Trust Account, exceeding its budget of RM45 million in 2006.
Other issues highlighted by the Auditor-General
The 2008 Auditor-General's Report also touched on non-completion of upgrading works at the Gymnasium 3 training centre in Bukit Jalil, the national sailing centre in Langkawi, the athletes’ training centre in Gua Musang, the Community Sports Complex in Kepala Batas and upgrading works at the Saujana Asahan Complex in Malacca.
The National Sports Council (NSC) received an approved budget of RM92.80 million for these projects but had spent only RM50.31 million since November 2008.
Also in question is the proposed construction of a bowling alley in Gymnasium 3 which is estimated at RM6.42 million. Sources claim that despite the allocation, NSC “somehow do not have enough funds to carry on with the project”.
The Malay Mail learnt that the bowling alley project was scrapped after a study showed that it was ‘cheaper’ to rent lanes instead of constructing and maintaining an in-house alley.
Rental costs are estimated at RM25,000 a month.
Nevertheless, there are efforts to obtain additional funds from the forthcoming 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP).Also questioned was the consulting architect hired.
The report revealed that Arkitek Juarareka was hired as the main consultants for the Gymnasium 3 project through a memorandum of understanding signed on Oct 11, 2004.
However, Arkitek Juarareka was deregistered by the Architects Board of Malaysia on Jan 1, 2004!
Later, one of the firm’s partners initiated his own firm known as Ismail Hashim Architect.
After the dissolution of Arkitek Juarareka, Ismail Hashim Architect took over the consultancy role under the name of the former and continued to render services with a consultation fee amounting to RM1.88 million.
NSC had paid RM1.33 million to Arkitek Juarareka up to Nov 2008.
The report said:
“The Auditor-General believes that Arkitek Juarareka cannot render its services as consultant after the date of its deregistration as it is no longer legal. Ismail Hashim Architect, meanwhile, is not bound by any formal contract and this raises the risk of NSC in the form of liabilities."
NSC should have signed a new deal with Ismail Hashim Architect and apparently this was only done on June 16, 2009.
The Auditor-General's suggestions include the following:
• NSC must plan and scrutinise construction works from the start to ensure there is no repetition of failures or defects, if any.
• NSC must play a proactive role in scrutinising services rendered by the consulting firms to ensure works adhere to required specification, quality and completed within the projected time.
• NSC must check its buildings in detail after construction works to ensure that any damage or works that do not adhere to the required specification will be corrected by the contractor.
• Disciplinary action and surcharge to be taken against officials who are ignorant in fulfilling their duties, including the signing of the sales and purchase agreement of the chalets without the approval of the board of directors, and their failure in adhering to the workings of a contract as stipulated by the government.
Tip of the iceberg...The rakyat will decide.
ReplyDeleteFor the Game. For the World.
Jawab la NSC ... buang duit rakyat begitu saja
ReplyDeleteAt least some reporters still got balls!
ReplyDeletehehehe....now you put comment column. not before.??common chris
ReplyDeleteThanks guys for the input, Anon 2:22, my comment column has been there all the while. I think you have visited a wrong blog. Thanks for dropping by.
ReplyDeleteMACC must investigate on how the money has been spent and what has cause the defisit budget. This is not the way it should be going guys. Why are the Main Stream Media like NST and Star not writing about this issue. ?
ReplyDeletePlease hold your horses and not be too critical on the former DG yet. First and fore most we must understand their mind before we start calling them names.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the purpose of the water chalet for NSC? Are they part of the program to allow our athletes to go there have a session to unwind and have a brain storming session? The answer is no, 2 chalets is hardly big enough to accommodate 10 people.
The next question is, are these for the managerianl level of the officers in NSC? We know that F&N, TNB and many companies have holiday bunglow in Frasers Hill or Cameron Highlands, they are for R&R for their staff at a certain level. Can this be a reason for the NSC to think that their top guns are working very hard and they need a place to chill out for their hard work? May be Datuk Zol can explain this.
Now can you accept the explanation of Dato Mazlan, he claims to have the authority to decide any purchase below RM 3 million and the whole mistake was the management did not record the transaction properly. What sort of an explanation is that? Presumably the chalets were bough in 2005, since then until Dato Mazlan retired, he did not detect the mistake and let it fester until the Auditor General discovered this " mistake" ? This explanation is unacceptable and is insulting to the intelligence of the Malaysian public. The whole gang in this fiasco must be disciplined and I say those remnants who are still around has to be removed from NSC immediately or suspended.
Forget aboput the Bowling alley, forget about the Asahan Sporting complex and the uncompleted Gymnasium, I also say forget about the deregistered architect issue. These are common problems la. What I want to raise is the RM 22,335,867 spent on Professional services, Celebration and hospitality for the year 2006.
What I want to know is what professional services are we talking about? If my memory does not fail me the main sporting event is in 2005 where we have the SEA Games in Philippines and perhaps the Asian Indoor Games. In 2006 I do not think we have anything, perhaps a big do To celebrate at the Place of the Golden Horses for all the SEA Games athletes.
Question is did NSC engaged a professional part planner? The food in almost all the NSC event are niothing much to shout about, no caviar,no champagne, no foie gras nothing of that sort except rendang daging, nasi minyak, sambal belcan and perhaps tempoyak and ulam raja.
Lets be practical, even if the NSC were to be adventureous and get some nice social escort to sit on the table with them, they would not need to spend RM22,335, 867. Unless of course if they decide to give out some small chederamata Ulysse Nardine watches costing RM 1 million each, so that semua nya okay. Lets look at the expenditure accounts and Can the Paper That Cares korek deeper?
Every damn guy on the top are screwing up the tax payers money !!! What is the government watchdogs doing about it!!!
ReplyDelete