A-G’s appointment to LTH board not without precedent

KUALA LUMPUR: The Attorney-General’s (A-G) appointment to Lembaga Tabung Haji’s (LTH) board of directors is a non-salaried position and not without precedent, says the pilgrimage fund’s chairman Datuk Abdul Azeez Abd Rahim.

He said Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali was appointed by the Govern­ment in January as it needed someone with legal expertise on the LTH board who could strengthen operations and ­management.

The move was made following Bank Negara’s letter to LTH on its reserves and the issue of appointing those who can strengthen its operations.

“Sometimes when we (LTH) do agreements, we require legal opi­nion. If we use external consultants or lawyers, it will cost us money.

“We wrote to the A-G’s office. They asked us if there was a salary, and when we said ‘no’, they agreed to nominate the A-G.

“He was appointed on Jan 15 this year.

“If we have an A-G on board, he can give us free legal advice. He is also a board member of the Federal Territories Religious Council (MAIWP), so it is in line with what he wants to do to help the fund’s depositors.

“The appointment was made by the minister. I don’t have the power to do so as chairman,” he told a press conference after Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom announced the depositors’ bonuses for the 2015 financial year at LTH’s headquarters here yesterday.

He pointed out that past A-Gs had also been appointed to other government institutions, such as the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), without pay.

Former A-G Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman had been a board member of the EPF while Mohamed Apandi’s predecessor Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail had been on the board of Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd.

On another matter, Abdul Azeez said LTH’s subsidiary TH Properties will build apartments on its land bank at the Tun Razak Exchange. It will not sell the plot.

He said the initial value of the 0.64ha plot was RM177.5mil, but it is now worth RM250mil.

“LTH Properties had been given the mandate to build apartments and this is being done,” he said.