Now, the net has been cast wider.
The ongoing internal probe by Sime Darby Bhd to find out how it made staggering losses has now been expanded to cover all its six business divisions.
The probe was previously confined to the conglomerate’s energy and utilities division.
Sime Darby’s five other business units are the plantations, property, healthcare, automotive and industrial divisions.
Chairman Musa Hitam said the management and external professionals were now putting the conglomerate under the microscope to weed out any weaknesses before coming up with any short-term and long-term restructuring efforts.
“Work is in progress at Sime Darby.
We are being transparent and very serious about it. Let the process of democracy work.
“I would like to assure the ordinary people, who are majority shareholders of Sime Darby, that nothing will be swept under the carpet. The timeline for this probe is as soon as possible,” Musa said here yesterday after closing the World Islamic Economic Forum, of which he is chairman.
The government-linked company announced last week that it would have to book massive losses suffered in projects in the Middle East as well as the Bakun hydroelectric dam project in Sarawak.
Sime Darby is expected to book close to RM1 billion in losses in its third-quarter results, expected to be released next Thursday.
Last week, Sime Darby also ordered its group chief executive Zubir Murshid to take leave of absence. It has appointed Azhar Abdul Hamid as acting group CEO.
The government has assured transparency in any investigation conducted on the company.
Musa said the internal probe might take some time due to the group’s sheer size of more than 100,000 workers and presence in 20 countries.
On calls for him to step down, Musa said he and the entire board would do so only after going through due process and then found guilty.
“To ask me to step down in two or three days is not fair. There is a due process and methodology for me and the board to first go through.
“To step down, you must first have the basis to do so. Nobody can ask us to step down except for the shareholders.” [ Yes, PNB and its Unit trusts holders are going to cry for sure!]
There is no substitute for pure meritocracy. Tokenism has seen its days!
Hit the right spots and see the cookie crumbles.
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