Bank Pembangunan: Pinjaman Kepada Tan Sri Kenneth Eswaran “Rahsia”

Oleh A Kadir Jasin

SEPERTI saya sebutkan dalam posting berjudul “Putera Mahkota Baru Dunia Niaga” 22 Jun lalu(baca di sini), majalah Malaysian Business (MB) telah menghantar soalan kepada Bank Pembangunan Malaydia Berhad (BPMB) meminta pengesahan atau penafian laporan pinjaman RM500 juta kepada syarikat penyiaran milik Kenneth Eswaran.

Akhbar The Star/ANN pada 8 Jun memetik Eswaran sebagai berkata ABNXcess telah memperoleh pinjaman setengah billion daripada BPMB (baca di sini).

[He is looking at 2.5 billion ringgit for a 10 year period and for starters, ABN has secured about 500 million ringgit loan from Bank Pembangunan. In addition to that, shareholders have provided funding to jumpstart the project. Eswaran says that amount of funding is enough for 7 years for the first phase of the project.]

Berikut adalah soalan MB kepada BPMB:

Subject: Fwd: Malaysian Business: Disbursement Loan and Kenneth Eswaran

Salam Nor Sham,

This is Mior Azhar, associate editor for Malaysian Business magazine. I believe my writer Joshua has contacted you earlier regarding the loan given by Bank Pembangunan to ABNxcess owned by Tan Sri KK Eswaran (which was reported in The Star News paper on June 8 - attached). Also attached is our previous article on Tan Sri Eswaran and ANBxcess publsihed in our June 16 issue. We really would like to have Bank Pembangunan's confirmation on this matter. We are following up on this issue and therefore would like to know if

1. The loan has been approved? If yes, when? How long does it take to process the loan application by ABNxcess?

2. We would also like to know the basis of the loan as I believe that RM500 million is the ceiling for your loan disbursement? Is it a usual practice for the bank to approve such big amount to a new set-up? If not, why the special treatment for ABNxcess? I really hope you can revert with the answers latest by today as we are going to print an article regarding this matter and would like Bank Pembangunan to have a say on its participation. You can call me at 0169937875. Thank you so much for your help. Mior
Pada 28 Jun, Nor Sham, bagi pihak BPMB, menghantar emel berbunyi:

“En. Mior .. As per our earlier email, we are sorry to inform you that due to the Duty of Secrecy under BAFIA .. we are unable to reveal any information to any party ..”
Thank you.”

Pendek panjangnya, Bank Pembangunan milik kerajaan Malaysia berkata: “Seperti dalam e-mel kami yang terdahulu, kami memohon maaf untuk memaklumkan kepada anda, disebabkan tanggungjawab kerahsiaan di bawah Akta Bank dan Institusi Kewangan (BAFIA) .. kami tidak dapat mendedahkan sebarang maklumat kepada mana-mana pihak..”

Jadi kita tidak akan tahu sama ada BPMB meluluskan pinjaman raksasa itu kepada stesen TV digital Eswaran atau tidak.

Sementara itu, dalam kolum saya “Other Thots” dalam keluaran 1 Julai saya menggesa agar Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri mengenai ketelusan, Paul Low Seng Kuan, dijadikan pemeriksa kerajaan.

Antara lain, saya menulis: “In fact he should be made the chief scrutineer of the government and given the power to observe any process which requires rigorous oversight, either to prevent the occurrence of corruption or genuine mistakes like, for examples, the recent appointment of Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yackop as Deputy Chairman of Khazanah Nasional Berhad and the repeated delays in the completion of terminal two of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.”

Baiklah kita tahu ada BAFIA. Tetapi adakah semua urusan bank rahsia? Kalau rahsia, apa halnya dengan dakwaan terbuka Eswaran yang dia sudah memperoleh RM500 juta pinjaman daripada BPMB? Siapa yang bercakap benar ni?

Dan takkanlah identiti pembekal dakwat tak boleh padam yang terpadam pun rahsia juga? Wallahualam.