Samy Vellu’s money-back solution to Maika issue

(NST) SUNGAI SIPUT: MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu has indicated that Maika Holdings Bhd, the party's investment arm, will be closed down after the company successfully pays back every single ringgit invested by its 64,000-odd shareholders.

He said he was giving his commitment that every single shareholder would get back his or her money once Maika succeeded in getting a buyer for Oriental Capital Assurance Bhd, a subsidiary of the investment arm.

He said he had asked Maika to take necessary measures to ensure the company could sell off its insurance unit to pay back all the monies to the shareholders as soon as possible.

"Then we can close down Maika … we have to first pay back the money to the poor Indians who had invested their hard-earned money," he told a press conference on the sidelines of the one-day Perak Indian NGOs' Consultative Convention yesterday.

Asked if Maika would be paying back ringgit for ringgit or more per unit, Samy Vellu said that decision could only be made by Maika's board of directors.

"I don't make that decision. How much to pay is the board's decision. I only want Maika to make sure that it takes the right measures to obtain the money and pay back the shareholders."

The former works minister, however, also pointed out that it would be difficult for Maika to find a buyer at the moment because of the restraining order obtained against the company.

Stressing that he was frustrated with the injunction obtained by Koperasi Nesa Pelbagai Bhd against Maika two years ago, Samy Vellu said there were attempts by certain individuals to keep Maika alive so that the failures of the company could be used to hit back at him.

"The purpose is very simple. The person behind the co-operative wants to stop Maika from paying back the shareholders. Failure to do so would result in shareholders baying for someone's blood. That someone is me … Samy Vellu.

Maika has become a political problem now."

Foreseeing the Maika issue taking the centrestage during the party's national delegates conference in September, Samy Vellu said he hoped for a quick solution to the matter.

Maika was established in 1982 with the majority shareholders comprising low-income earning Indians.