After failing at FGV, Isa Samad’s appointment to SPAD doesn’t make sense at all

Isa Samad’s removal from the chair of FGV is long overdue, but Malaysians were stunned today to learn that Isa is given the acting chairmanship of the Land Public Transport Commission(SPAD), filling the vacancy left by SPAD’s founding chairman and former minister Syed Hamid Albar earlier this year.

Isa has made a mess out of FGV and earlier FELDA. He should not be rewarded with such an important position in SPAD which could further erode public confidence towards the Government.

SPAD is directly or indirectly responsible for the following projects:

1. ECRL – worth RM 55 billion
2. KL-Singapore High Speed Rail – worth RM 60 billion
3. MRT Line – worth RM 28 billion
4. MRT Circile Line – worth RM 20+ Billion

Is Isa going to create a bigger mess in his new position where the stakes are equally high, if not higher, than FGV and FELDA?

What value does Isa bring to the table, that Prime Minister Najib Razak has to keep him around even after he was almost universally discredited for the troubles he created for FELDA and FGV?

Are there any secrets which Isa is helping Najib to keep resulting in Isa’s continued presence in the Najib administration despite not holding a senior post in UMNO since more than a decade ago?

Since the creation of SPAD in 2010, I have consistently argued that SPAD and the governing of public transport should be placed under the Ministry of Transport and not the Prime Minister’s Department.

I call on Minister of Transport Liow Tiong Lai to agree with me that public transport should be placed under his ministry and to reject Isa’s appointment to SPAD.

Malaysians should all voice out against Isa’s continued presence in Najib’s administration despite major mess he created in FELDA and FGV, which should have been investigated much earlier.

Media statement by DAP National Political Education Director and MP for Kluang Liew Chin Tong in Kluang on 19th June 2017