UTUSAN Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd had no intention of reviving the media company, and had instead always worked towards shutting down operations, the Utusan Melayu Malaysia Veterans’ Club (KVUM) said today.

KVUM president Khalid Yunus said the club discovered that the management company was involved in a share sale process at about the same time it had publicly announced a financial restructuring plan, which included increasing the cover price of the Utusan Malaysia and Kosmo newspapers.

“So, the management must tell us how long it had been planning to sell off its shares. We feel it was a long, organised plan to sell off.

“The question is, why did they then continue to give hope to the staff that there was a restructuring plan in place, resulting in employees coming to work and hoping that they unpaid salaries would be paid?” he told a press conference in Ampang this morning.

The former information minister said they had evidence to show that the company had sold off its shares on the said date.

He said the management had also passed rights to the publishing permits of the two newspapers to Dilof Sdn Bhd.

“And then, Dilof Sdn Bhd’s name was changed to Media Mulia Sdn Bhd on October 7, the same day an interim liquidator was appointed to oversee the shutdown.”

He added that all the companies linked to Utusan now had the same owner, whom he did not name.

“What we see is that the management was only interested in protecting its publishing permits and not the well-being of its staff,” he said.

Khalid added that KVUM would bring the matter up to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to ensure no wrongdoing would go unaccounted for.

Utusan Melayu, formed in the late 1930s, closed down operations on October 9, terminating about 800 employees in the process.

The decision was taken as the newspaper company was no longer able to shoulder the burden of its debts accumulated over the years, estimated at between RM240 million and RM340 million.

News on the company winding up came a day after it announced that it would relinquish 70% of its holdings in Dilof to Aurora Mulia Sdn Bhd, a company linked to tycoon Syed Mokhtar Albukhary.

Utusan had struggled with severe financial difficulties over the past few years. Its woes intensified after Barisan Nasional lost the last general election.

The company had taken steps to manage its finances, including slashing staff numbers at the end of last year and selling assets to increase cash flow.

Utusan started out in Singapore in 1939, and moved to Kuala Lumpur in 1959. Two years later, it was owned by BN lynchpin Umno, until after the 14th general election in May last year that saw the pact ousted from power. – October 25, 2019.