Shah Alam, Dec 2nd – The practice of allotting land to foundations in Selangor, especially the Elimination of Poverty Foundation (Yayasan Basmi Kemiskinan, YBK) and Selangor Foundation (Yayasan Selangor, YS) by the BN government prior to the 2008 elections will soon be reviewed.
Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said the State has decided to freeze such allotment of land in the following areas – Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor, Petaling and Gombak as the initial initiative towards reviewing these grants.
He adds that the negligence of the previous management has led to the wasteful abandonment of these lands which could have been put to productive use in bringing about social activities and generating new foundations.
“After 2008, it looks like the relationship between foundations and the State is not as friendly as before, especially YBK.”
“Therefore, we keep a close eye on the State treasury so that these funds go towards eliminating poverty and not towards ostentatious presentation by some parties.”
Abdul Khalid (PKR – Port Klang) stated the above in response to a question by Gan Pei Nei (PKR – Rawang) in relation to State measures in ensuring that government contributions towards social welfare be used as efficiently as possible.
Additionally, Abdul Khalid states that initial investigation on the land grants to YBK and YS reveal evidence of dishonesty.
“We found that the funds were not dealt with professionally and the land grant has been given to the management of another party plus the returns of the joint effort is very little.”
“I was very distressed to learn of one example – the 1214.1 hectares allotted to planting palm oil under the name of YS but after 3 years, the plantation no longer belonged to the foundation but rather to YS Limited. This is an example of the unprofessional attitude when dealing with State grants.”
