Cronyism in Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan

Press Statement as at 14 February 2019

C4 Center notes with concern developments in the Federal Territories (FT) Ministry, and is affirms several recent actions by Minister Tuan Khalid Samad, for his continuous effort in exposing past malfeasance of the previous ruling coalition of Barisan National, the blatant land grab and money transfers chiefly manourvered by his predecessor Tengku Adnan.

The recent exposure of dubious land deals in Medan Imbi, Jalan Kuchai Jaya 1 and Jalan Gombak are highly disturbing and suggest the collusion of several actors in land administration and sale in the capital city.

Several of these dubious land deals, have somehow landed into its welfare arm, Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YWP) or the FT Foundation.

What is the YWP and Who Makes up the Board Members?

YWP which was established to provide services and assist in improving the socio-economy of the low income groups, was incorporated on 9 April 1986 and it is limited by guarantee.

One of the ways YWP generate its own funding is through Joint Venture developments with the private sector and land sales. YWP in its statement on 24 May 2018

“As a company that supports the concept of democracy, government and ‘government of the day’, YWP is not a political company, it is not tied to any political party or influence of any individual”

However, a search on the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) website shows that all the previous trustees who are also the Board of Directors were politically linked:-

Tengku Adnan who was the former FT Minister, was also the former Chairman of YWP as a result of his ministerial position.

Under the Barisan Nasional administration, YWP was reported to be involved in the transfer of many state lands in the Federal Territory. Lands were alienated by the FT Land Executive Committee Secretariat which the then FT Minister and the then Deputy Minister sits in.

Previously, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng has claimed “There’s federal-owned land, federal agency-owned land like police reserve land, reserve land for rumah ibadat, that have also been sold to private developers without tender,”

Tengku Adnan was charged with receiving RM3 million in bribes from property developers in connection with his official functions as the FT Minister at the time.

From the cases highlighted in the past via C4’s press statements and those exposed by media, the connection between Tengku Adnan and YWP will raise queries as to serious conflict of interest in the land dealings.

Thus, C4 urges MACC to investigate Tengku Adnan as well as rest of the previous Board of Trustees for their involvement in the land deals.

C4 also notes that the trend of appointing politically linked associates and/or officials continues in the new Board of Trustees of YWP, as shown below:-

There is a real danger of politicians sitting in foundations to abuse their position as seen in the past. It opens up opportunities for officials to bypass objective criteria for assessment and the selection of developers, thus facilitating cronyism, nepotism and corruption.

This will lead to non-competent developers being awarded projects. As a result of that, the project will suffer from poor quality, increase in cost and delays.

In the light of better accountability and transparency, C4 urge the Pakatan Harapan government to consider the following:-

1. politicians should not be appointed as the Board of Trustees;
2. review and restructure the YWP to have an independent Board of Trustees with community participation; and an external oversight mechanism to ensure a higher degree of accountability.
3. public disclosure the foundation’s accounts and annual budget.

C4 further reasserts our call that all foundations must be free from politics if the new Pakatan Harapan government is serious about reforms.

Released by:
Cynthia Gabriel (Ms.)
Executive Director, C4 Center