Only RM25m Out of RM537m Recovered

This alarming report was published in The Star today.

“After investing RM537.04mil in the US-based Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (CAMC) through Composites Technology Research Malaysia Sdn Bhd (CTRM), the Government only managed to get back RM25mil.

The 2007 Auditor-General’s Report stated that CTRM, owned by the Finance Ministry Incorporated and Petronas, invested and lent RM537.04mil to CAMC as of September 2007. CAMC, which produced four-seater light aircraft suffered an accumulated loss of US$132.28mil (RM480.18mil) at the end of 2006 and filed a bankruptcy notice at an Oregon court on Sept 24 last year.

The Report said the investment failure was due to unscrupulous spending by its senior management officers, CAMC’s board of directors being unable to tackle production of aircraft quickly and the Finance Ministry Incorporated's lack of monitoring of CAMC.”

Oh dear! More than RM500mil gone down the drain or perhaps contributed to someone’s retirement funds! This was not the first case and yet the authorities choose not to learn from previous investment failures. The authorities can never be good investors because the decision makers and appointed honchos are using public money and not their own money. Bad investment? Never mind la, not my money, doesn’t feel the pinch and who knows, might be given another toy! Another RM500mil to try building space shuttle, any taker?

Leave these investments thingy to the private shareholders. Heads will be chopped if their hard earned money is burned! As stated in the above case, the foundation for financial disaster was erected as the honchos spent like nobody business with the knowledge that there was a lack of monitoring.

Accountability is the name of the game. The authorities can go back into this game once they embrace this accountability game rule! Choose to ignore this rule; don’t see how they can win the game.

p.s. Can ACA poke their noses into this case? Enough is enough!