Dr M kata Najib tak layak jadi PM

SHAH ALAM - Bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad menegaskan Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tidak layak menjadi Perdana Menteri negara ini apabila wang yang dipinjam 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) lesap dan gagal menjelaskan apa yang berlaku kepada dana tersebut.

Menurut Tun Mahathir, pelaburan 1MDB itu jelas tidak membawa apa-apa hasil malah menyebabkan kerajaan kerugian kira-kira RM25 bilion.

"Jelas 1MDB tak bawa apa-apa pulangan daripada pelaburannya. Bukan sahaja sedang mengalami kerugian tapi kerajaan telah kehilangan wang apabila 1MDB hanya bayar RM683 juta untuk pembelian tanah TRX (Tun Razak Exchange) dan Sungai Besi (bekas lapangan terbang).‎

"Kehilangan sejumlah wang yang besar yang dipinjam 1MDB dan kegagalan menjawab soalan berhubung apa yang berlaku kepada dana itu yang membuatkan Najib tidak layak menjadi Perdana Menteri," katanya melalui catatan terbaharu di blognya, hari ini.

Mengulas lanjut soal kerugian mencecah RM25 bilion yang ditanggung kerajaan atas urusan pembelian 70 ekar tanah di TRX dan 495 ekar di lapangan terbang Sungai Besi itu, beliau menganggarkan masing-masing tanah tersebut bernilai RM6 bilion dan RM20 bilion namun 1MDB hanya membayar RM320 juta dan RM363.5 juta.

Dalam pada itu, beliau turut membangkitkan soal beberapa pembelian aset oleh 1MDB yang lebih tinggi daripada harga pasaran iaitu‎ pembelian Tanjong Energy (Powertek Energy Sdn Bhd) dengan RM8.5 bilion dan Genting Sanyen Power (Kuala Langat Power Plant) dengan RM2.3 bilion.

‎Katanya, hutang keliling pinggang 1MDB daripada pelbagai sumber bernilai RM 42 bilion pula berlaku dengan jaminan kerajaan atau dengan kata lain, kerajaan yang berhutang.

"Kerajaan labur RM1 bilion dalam 1MDB. Mengikut rekod, 1MDB pinjam RM42 bilion dari pelbagai sumber. Syarikat yang tiada aset dan modalnya hanya RM1 juta ‎tidak boleh meminjam 42,000 kali jumlah modalnya dengan tiada cagaran. Tapi 1MDB mampu lakukan itu dengan jaminan kerajaan.

"Dengan kata lain, kerajaan yang meminjam wang tersebut. Jika 1MDB rugi, kerajaan akan tanggung. Namun operasi 1MDB tidak pula dipantau oleh pegawai-pegawai kerajaan yang bertanggungjawab dalam pengurusan dana kerajaan," katanya.

Setelah disebut beberapa pelaburan yang dibuat 1MDB, Dr Mahathir menganggarkan syarikat pelaburan itu masih mempunyai baki sebanyak RM27 bilion‎ yang masih tidak diketahui di mana dana tersebut berada.

"....ini semua pembelian yang diketahui. Kalau tambah semua pelaburan nilainya RM14.7 bilion‎ jadi ada baki kira-kira RM27 bilion. Lebih 1 bilion USD dikatakan telah dibayar kepada Petro Saudi tanpa pengesahan‎.Di mana wang selebihnya?

"Sebahagian jumlah telah dilaburkan di Pulau Cayman. Untuk apa? Apakah telah dibawa balik ke Malaysia?‎ Didepositkan dalam bank Swiss di Singapura? Kenapa? Dari mana wang itu dibawa balik? Kenapa wang itu tidak digunakan untuk bayar faedah RM 2 bilion itu? DI mana dana yang dikatakan dilaburkan di Pulau Cayman yang katanya telah dibawa balik itu?‎," soalnya.

Malah elalui catatan bertajuk '1MDB' itu juga, Dr Mahathir menyentuh soal tindakan Najib yang 'menyimpan' jawatan Menteri Kewangan untuk dirinya sendiri.

"Di Malaysia, Perdana Menteri dan Timbalannya selalunya akan memegang lebih daripada satu portfolio. Kadang kala apabila menanti calon yang sesuai, jawatan Menteri Kewangan akan dipegang oleh Perdana Menteri.

"Walau bagaimanapun, Datuk Seri Najib lebih suka untuk menyimpan jawatan itu dibawahnya sepanjang masa. Beliau lantik menteri kedua tapi beliau tetap perlu bertanggungjawab‎ atas apa sahaja yang berlaku pada kewangan negara," katanya.

Artikel '1MDB'‎ merupakan serangan terbaharunya terhadap Najib selepas catatannya sebelum ini menyenaraikan kegagalan Perdana Menteri itu sejak memegang tampuk pemerintahan.

- Sumber: Sinar Harian 

Switzerland, Scandinavia top global 'happy' index

A view of Lake Geneva and Montreux, Switzerland - InnaFelker/shutterstock.com

NEW YORK: Switzerland is the happiest country in the world, closely followed by Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Canada, according to a global ranking of happiness unveiled in New York on Thursday.

The 2015 World Happiness Report is the third annual report seeking to quantify happiness as a means of influencing government policy. The United Nations published the first study in 2012.

Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, New Zealand and Australia round out the top 10, making small or medium-sized countries in Western Europe seven of the top 10 happiest countries.

Academics identified the variables as real GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, perceived freedom to make life choices, freedom from corruption and generosity.

Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and one of the editors, said the top 13 countries were the same a second year running although their order had shifted.

They combined affluence with strong social support, and relatively honest and accountable governments, he told a news conference.

"Countries below that top group fall short, either in income or in social support or in both," Sachs explained.

The United States trails in 15th place, behind Israel and Mexico, with Britain at 21, pipped by Belgium and the United Arab Emirates. France ranks number 29, behind Germany in 26th place.

Afghanistan and war-torn Syria joined eight sub-Saharan countries in Africa -- Togo, Burundi, Benin, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Chad -- as the 10 least happy of 158 countries.

Despite the conflict raging in Iraq, that country was ranked 112, ahead of South Africa, India, Kenya and Bulgaria.

The 166-page report was edited by Sachs, John Helliwell of the University of British Columbia in Canada and Richard Layard from the London School of Economics.

"One of our very strong recommendations is that we should be using measurements of happiness... to help guide the world during this period of the new sustainable development goals," Sachs said.

Iceland, Ireland and Japan resilient 

The report would be distributed widely at the United Nations and closely read by governments around the world, he said.

"We want this to have an impact, to put it straight forwardly, on the deliberations on sustainable development because we think this really matters," Sachs said.

Besides money, the report emphasized fairness, honesty, trust and good health as determinants, saying that economic crisis or natural disaster themselves did not necessarily crush happiness.

Iceland and Ireland were the best examples, the report found, of how to maintain happiness through resilient social support despite the severity of banking collapses during the financial crisis.

The Fukushima region of Japan also saw "increased trust and happiness" after the 2011 earthquake by allowing people to build their mutual dependence and cooperative capacities, it said.

On the other hand, recession-hit Greece was the "biggest happiness loser," down almost 1.5 points from 2005-2007 to 2012-2014, and where data points to the erosion of trust, it said.

They said more and more governments are listening and responding with policies that put well-being first.

Political consensus in Britain, Layard said, had fueled "a major transformation" in mental health services to give evidence-based treatment to 500,000 people with 50 percent recovery rates.

But he singled out German Chancellor Angela Merkel as "the most interesting world leader" in responding to happiness data.

He praised her for initiating a grass roots project "of very great importance" that seeks to find out "what people want to see changing in order that their well-being might change."

A positive outlook during childhood also lays the foundation for greater happiness during adulthood, the report found.

"We must invest early on in the lives of our children so that they grow to become independent, productive and happy adults, contributing both socially and economically," Layard said. 

- Source: AFP RELAXNEWS