Ampang parliamentarian Zuraidah Kamaruddin has compared the BN-led federal government’s appointment of a former religious official as Selangor secretary, to a plan by pirates to steal the wealth of the people of the Pakatan Rakyat-led state.

kpg semarak scrap metal dealers dbkl memo zuraidah kamaruddin 121108 04 In a statement, the PKR Wanita chief said the federal government's choice of former Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) head Mohd Khusrin Munawi as the state secretary was a "despicable" act of a "desperate" BN.

"The financial drain of 'funding' Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's political promises, the RM111 million for (pre-school enrichment programme) Permata and the RM5 billion Warisan Merdeka tower, has forced the Umno-BN government into acting like 'Black Pearl' pirates which has to send in its agents to steal the rakyat's wealth in Pakatan controlled states."

'Black Pearl' is the ship in Hollywood blockbuster ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ that belonged to a crew of bloodthirsty and greedy pirates led by the notorious Captain Barbarossa.

The appointment of Khusrin as BN's puppet, she said, is the sequel to the ongoing dirty politics of the federal government.

"Khusrin's appointment is part of the Umno-BN's piratical agenda to wrest Selangor."

NONE "They (the BN government) want to put political expediency before the rakyat. If not, they would not have appointed somebody who has besmirched JAIS' reputation, as the state secretary. This despicable action shows that the Umno-BN government wants to victimise the rakyat of Selangor," she added.

She also repeated the Selangor government's stance that Khusrin is far from qualified to hold the state post.

"In the evaluation (for state secretary), importance must be given to a candidate's credibility and good track record. But Khusrin's appointment was not based on records and achievements but only on the 'back door influence' of Putrajaya," she said.

Zuraidah said she believes that the 'Black Pearl' federal government of Umno/BN and its "piratical" strategies will fail, and likened their position to a pirate nearly at the gallows.

"If it is true that Khusrin's appointment is Najib's latest strategy, as the new state Umno liaison, I believe that Pakatan leaders are not afraid because we have faith that the people of Selangor are mature and know who has served them well and who has 'robbed' them."

'Selangor's wealth the rakyat's'

NONE Earlier today, Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim said that the Selangor government's reforms have put a stop to the old way of doing things as practised by the former BN-controlled state government, that was rife with cronyism and the plunder of state wealth.

The new way of doing things in the state by Pakatan, however, is "non-partisan, proper and transparent".

"The old government, they didn't award projects to contractors. They call people who have never been contractors to give projects to. These people become chief-contractors, and they sub-contract their work to others resulting in a very high contract price. They did not use public funds properly," said Khalid.

Selangor's wealth belongs to the rakyat, not the MB, said Khalid, adding that state funds is not for "overseas study trips" but to be used for the benefit of the people, in reference to former MB Khir Toyo who is on trial for graft.

"If the former MB followed our advice then he would not have been arrested," he said to cheers and applause from the nearly 300-strong crowd at the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) auditorium.

Khalid said this in his speech before awarding 5A notices to over 220 applicants from the Kuala Langat district who were successful in their application for land titles.