DAP Wanita defends Hannah Yeoh

DAP Wanita chief Teo Nie Ching has come forward in support of her comrade Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh Tseow Tsuan who has been put under the spotlight over the DRT project managed by Asia Mobility Sdn Bhd.

DRT is demand responsive transport.

The company is co-founded by Yeoh’s husband, M Ramachandran and Premesh Chandran.

“The Hannah Yeoh we know is a person of integrity with a commendable track record. As a state assemblywoman, deputy speaker in the Selangor legislature, and now a minister.

“I believe, as I sit here unless there are those that disagree, which I don’t think there is, we do not question her integrity. However, as politicians, we are subject to various forms of scrutiny, so as politicians, we are subject to all kinds of scrutiny.

“So if any party such as MACC wishes to conduct an investigation, I believe that Hannah Yeoh will fully cooperate with the relevant authorities,” Teo said.

The Selangor state government has defended Ramachandran’s involvement in the project. The Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission has confirmed it would not probe the matter as there was no conflict of interest.

Ramasamy taken to task

Teo also took former DAP leader P Ramasamy to task for speculating about the possibility of a conflict of interest.

She also asked why the Ramasamy didn’t demand the same action against Lim Guan Eng during the MACC investigation into the Penang undersea tunnel project.

“Why didn’t Ramasamy (when he was the Penang deputy chief minister and still a DAP member) make the same demand when the then party’s secretary-general, who is now the DAP chairman, was charged in court?

“Why is he changing his stance now? Is it because he did not want to offend the party’s secretary-general at the time?

“And now that he is in a non-governmental organisation, is he trying to impose on others?” Teo asked.

POC stage project

Meanwhile Puchong MP Yeo Bee Yin said that the the bus-on-demand project is still in the Proof of Concept (POC) stage, and no contracts have been awarded as of yet.

POC is a stage where a company gathers information by offering its services to assess its market feasibility

In addition to Asia Mobility, Yeo mentioned the presence of another company participating in the pilot project.

“The Selangor government found that only two companies in the country have the license to operate van-on-demand services.

“Both companies were appointed by the Selangor government to perform the POC for the project for a period of nine months.

“After that, the state government will evaluate the outcome of the POC to determine if the project will help to reduce operating costs.” Yeo said.