Saturday, 18 August 2012

GLCs and the art of losing money

YOURSAY 'They get free raw materials from mother nature, sell it to the rakyat and make huge losses. What kind of business is that?'

'Puncak Niaga's RM17.2mil directors' fees is madness'

your sayOnyourtoes: It is obvious the privatisation model we have used thus far is not working. Moral hazards, agency problems and toothless oversight bodies like Span (National Water Services Commission) are the main causes of its failure.

Nowhere can we ever have rational decision-making based on genuine risk-return trade-offs, when most privatisation concessions are nothing but conduits to siphon public money for private benefits.

The regulatory authorities must watch not just profits and returns on capital, but also cost padding by the concessionaires that then justify their high tariffs or tolls.

BN and the federal government have vowed to retake Selangor. I can't see what conscience they ever had to harbour such an ambition when the abuse and depravity under their rule are blatantly clear for everyone to see.

Starr: Public utilities can be corporatised but should never be privatised, let alone being 'piratised' to Umno-BN cronies.

As public corporations, they are subject to the normal corporate governance codes and guidelines and, as public enterprises, the ministries-in-charge are also subject to the responsibility, accountability and transparency of Parliament.

Astronomical directors' fees in public corporations are not only unjustifiable in terms of the directors' performance but also unethical in terms of corporate morality, bearing in mind corporate greed of directors in the form of their remunerations has been singled out as the one of the overriding causes in the ongoing global financial crisis.

In Malaysia, having a set of rules and regulations is insufficient if their enforcement is lax and inadequate.

Our corporate regulators have yet to perform to bar despite their fine setup. There are still ample 'corporate crooks' at large, who has gotten away scot-free from crimes against their companies/corporations.

Ohakimm: GLCs (government-linked companies), especially the utility companies such as Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Telekom Malaysia, etc, are fleecing the rakyat of their hard-earned cash, while providing mediocre service. But unlike the government, they are not held accountable to the rakyat.

And while the PM and government department heads' emails and telephone numbers are made public, the same is not true of the GLCs' top executives. Reaching the PM is easier than reaching these so-called half-baked business leaders.

Anonymous #06659895: Only a company that has something to hide and has ill-intentions will hide the amount each of their directors receives in fees.

2Malaysia: What about the directors of national sewerage company Indah Water Konsortium? I am sure there are also many suckers around 'milking' the rakyat's money every month.

Puncak Niaga, Indah Water and Plus Highway are the by-products of the so-called Malaysia privatisation plan that has been robbing all Malaysians and offering no benefits at all.

Two Eye Ball: BN equals ‘Bleed the Nation' and this is all started by our ‘beloved' former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

‘Ketuanan Melayu' is the result of choosing someone who cannot do the job and sidelining the many qualified people. I am sure there are many qualified Malays who can do the job properly.

My God, you are running a business entity: if the director cannot perform, then replace him with someone who can. If you cannot even practice simple business logic then how are you expected to govern the country?

If you look around, you can see countless cases like water treatment operator Puncak Niaga. I just wonder when the rakyat are going to wake up. I know the government is pulling wool over the rakyat's eyes, especially in the rural areas as all the mainstream media are controlled by them.

YF: This is another proof that Umno is not for the Malays. Umno is for the corrupt, who want to be rich by exploiting extreme racist policies that benefit the Umno politicians only. So why should Malays support Umno when they play out the Malays?

Sa Tombs: These directors are the bumiputera created by Mahathirism. You bleed the company and warm your butts but do nothing for the company. This is also in line with the NEP, or New Empty Promises.

Anonymous #06001393: This is BN's style: hand out lucrative contracts to cronies, screw the rakyat and yet say ‘rakyat didahulukan'.

And they will consult with the people on tariff rates and then say the new tariff will not have impact on them, as what Agriculture Minister Noh Omar has said.

A 75 percent increase wouldn't have an impact? Well, that's because Noh Omar is out of touch with reality, like many BN leaders.

Ace Big bonuses and high salaries should only be paid when a company is doing well as these are rewards to the management for a job well done, and for bringing in profits to the company.

Why should directors and senior management be paid any bonus at all if the company is loss-making? Their salaries should be cut instead, and there should be no bonus because there is actually no money to pay the bonuses in the case of a bad year.

N Ng: These are examples of how our ruling government is taking public assets and giving them to their nominees. They are just enriching themselves.

Jkthum: It is so convenient for the BN government to put all "sensitive" information under the OSA (Official Secrets Act) to cover their tracks.

This law needs to be repealed. If not repealed, then at least the Whistleblowers Act should take precedence over the OSA, i.e. if elements of corruption or unfairness is present, then the OSA cannot be used to cover up the wrongdoing.

Too often the BN government has used OSA to put whistleblowers (and ordinary brave folks who fought for justice) in jail.

Argonist: More than a year's wait just for the written judgment on the Syabas concessions suit appeal. Doesn't this tell the Malaysian public something is rotten about the judiciary?

TVRP: They get free raw materials from mother nature, sell it to the rakyat and make huge losses. What kind of business is that?

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