Highlight YTL, Francis Yeoh urged to prove “innocence of cronyism” by Malay business NGO

by **Cals** Fri 20 Jun 2014, 01:50

Highlight YTL, Francis Yeoh urged to prove “innocence of cronyism” by Malay business NGO

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Ahmad Naqib Idris Adzman Shah of theedgemalaysia.com

Thursday, 19 June 2014 16:36

KUALA LUMPUR (June 19): The Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM) has called upon the YTL Group and its high-profile managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh to “prove their innocence of cronyism”.

Francis Yeoh has come under fire after he said recently Malaysia needed to do away with “crony capitalism” like foreign countries, although Yeoh was himself widely seen as a crony of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who granted the first IPP concession to YTL.

Yeoh, who two weeks ago denied he was a crony of Mahathir, also faced criticisms from UMNO-owned newspapers and Mahathir himself last week.

At a press conference today, MTEM chief executive officer Mohd Nizam Mahshar pointed out that YTL has benefitted significantly through contracts awarded via direct negotiations with the government since 1955.

Some of the projects named were the IPP (independent power plant) concessions awarded for the Paka and Pasir Gudang Power Stations and the 1BestariNet project.

YTL, which was started by Francis’ grandfather as a small construction contractor getting jobs from the government, has expanded tremendously locally and globally under the leadership of Francis Yeoh in the 1990s.

YTL Corporation now operates in various segments including utilities, construction, IT, hotel, cement manufacturing, and property investment. Its subsidiaries that are listed on Bursa Malaysia include YTL Power International, YTL e-Solutions and YTL Land & Development.

“From MTEM’s side, we ask Yeoh as managing director of YTL Corp to prove their innocence. Prove that they were not cronies,” said Nizam.

MTEM wanted YTL to prove that the contracts won had benefitted the Malaysian people, specifically the Bumiputeras, and whether there are any “wealth sharing prospects” to address the wealth disparity in Malaysia.

When asked whether the government is the sole responsible party to address the issue of wealth disparity, Nizam answered: “No, it is not just the government’s responsibility. This is a job for the government, the private sector and even the civil societies.”

Nizam added that MTEM does not view YTL as the only “felon” in this matter, but said that there are many other Malaysian companies also guilty of the accusations.

However, Nizam declined to name other companies and said that MTEM wanted to focus on YTL for now.

“All these companies, YTL included, benefited in one way or another from the government’s good graces in the past but have yet to repay the favour , and in this case, by addressing income and wealth disparity in Malaysia.

“From our side, we would be happy to host a roundtable session with Francis Yeoh and other companies of similar calibre, to discuss disparity and wealth sharing in Malaysia which MTEM considers a national agenda,” said Nizam.