G. Rajasekaran heads the protem committee of the EPF Contributors’ Association to protect  rights of 9.7 million EPF members and the the safety and quality of the  RM181 billion EPF funds which would reach RM200 billion by the end of the year

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Speech 2
- DAP forum on “Bailouts and Buyouts - Are EPF, Pensions Trust Fund & public monies safe?”
by Lim Kit Siang 

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• are dissatisfied with the six  per cent dividend, the lowest in 25 years, declared by the EPF for last year;
• disagree  with the two per cent EPF contribution cut from 11 per cent to nine per cent for employees for one year announced by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in the government’s RM3 billion economic stimulus package to counter the US economic recession;
• oppose  the EPF’s participation in the Time dotCom IPO bailout, incurring some RM110 million losses from its RM269.28 million investment in Time dotCom.
• support the call for a new EPF policy of accountability and transparency on its equity, loan and other decisions involving the RM181 billion  EPF funds which would reach RM200 billion by end of the year.
• support the establishment of an EPF Contributors’ Association to protect the rights and interests of the 9.7 million EPF contributors.

We have had a discussion before the forum started and I am happy to announce the formation of a protem committee for the establishment of the EPF Contributors’ Association to protect the rights and interests  of 9.7 million EPF members and the the safety and quality of the  RM181 billion EPF funds which would reach RM200 billion by the end of the year.

The EPF Contributors’ Association protem committee are:

Chairman :        G. Rajasekaran, MTUC secretary-general
Vice Chairman :   Syed  Shahrir, National Union of Transport Equipment  &
                  Allied Industry Employees’ Union  Executive Secretary
Secretary :       Mohd Shaani bin Abdullah, Treasurer, FOMCA
Treasurer :       Ng Chee Siong
Members   :       N. Marimuthu, FOMCA
          :       Mohd Yusuf Abdul Rahman, FOMCA
          :       Aegile Fernandez
          :       Mohd Khalid bin Atan

It is most timely that the EPF Contributors’ Association is formed to rally together the 9.7 million EPF members to protect their rights and interests and to demand greater accountability and transparency from the EPF in the management of their funds, which is one of the largest provident funds in the world.

Recently, many developments affecting the EPF have raised public concerns about the competence, professionalism, integrity, accountability and transparency of the EPF.

Last Thursday, for instance, I had asked the EPF to clarify two matters:
 

• whether the RM181 billion EPF funds  had been involved in the final-minutes  multi-million ringgit institutional manipulation of the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange (KLSE)   through the Big Three “TMT” stocks - Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Malayan Banking Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd - in the past three months
• whether EPF had bought some 3.4 million shares in Maybank costing some RM43 million in the 12 days between March 9 to 27, 2001  incurring a loss of some RM11 million when Maybank fell to RM9.65 per share at the end of trading today.

There has been deafening silence from the EPF on both questions. It is most unfortunate that  the EPF has still to respond to the proposal made by DAP leaders and MPs when we met the EPF Chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali on 21st March 2001 that EPF  adopt a new policy on accountability and transparency as making public its share dealings in the stock market and beneficiaries of its loans.

Halim had promised the DAP delegation that he would raise at the EPF Board the proposal for a new EPF policy on accountability and transparency. Halim should clarify whether he had done this  and the EPF Board’s decision on the matter.

The priorities of the EPF Contributors’ Association should include:
 

• examine and review the investment policy and decisions with regard to the EPF’s  stock market operations. Last year,  EPF invested close to RM39.46  billion   in the shares market. The EPF contributors have a right to know what are the shares bought and sold by the EPF Investment Panel and its rationale in certain share transactions as for instance its involvement in the  RM1.88 billion Time dotCom IPO fiasco.
• scrutinise and review the EPF investment policy and decisions with regard to loans, which amounted to RM37.63  billion last year  to ensure that there are no loans given to cronies or as a result of imprudent judgements or  improper influence. EPF loan facilities running into billions of ringgit to various “white elephant”  mega-projects and companies, like the RM1.5 billion to the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport Bhd. (KLIAB), the billion ringgit loans to Perwaja Trengganu Sdn. Bhd. and even to Khazanah National Bhd., and the recently-disclosed RM500 million loan in 1996  to Time  Telecommunications Holdings Bhd (renamed  Time dotCom) should be the subject of public debate and scrutiny.

(9/4/2001)