Press Comments by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, after the opening of the Malacca DAP State Convention at Midtown Hotel, Malacca on Sunday, 7.6.1987:
Public inquiry into the take-over of the 24 DTCs by Bank Negara and the receivers in the last 10 months to determine why their net assets value had fallen by some $600 million
In the past few days, the Gerakan Deputy Agriculture Minister, Alex Lee, had been behaving as if he is the “official spokesman of both the Finance Minister, Daim Zainuddin, and the Bank Negara, on the $1.5 billion Co-operative Finance Scandal. This is why his statement on Monday that the Bank Negara now estimates that the total net asset value of the DTCs is only $300 million is so shocking and unbelievable – especially as the Bank Negara had not denied it for the past week.
The Government White Paper, which is based on the Bank Negara reports, tabled in Parliament last November said that although on August 8, 1986 the total assets of the 24 DTCs were $1,563 million “per books”, this had to be drastically adjusted downwards because of over-valuation. Bank Negara and the Government White Paper adjusted the net total assets by $673 million. As the White Paper said in Chapter II, Para 39:
“The net assets available for distribution, after provisions suggested by the accountants of $673.1 million, is $889.7 million.”
Now, Alex Lee says the Bank Negara has made a further downward adjustment of its White Paper valuation of the total net asset valuation of the co-operatives from $890 milli8on to $300 million!
If after their take over of the 24 co-operatives, Bank Negara and the appointed receivers, the total net asset value of the co-operatives could fall from $890 million to $300 million, then Bank Negara and the receivers must be as incompetent and inefficient as the co-operative directors and officials responsible for the co-operative finance crisis in the first place.
The DAP calls far a public inquiry into the 10-month take-over of the 24 DTCs by Bank Negara and the receivers to determine how they could have caused such a colossal $600 million loss in ten months – putting in greater jeopardy the right of the 588,000 depositors for a full refund of their co-operative monies.