Lembaga Tabung Haji chairman Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim and chief executive officer Tan Sri Ismee Ismail should be transparent over the controversies surrounding the pilgrims' fund or resign, PKR's Nurul Izzah Anwar said.
The party vice-president said Azeez still had not disclosed sufficient information to disprove Bank Negara Malaysia's warning letter that the fund's liabilities outweighed its assets and could hamper its ability to issue dividends to contributors.
"As the assets are less than its aggregate liabilities, according to Section 22 of the Tabung Haji Act 1995, Tabung Haji cannot declare dividends by law.
"As Tabung Haji’s financial year ends on December 31, 2015, we are left with depending on the 2014 financial report.
"Nonetheless, the value of the quoted shares, properties, cash reserves, sukuks and asset value of the fund as at December 31, 2015, should be readily available for public consumption," Nurul Izzah said in a statement today.
The Lembah Pantai MP said Azeez should also know the total value of their members’ deposits and should immediately publicise this information to dispel depositors' concerns.
She said both the chairman and chief executive officer owed depositors an explanation as Section 24 of the Tabung Haji Act empowered them to determine deposits once reserve levels were in the red.
Another concern was the fact that 75% of deposits in the fund were by only 5% of depositors, Nurul Izzah said, as there was a need to ensure equitable distribution of dividends.
"It is worth reminding that there is only one class of depositors, thus, preferential payment to any particular category is probably illegal.
"How then do the chairman and CEO plan to properly compensate the 95% ordinary Muslim Malaysians who are depending on Tabung Haji for their ability to perform the pilgrimage?"
She said Tabung Haji's performance could be measured from its dividend pay-out, which had been as high as 8.5% per annum in the 1990s but had dropped to 6% per annum in the last 10 years.
"Depositors deserve to know whether or not they will be granted dividends.
"The chairman and CEO must immediately address the key concerns raised and be open for a transparent audit to quell any doubt among depositors – else gracefully resign," she said.
Since Bank Negara's warning letter last week, Tabung Haji had assured contributors that their deposits were safe, saying the central bank's evaluation did not take into account the fund's investment portfolios, such as the shares of its subsidiaries, its plantation assets and property. – February 2, 2016.
Source from TheMalaysianInsider
No comments:
Post a Comment