UMNO’S RM1.6 million injection to enable Utusan Melayu Bhd pay staff a RM2,000 advance each came from “friends of the party”, a party source said.

Umno itself couldn’t have come up with the funds, as it is having difficulties sustaining party operations, the source added.

Its bank accounts remain frozen since last year as part of anti-graft investigations into the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.

So, while party secretary-general Annuar Musa had said Umno’s hands were tied over Utusan’s financial predicament, party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was able to muster some “friends” to pool the funds that were used to pay Utusan staff RM2,000 each for their owed salaries, the source said.

“It’s not that Umno doesn’t care about Utusan’s problems. Even though Umno has sold most of its shares in Utusan, the party is still following developments.

“The problem is, we really are not in a position to help. We don’t have much money at all. The RM1.6 million we had to ask friends of the party to help,” the source said but declined to reveal who had contributed.

The RM2,000 advance was paid out on Tuesday night, after the paper’s management held a town hall with staff.

Utusan’s National Union of Journalists’ branch chief Mohd Taufek Razak said it had come from Umno coffers.

He said the money came after Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi met Utusan directors.

The payout was made a day after Utusan staff held a picket to protest against salaries that were unpaid from June, as well as delayed payments for 800 former staff who had taken a voluntary separation scheme (VSS) from the beleaguered newspaper.

Party secretary-general Annuar had said if Umno’s accounts were unfrozen, the party could use RM200 million immediately to help the country’s oldest Malay newspaper.

Annuar said Umno had no means to help Utusan after selling its share to private entities parties since February.

In February, Umno gave up its control over Utusan when it sold its 31.6% stake in the paper, or 35 million shares, to Opulence Asia Sdn Bhd.

Opulence Asia is fully owned by former Umno MP Abd Aziz Sheikh Fadzir, who is now Utusan’s largest shareholder and the group’s executive chairman. – August 24, 2019.