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R.Surenthiran
Sun - 25/08/2006
PETALING JAYA: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng says the
government's decision to take over as organiser of the Le Tour
de Langkawi (LTdL) and the Youth and Sports Ministry's decision
to settle the organiser's outstanding debt of RM3.5 million is
an irresponsible act.
"It's another bailout ... against national interest, wasting
millions in taxpayers' money with no action against the failed
organiser and sports officials," he added.
Minister Datuk Azalina Othman Said had announced in Parliament
on Aug 22, 2006, that the total cost to be borne by the
government to take over as organiser of the LTdL is
RM3,458,844.35 and this is not to bail out First Cartel Sdn Bhd.
Her Ministry had agreed to settle an outstanding debt of
RM2,307,909.09 claimed by International Cycling Union (UCI),
that is, RM1,056,238.25 owed to the cycling related creditors
and RM1,251,670.84 to TV-related creditors while the Tourism
Ministry would fork out RM1,150,935.26 to settle outstanding
debts on hotel bills.
Lim asked: "Is the government so rich that it cannot find better
use for RM3.5 million than to bailout a failed cycling event
that provides minimal value for improvement of Malaysian sports?
"It's just a waste of funds ... just like the proposed
High-Performance Training Centre in London which expected to
cost hundreds of millions of ringgit.
"If paying the RM 3.5 million bills owed by the failed organiser,
including hotel bills, is not a bailout then how does the
government define a bailout?"
Lim said the government and Azalina are in a state of complete
denial that the LTdL has failed and the government is
undertaking a massive bailout to keep it afloat.
"Worse, no action is taken against those responsible for this
failure that has tarnished the international reputation and
sporting image of the country and Malaysian sports in general.
"What happened to transparency and accountability promoted by
Azalina in Malaysian sports?" he asked.
"This is sending out a wrong message, contrary to the core of
the Abdullah administration's promise to root out corruption and
stopping the use of public money to bailout failed private
ventures.
"Azalina must not forget that unlike the F1 Race, the LTdL does
not attract top-class cyclists," he added.
Lim urges the government to have the courage to let the LTdL
fail as a lesson to sports administrators and private
enterprises that they have to pay the price of failures.
"It's better to bear the short-term pain now of cutting your
losses immediately than sustain long-term pain of bailouts
without end," he added.
Updated: 04:55PM Fri, 25 Aug 2006
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