KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said in a written Parliamentary reply yesterday that assets of Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) have not been sold off to non-Muslim companies and the fund is not being controlled by non-Muslims.
Parit Buntar MP Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusof Rawa revealed the Parliamentary written reply today and demanded that all parties stop accusing the former Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration of selling the pilgrimage fund’s assets.
In Muhyiddin’s reply to Mujahid, he added that in line with the Recovery and Restructuring Plan, uncompetitive Tabung Haji’s assets had been transferred to a special purpose vehicle (Urusharta Jamaah Sdn Bhd) under Ministry of Finance Incorporated.
“Therefore, Tabung Haji is not being controlled by non-Muslims,” said Muhyiddin’s reply.
In the first quarter of 2020, TH’s total assets stand at RM78 billion, with a surplus of RM1.9 billion when compared with liabilities.
Previously, when PH held the reins to the country, it had received harsh criticisms and accusations from Umno and PAS that its administration had sold off Tabung Haji assets to Chinese-owned companies.
However, they defended their stance, saying that it was a form of financial restructuring after the fund had paid off dividends beyond what it could afford during the Barisan Nasional era.
In February, then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said TH is liquidating some assets as these were not being fully used.
He added that these assets were also not generating sufficient returns to justify keeping them.
The government was forced into a bailout of TH last year that will cost an estimated RM17 billion after discovering that the fund had been in deficit, owing to financial decisions made during the Barisan Nasional administration.
