PENANG called Umno’s bluff over gambling money

PENANG called Umno’s bluff over gambling money
UPDATED @ 04:00:40 PM 03-10-2010
By Debra Chong
October 03, 2010

PETALING JAYA, Oct 3 — The DAP dared Umno lawmakers today to return their salaries to federal coffers to prove they were principled Muslims against being funded by gambling money, which is forbidden in Islam.

The dare came after Bayan Baru Umno chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Saibu’s stunt yesterday, which saw 50 teary-eyed elderly folk each hand over their RM100 compassionate allowance received from the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government after being told the money was “non-halal”.

“All Umno elected representatives should immediately return all their parliamentary and state assembly allowances to the government as the revenue source is even more dubious than in Penang,” its national publicity chief Tony Pua said in a statement today.

“These Umno leaders should not only return their allowances back to the Government, they should also demand that for future infrastructure projects such as highways built by the Federal Government, there should be lanes designated for Muslims and non-Muslims based on the proportionate breakdown of source of revenue used to build the roads,” the Petaling Jaya Utara MP said.

He slammed the grand old party for “lying through their teeth to gain political mileage” in persistently claiming the Penang state government’s welfare aid to senior citizens was funded by revenue from gambling.

He pointed out that Lim Guan Eng’s state government had clearly denied the welfare fund for Muslims was sourced from gambling money.

He stressed that Umno leaders’ attempt to distinguish halal and non-halal income for Penang was hypocritical and ridiculous, especially when Putrajaya controlled licensing for gambling activities.

Pua also highlighted the Finance Ministry’s written reply to his DAP colleague in Parliament on June 9 this year, which stated that taxes were channeled indiscriminately into a Consolidated Fund, which would then be distributed for government spending, which includes the salaries and allowances for ministers and legislators.

“Penang state opposition leader, Datuk Azahar obviously could not tell the difference when he claimed that ‘Umno assemblymen need not return their allowances as the state government’s income was from tax revenue’,” the DAP lawmaker said.

Pua accused Umno of playing the religious card to create fear among Muslims and split the races in order to remain in power and urged the public to reject the “ridiculous thoughts by Umno leaders”.

The Penang government has refuted allegations that it was using gambling revenue to fund compassionate payments to senior citizens.

State Religious Affairs committee chairman Abdul Malik Abul Kassim claimed last month that the allegation, made in a blog and by Umno Youth, was “imaginary”, not based on facts and made with bad intentions.

The funds, he said, were a direct result of the state administration’s frugality and adherence to the principals of competency, accountability and transparency (CAT), which allowed the state to set aside RM20 million for the welfare programme.

“From that allocation, we have spent as much as RM10.7 million and we still have an additional amount of RM9.3 million to continue with the programme for the senior citizens in the state.

“It has been explained clearly that the compassionate monies were not from gambling sources. They came from revenue made from our collection of assessments and other means — not from gambling.

“The state government also does not have the power to approve gambling licences. Only the federal government has the power to do so,” he said.

Umno Youth had urged the Penang government to clarify a blogger’s accusation that it had been using funds from gambling sources to make compassionate payments to senior citizens.

Its information chief Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican asked Lim to explain the claim made in the blog Pisau.net, which alleged that the annual payments of RM100 to senior citizens and RM1,000 to their beneficiaries were being funded through gaming revenue.

Reezal also claimed the rumours had caused discomfort among some of the recipients of the money, especially those who were Muslims.