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Abdul Jalil Abdul Hamid was removed as chairperson of the Penang branch on July 19 and
asked to be expelled as Nube president 10 days later, said general secretary and
one-time ally J Solomon as he responded to criticism of the exco.</P><P>Abdul
Jalil has publicly levelled allegations against the exco in relation to two key
matters – the awarding of a RM1.9 million contract to renovate the trade union’s
training centre in Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan, and a study trip to Australia
and New Zealand.</P><P>Two police reports have been lodged since July 21, in Alor
Setar (against Solomon) and Kuala Lumpur (against the exco), alleging financial
irregularities and abuse of authority.</P><P>The second report was lodged two
weeks ago by Abdul Jalil, accompanied by Trade Unions director-general Mohd Zubir
Mohd Basri, urging investigations by the commercial crimes unit.</P><P>In an interview,
Solomon dismissed Abdul Jalil’s grievances against the Penang branch committee
and the exco as “personal … because he did not get what he wanted”.</P><P>Contacted
yesterday for comments, Abdul Jalil would only say: “I have no (personal)
interests. My only interest is for the truth to come out.”</P><P><B>Formalities
over contract</B></P><P>Solomon flatly denied Abdul Jalil’s contention that
the detailed proposal to renovate the training centre and the subsequent awarding
of the contact had not been tabled to the exco.</P><P>“The exco directed
the renovation works to proceed at a meeting last December, which Abdul Jalil
attended. Four quotations were submitted two months later to him and general treasurer
Tan Eng Hong for their deliberation,” Solomon said.</P><P>“I enquired
about their decision around April this year, but Abdul Jalil said his brother
knows a contractor in Penang who could do the job. I was surprised because the
task of identifying potential contractors had been completed, and I did not want
a controversy (over this).</P><P>“Both Abdul Jalil and I are from Penang.
What would everyone think when the president and general secretary are seen to
collaborate by bringing in a contractor from Penang?”</P><P>Solomon claimed
that Abdul Jalil accepted the explanation and agreed to engage one of the four
contractors identified, and to release an initial payment of 10 percent (about
RM190,000).</P><P>Abdul Jalil, Solomon, and Tan signed the cheque on May 16, but
on May 22 (Sunday) Abdul Jalil allegedly directed Solomon to pull it back from
the contractor since the exco had yet to be formally informed of the decisions
made.</P><P>Solomon replied that he could not do so, as he was leaving that day
for a conference in Geneva.</P><P>“Also, this would have embarrassed the
exco. People would have a bad impression of Nube. You can’t give somebody
a cheque and then ask if you can take it back. Why didn’t Jalil say anything
(all this time)?</P><P>“I would have been willing to take back the cheque
if the exco insisted on it, but its meeting would have had to wait for my return.
Meanwhile, the cheque was due to be cleared on May 23.</P><P>Furthermore, at the
next exco meeting on June 9, Abdul Jalil did not object to the awarding of the
contract when Solomon raised the matter.</P><P>“Why blow hot and cold (over
this) when he didn’t bring it up? All this because I did not give the contract
to his brother’s friend? If I had, it would not have become an issue between
me and him,” Solomon said.</P><P><B>Excluded from study trip</B></P><P>Solomon
also denied Abdul Jalil’s assertion that the proposal for the study trip
in July was not tabled to the exco.</P><P>“We did table it. Even if he says
we didn’t table it, why didn’t he question this at the next meeting?”
asked Solomon.</P><P>He explained that the trip to Australia and New Zealand was
for members to learn from the unions there about performance-related salaries
because Nube was due to begin negotiations with banks on a new collective agreement.</P><P>Solomon
said he decided to send all 10 members of the negotiating panel, but that Abdul
Jalil was not included.</P><P>“I did not take him along for the simple reason
that he does not believe in attending courses. From the time he took office until
the time he was asked to leave, Nube has organised many courses. He has never
attended the courses.</P><P>“How can I spend NUBE funds in taking him to
Australia or New Zealand? I may as well take somebody who wants to acquire knowledge.”</P><P><B>Branch
matters</B></P><P>Solomon claimed that the exclusion from the study trip led Abdul
Jalil to complain to a Penang branch committee member in a phone call on July
8.</P><P>The member then wrote to the Penang committee, putting the conversation
on record, because he was concerned over the lack of unity at central level and
wanted this resolved.</P><P>About the same time, the Penang committee was scheduled
to discuss Abdul Jalil’s conduct in handling branch matters as well as an
attempt to bring his brother into the committee, which was rejected.</P><P>On
July 19, the committee held a meeting at which he was removed as chairperson and
to refer the situation to the headquarters, although Abdul Jalil was not present
due to illness.</P><P>The committee wrote to the headquarters on July 24, attaching
the letter which (translated) reads in part: “(Abdul Jalil) conveyed to me
his dissatisfaction because he was not invited to go to Australia along with other
officers. It seemed like he was inciting me to hate the general secretary.”</P><P>Solomon
said all this led to a show-cause letter being issued to Abdul Jalil on July 24,
which he replied on July 26. However, at the exco meeting on July 28, he did not
respond to oral remarks about his conduct.</P><P>“Instead, he proposed his
own expulsion as Penang branch committee member, president of Nube and as a union
member. He then said ‘I’m leaving now’ and left the meeting,”
said Solomon.</P><P>“As the president and looking at what the union has gone
through over the past four years, should he have gone out and smeared the union’s
name? He’s angry with us. He has come to a stage where if he doesn’t
get what he wants, he will protest. In the process, he is not bothered who he
hurts.”
Address: Wisma MTUC,10-5, Jalan USJ 9/5T, 47620 Subang Jaya,Selangor | Tel: 03-80242953 | Fax: 03-80243225 | Email: sgmtuc@gmail.com.com