Perak MB ready to cooperate with MACC over power abuse, cronyism allegations

IPOH, Sept 7 — Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu today said that he is aware of a report lodged with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) against him by Parti Putra Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) over alleged abuse of power and cronyism following the release of a poison pen letter.

Ahmad Faizal said that he is ready to cooperate fully with the MACC over the matter.

“Personally, I’m ready to give my full cooperation to the MACC investigation into the report.

“This coincides with the administrative principles of the Perak government, which has always emphasised the rule of law,” he said briefly in a statement today.

Earlier today, Putra vice-president Datuk Hamidah Osman accused Ahmad Faizal of alleged abuse of power by awarding state land to cronies involved in illegal logging activities in the name of forest farming.

Hamidah said she got the information from a poison pen letter which was widely circulated on social media last week and lodged a report with the MACC urging the authorities to investigate the allegations against Ahmad Faizal.

“Based on the letter, the state government has sanctioned several pieces of forest land, in which each transaction involves 400 hectares, for the supposed purpose of forest farming.

“But from what we have seen, the real purpose is to carry out logging in the forest, which will cause environmental damage. For example, the land in Kledang Sayong Forest Reserve, which is a water catchment area, was also allocated for the forest farming project,” she said.

She said that the letter also stated that an eight-month-old company, owned by two Perak Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (Bersatu) officials, was awarded 280 hectares of land for the project.

Hamidah also accused Ahmad Faizal of practising cronyism by appointing leaders in state government-linked-companies (GLC).

“For example, the chief executive officer of Perak State Development Corporation (PKNP) is the former division chief of Ipoh Barat Bersatu.

“While the chief executive officer for the Perak State Agricultural Development Corp (SADC) is a former Bersatu candidate, who contested the Belanja state seat,” she claimed.

“This is not a healthy practice. Is Perak being divvied up among themselves (Bersatu members)?” she asked.

The poison pen letter highlighting several alleged scandals involving the Perak mentri besar and his acquaintance was widely shared on Facebook last week.

The letter, which was written as an open letter to Perak citizens, was purportedly penned by someone called Yeop Kidai.