Baldah Toyyibah and Rowstead, one and the same?

KUALA LUMPUR: Following the Kelantan state government’s announcement to revive the Kuala Krai-Kota Baru highway project, bloggers have questioned the existence of two different companies where public donations are being channeled to.

This has led to suspicions over the authenticity of the companies named by the Kelantan Government as recipient for public donations for the construction of the highway.

Contacted by The Mole, a Kelantan government spokesman claims the two companies Baldah Toyyibah (Prasarana) Kelantan Sdn Bhd and Rowstead Systems Sdn Bhd are the same company and not two different entities.

Mohd Najib Abdullah, who is the special officer to Datuk Husam Musa (State exco for economic affairs), said: “The bank account name of Rowstead Systems has been changed to Baldah Toyyibah. ’’

“That is the official account holder’s name for the public to make their donations to the construction of the RM1.7 billion highway fund.’’

"Rowstead Systems was formed in 2007 but has only recently begun to fully operate."

Explaining further Najib said, “The Mentri Besar (Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat) suggested the name change just before the announcement by Husam to revive the stalled highway project.”

“Under the banking procedure, the process of changing the name takes three weeks.’’

Asked why the change of name, Najib said, “The MB wanted an Islamic name and Baldah Toyyibah in Islam means a prosperous state.’’

Prior to this, bloggers had raised issue that Rowstead Systems is the company receiving donations from the public instead of Baldah Toyyibah, the company named by the State Government.

Blogger RBF was the first to highlight the issue.

The blogger stated a reader had gone to Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad to deposit money under the account holder’s name of Baldah Toyyibah, but was shocked when the account number belonged to Rowstead Systems.

Blogger Syed Akbar Ali of OutSyed The Box had questioned the legality of asking public donations by the state government.

Syed stated in his blog, “Is this legal? Don’t you need a license from Bank Negara Malaysia or something before you can solicit deposits from the public for anything?’’

Responding to this, Najib said permission had been given by Bank Islam for the State Government to proceed with collecting donations under the bank’s account number.

Meanwhile a spokesperson from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said, “For a company to publish its bank account number is not against the law. It will only do so if it breaches terms stipulated for receiving public funds.’’

Source: MOLE