KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam today sparked another crisis in Selangor by giving a 72-hour ultimatum to Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to sack three officials from the state-owned sand mining company, Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd, for alleged corruption amounting to RM100,000 monthly.
Manikavasagam, who has previously raised the issue of corruption within Khalid’s administration, said he will blow the lid on the issue if his demands are not met — adding pressure to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition which today began campaigning for the May 16 Sibu parliamentary by-election.
“I don’t want to expose things in detail at the moment... wait first. I am asking the mentri besar to remove at least three senior officers from the state sand-mining company,” Manikavasagam said when contacted by The Malaysian Insider.
He also wrote in his blog that he will make public incriminating documents and also send it to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) if the deadline is not met.
His text messages and blog this evening stated: “Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam is giving 72 hours to Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to clean the ‘DIRT’ from within the ranks of the Kumpulan Semesta senior officers who have received too much in bribes.
“If it is true Parti Keadilan Rakyat hates ‘CORRUPTION’ then end this vice immediately. The Selangor Mentri Besar must ‘CLEAN UP’ his own house first.
“Immediate action must be taken by the Selangor Mentri Besar or the Kapar Member of Parliament will ‘EXPOSE’ everything.
“We do not want members of PKR, especially the ‘Central Leadership’ to practise this unhealthy culture. Don’t let a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch,” the message said.
However, Manikavasagam denied he was intentionally causing further complications for PKR, which has so far suffered the loss of four MPs and a state seat following its defeat in Hulu Selangor last month.
Manikavasagam had been rumoured to be on the verge of quitting the party but has personally denied this.
Information gleaned from Kumpulan Semesta’s corporate website states that the company was formed by the PR state government to pioneer the sand-mining and mineral industries.
It launched its first sand production site at Lot 32546, in the Dengkil district of Sepang on Sept 15, 2008. The launch was officiated by Khalid.
The location aims to become a model sand production operation that caters to the construction industry while being sensitive to the needs of the environment and the people.
Earlier in the year, the first-term lawmaker had threatened to quit the party if the top leadership at the state and national levels did not attend to his complaints.
Manikavasagam eventually relinquished his spot as a PKR state vice-chairman but remained as a member of the central leadership council.
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