by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary- General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Friday, May 10, 1991:
Daim’s statement most unsatisfactory and misleading in failing to disclose the full extent of his relationship with the Sungai Buloh fireworks factory whose explosions killed or injured 100 people on Tuesday.
I find the statement by the former Finance Minister and currently UMNO Treasurer, Datuk Paduka Daim Zainuddin, responding to my call to him to declare his relationship with the Sungai Buloh fireworks factory whose explosion on Tuesday killed or injured 100 people most unsatisfactory and misleading.
Daim said that other than being a passive investor holding 0.03 per cent of the shares of Bright Sparklers Sdn. Bhd, he had no other interest or dealing in the company nor in its management.
Daim said that Bright Sparkles Sdn. Bhd. were his cliente in the late 1960s when he was a practising lawyer and that some time in the early 1970s, he assisted them in their application to the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority for a manufacturing licence.
Daim added that he was offered shares in the company which he subscribed and paid for in his name which was subsequently transferred to his family company.
Why had Daim concealed the fact that he was the founding Board Chairman of Bright Sparklers Sdn. Bhd?
Daim was the founding Board Chairman of Bright Sparklers Sdn. Bhd. and he only resigned from this post in 1977.
Why did Daim conceal the fact that he was the founding Board Chairman of Bright Sparklers Sdn. Bhd. in a statement to reveal his relationship with the illegal Sungai Buloh fireworks factory?
Daim said he was acting purely in his professional role as lawyers for his clients in applying for a manufacturing licence from MIDA for Bright Sparklers.
Four Questions for Daim Zainuddin
The second question he should answer is how a lawyer acting in his professional capacity advising clients in applying for a manufacturing licence and up as Chairman of Board of the Company?
The third question Daim should answer is: When he said yesterday that he was only a passive investor holding a 0.03 per cent of the shares of the company, he had no other interest or dealing in the company nor in its management. Is Daim talking about now or is he talking about the time when he was Chairman of the Board of Bright Sparklers Sdn. Bhd. At the height of his interest in the company, what was the stake of Daim and his family in Bright Sparklers Sdn. Bhd?
I have also a fourth question for Daim. The various government departments have claimed that the fireworks factory is illegal and unlicensed, and was never given a manufacturing licence for fireworks. Daim said he was responsible for applying for a manufacturing license for Bright Sparklers. How could he allow Bright Sparklers Sdn. Bhd. to start manufacturing licence, especially during the four years when he was Chairman of the Board of Bright Sparklers Sdn. Bhd. ?
Call on Domestic Trade Minister, Abu Hassan Omar, to investigate why the file on Bright Sparklers Sdn. Bhd. had disappeared from the Registry of Companies.
I have received reports that the files on the Bright Sparklers Sdn. Bhd. had disappeared from the Registry of Companies in the last two days. This was also reported in the front page of Utusan Malaysia.
Officials from the Registry of Companies have also told searchers that the Police had taken away the files on the Bright Sparklers Sdn. Bhd.
If this is true, then the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Haniff Omar, should explain why the Police had removed the files on Bright Sparklers Sdn. Bhd. instead of making a photostat set of the file. Alternatively, why had the Registry of Companies allowed the Police to take away the file without making a photostat set to make it available to the public in the Registry?
The disappearance of the file of the Bright Sparklers Sdn. Bhd. from the Registry of Companies is very disturbing and cannot inspire confidence that there will be the fullest and widest inquiry into all aspects of the Sungai Buloh fireworks factory explosions which killed or injured 100 people and destroyed numerous houses in Sungai Buloh new village.
I call on the Minister for Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, Datuk Abu Hassan Omar, to immediately investigate why the files on the Bright Sparklers Sdn. Bhd. has disappeared from the Registry of Companies and to take action to restore the file to the Registry for public use as required by the law.