Manikavasagam(Left) has threatened to go public if his demand is not met. — file pic
KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam today sparked another crisis in Selangor by giving a 72-hour ultimatum to Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to sack three officials from the state-owned sand mining company, Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd, for alleged corruption amounting to RM100,000 monthly.
Manikavasagam, who has previously raised the issue of corruption within Khalid’s administration, said he will blow the lid on the issue if his demands are not met — adding pressure to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition which today began campaigning for the May 16 Sibu parliamentary by-election.
“I don’t want to expose things in detail at the moment... wait first. I am asking the mentri besar to remove at least three senior officers from the state sand-mining company,” Manikavasagam said when contacted by The Malaysian Insider.
He also wrote in his blog that he will make public incriminating documents and also send it to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) if the deadline is not met.
His text messages and blog this evening stated: “Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam is giving 72 hours to Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to clean the ‘DIRT’ from within the ranks of the Kumpulan Semesta senior officers who have received too much in bribes.
“If it is true Parti Keadilan Rakyat hates ‘CORRUPTION’ then end this vice immediately. The Selangor Mentri Besar must ‘CLEAN UP’ his own house first.
“Immediate action must be taken by the Selangor Mentri Besar or the Kapar Member of Parliament will ‘EXPOSE’ everything.
“We do not want members of PKR, especially the ‘Central Leadership’ to practise this unhealthy culture. Don’t let a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch,” the message said.
However, Manikavasagam denied he was intentionally causing further complications for PKR, which has so far suffered the loss of four MPs and a state seat following its defeat in Hulu Selangor last month.
Manikavasagam had been rumoured to be on the verge of quitting the party but has personally denied this.
Information gleaned from Kumpulan Semesta’s corporate website states that the company was formed by the PR state government to pioneer the sand-mining and mineral industries.
It launched its first sand production site at Lot 32546, in the Dengkil district of Sepang on Sept 15, 2008. The launch was officiated by Khalid.
The location aims to become a model sand production operation that caters to the construction industry while being sensitive to the needs of the environment and the people.
Earlier in the year, the first-term lawmaker had threatened to quit the party if the top leadership at the state and national levels did not attend to his complaints.
Manikavasagam eventually relinquished his spot as a PKR state vice-chairman but remained as a member of the central leadership council.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By B Nantha Kumar - Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: Several Indian leaders in the Pakatan Rakyat are proposing to set up a body within the system to address pressing issues in the community.
PKR's Kapar MP S Manikavasagam said the body will incorporate representatives from the grassroots as well as parliamentarians, assemblymen and local councillors.
“We admit there have been shortcomings on the part of Pakatan in dealing with Indian issues. We realised this in Hulu Selangor,” he told FMT.
He said the body will not be just another thinktank but will instead “focus on understanding their problem and implementing ground-level solutions”.
“We have gone back to the drawing board and are currently drafting out several strategies to win back the Indian community’s support. The main aim is to focus on solutions to the Indian problems at the grassroots,” he said.
In relation to this, Manikavasagam, who is also a PKR supreme council member, will be meeting PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim today.
PKR had failed to secure a full Indian support during the recent Hulu Selangor by-election which saw its candidate Zaid Ibrahim being defeated by BN's P Kamalanathan.
“We’ll have to work hard to win back the Indian community’s support. Of course we’ve make a lot of mistakes. But it doesn't mean we have lost in the battle.
“Hulu Selangor was not a lesson to learn from, it was a wake up call. We lost about seven percent of the community’s support. In 2008 we managed to get about 47 percents of the Indian votes, but this fell down to 41 percent in this by-election,” said Manikavasagam.
He said in the last general election, people supported the Pakatan because “they felt we could make the change”.
“If we don’t help them, they will neglect us. That’s what happened in Hulu Selangor,” he said.
