THE Malaysian Institute of Translation and Books (ITBM), which managed the now defunct bookstore chain, Kedah Buku 1Malaysia (KB1M), is now saddled with RM3 million debts from the failed brainchild of former prime minister Najib Razak.

KB1M, established in 2012 by project partner MPH Group Malaysia Sdn Bhd, has outstanding debts of RM3 million owed to several publishing houses since it ran into financial trouble more than two years ago.

All of its stores were shut down by 2017.

ITBN general manager Sakri Abdullah, who is also its operations director, said it has been seeking funds since early last year, well before the change of government.

He has met both former and current education ministers to find a solution.

“The ITBM chairman wrote to the then education minister (Mahdzir Khalid) requesting funds of RM3 million to revive KB1M’s operations and to resolve its outstanding debts of RM2.8 million.

“After the change in government, a few more presentations were made to the new minister (Dr Maszlee Malik) and he has been very supportive of ITBM so far, although we are still not able to resolve the problems,” Sakri told The Malaysian Insight.

ITBM is a government-linked company under the Finance Ministry while its administration is under the Education Ministry.

Najib launched the KB1M bookstore chain in September 2012, with the aim of offering reasonably priced books to encourage a reading habit. 

ITBM’s venture in KB1M ran into financial difficulties in 2016, just four years after its inception. One by one, KB1M branches around the country began closing until the last finally folded in December 2017.

Sakri said operational costs went up after 13 new branches were opened at Urban Transformation Centres (UTC) around the country.

These centres are also a brainchild of the Najib administration, where key government and private sector services are clustered under one roof for public convenience.

But rental at these hubs was high, Sakri said, and added to KB1M’s financial burden.

The bookstores were also giving discounts of up to 15% all the time without getting any subsidy.

Last week, The Malaysian Insight reported that publishers who supplied KB1M were upset that they have not been paid arrears from three years ago.

One of them is Lejen Press, publisher of the popular Awek Chuck Taylor by Nami Cob Nobbler. Its founder, Aisamuddin Asri, said KB1M owed them RM70,500 from 2016.

“We suspected there was a problem (of payment) early on and stopped supplying books to them in 2016. Otherwise, the debt would have reached hundreds of thousands,” he had told The Malaysian Insight.

Reports quoting court documents said KB1M owed some RM3 million to local publishers, among which were Fixi (RM104,930), Magfirah Pustaka (RM62,000) and Media PTS Group (RM260,000).

Sakri said ITBM was in the midst of sourcing other options besides appealing for assistance from the government.

“We have had discussions with MPH as the project partner on ways to resolve the debt but until now, there has been no injection of funds, whether from our partner or from the government.

“We have also informed the Finance Ministry about KB1M’s status.”

The Malaysian Insight is also contacting the Education and Finance Ministries for a response. – January 11, 2019.