Liu and Ean Yong rubbish allegations by new blog
By V. Shankar Ganesh, NST
SHAH ALAM: Selangor executive council members Ronnie Liu and Ean Yong Hian Wah have denied they were stealing allocation money meant for their constituencies.
They were responding to allegations made in a blog set up in memory of Teoh Beng Hock, who was Ean Yong's political secretary.
Teoh's body was found sprawled on the fifth floor roof of Plaza Mazalam here last Thursday where the Malay-sian Anti-Corruption Commission's Selangor headquarters is located.
He was earlier questioned by MACC which was investigating reports of corruption involving several Selangor exco members.
The two-day-old blog has cast a new conspiracy theory on his death and described him as an unwilling participant in a scandal involving top politicians in the state.
The blog also claimed that Teoh did not like what was happening but was forced to be involved by Ean Yong and Liu.
It also named one Wong Chuan How as having received 83 projects amounting to more than RM200,000 in the Sungai Pelek constituency in Sepang. The seat is held by Barisan Nasional's Yap Ee Wah and Liu looks after it on behalf of the Pakatan Rakyat state government.
Liu and Ean Yong, in a joint press conference, denied the claims made by the blogger, describing them as utter rubbish.
Liu said Wong was his personal assistant for the constituency and that he was in charge of liaising with the Sepang district office on allocations.
Liu added that Wong also looks after the Sungai Panjang constituency, which is held by former menteri besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo. Liu is Pandamaran assemblyman.
"He is not a contractor as claimed by the blogger. Many of the allocations are given out in his name and he later pays the relevant parties involved in organising the event."
He said some of the projects described in the blog were non-existent.
Liu also gave the list of projects that received allocations last year, saying it had been uploaded on his website.
"We have nothing to hide. You can check everything with the district office. Everything is above board. I have nothing to worry about but I need to make this clear as people may start believing what was posted in the blog."
Wong, who was also present, said he was a second-term Sepang municipal councilor and a businessman. He was also the DAP candidate for the area in the 1999 general election.
Ean Yong also defended himself, saying the allegations bore no truth as the blog was hitting at him just because he was Teoh's boss.
Liu said he would not lodge a police report as he doubted if the blogger would ever be hauled up. He also dismissed talk that Teoh might have been involved with the underworld.
"He was a good journalist who became a political secretary. He had no time for the underworld."
Liu believes that the current allegations were a result of his exposure of issues and police reports, such as when BN assemblymen finished their allocations within two months last year.
The blog also said Teoh, to protect himself, made copies of all the false documents and dummy companies that were set up by the DAP. It also alleged that Teoh left behind a hard disk containing all the information on this matter.
A list of 172 contracts with the amount and the contractor's name was also posted on the blog.
It said runners were paid up to 20 per cent of the contract amount, usually in cash inside a bag .
It also listed a trip by residents on Oct 21 last year where one WSK Enterprise was paid RM1,800 and that 10 per cent went to an unnamed assemblyman.
In another unnamed project, the invoiced amount was RM1,665 and the assemblyman got 10 per cent, DAP Serdang Aman branch received about RM380 and Teoh got RM112.
The blog also alleged that DAP was cheating its Pas and PKR partners by stealing the people's money.
Meanwhile, MACC deputy chief commissioner Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed said it would look into the allegations as it involved misuse of public funds.
"All information from any source on corruption and abuse of power will be taken seriously."
