BUMIPUTERA entrepreneur’s fund Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd (PUNB) is about to usher in a new chairman. FocusM reported on Sunday (June 21) that Tanjong Karang MP Noh Omar has been offered the job, citing sources.
News portal Malaysiakini confirmed today that Noh will likely take up the gig but a formal decision would be made next week.
PUNB is wholly owned by Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputera (YPB) with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin double hatting as the foundation’s chairman. YPB is also the holding company of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB).
Noh, who is an Umno strongman, caused a stir on Thursday (June 18) when he quit as MISC Bhd chairman, just two weeks into the job.
In a Bursa Malaysia filing that day, MISC said Noh’s decision to step down came after “discussions” with PM Muhyiddin. Noh was appointed to MISC as Muhyiddin had decided to award loyalists with cushy jobs in GLCs.
Further, Noh told news publication Sinar Harian that his resignation was a matter of principle and not because of politics.
But now he is back in the GLC fold thanks to Muhyiddin’s GLCs-for-friends approach. Noh succeeds Hazimah Zainuddin, an entrepreneur picked by then Pakatan Harapan government to replace another Umno strongman, Ali Rustam, the current Melaka governor.
Hazimah was asked to vacate the post immediately and, according to former newsman Kadir Jasin, she was offered to lead Malaysian Debt Ventures Bhd.
PUNB has an allocation of RM150 mil, according to Budget 2020. But the fund, which is wholly owned by YPB, is also a source of patronage.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is investigating a few deals that happened under former chairman Ali, such as a publishing contract on then prime minister Najib Razak’s memoir.
Internal investigations show that many of the deals undertaken by the fund raised questions of conflict. For instance, Falahdini Baharudin, who ran the publishing house that won the contract, is the son of then PUNB director Jamelah A Bakar. Also, RM700,000 remain unaccounted for over that deal.
Moreover, this period under investigation showed that internal procurement procedures were abused in greenlighting deals.
Being the chairman of PUNB may not be as handsome as that of a GLC. In MISC’s case, Noh could have pocketed at least RM278,500 a year, based on the group’s 2019 annual report.
But one can certainly compensate for that by being a source of political patronage given PUNB’s weak governance framework.
And a lack of governance would mean that many Bumiputera entrepreneurs, of which the fund is supposed to cater towards, will get the short end of the stick. – June 23, 2020
