A PAS leader today accused the Penang Customs Department of granting Perlis Menteri Besar Shahidan Kassim duty exemptions for the purchase of 'personal' goods.

Husam Musa (PAS-Kubang Kerian) claimed that the duty exemption was given to Shahidan's recent purchase of RM113,000 worth of goods from China.

The opposition parliamentarian added that the goods were believed to be for election campaigning purposes.

At a press conference at the Parliament lobby, Husam also distributed copies of an invoice from the Chinese company Xiamen S&M Co Ltd which detailed the purchase.

According to the invoice, Shahidan's office had on Sept 17 purchased 2,200 banners, 20,000 flag lines,12,000 badges, T-shirts and caps. The total of the deal amounted to RM113,200.

These goods were shipped from China three days later. Following this, Husam claimed the Perlis MB applied to Penang Customs chief Zainol Abidin Din for an exemption of duty.

A letter obtained by Husam, purportedly showed that Shahidan via his personal assistant Azhar Abdullah, submitted the application to the custom chief on Sept 30.

"It is to inform that a sum of goods belonging to the Perlis MB will be arriving at the Penang Port. With this reference, we apply to you to grant an exemption of duty on these goods which are for the personal use of the MB," read the letter, which bore the MB office's official letterhead.

Husam said the approval was then granted on Oct 3.

Explain yourselves

The PAS leader called on Shahidan to explain if he was abusing his position to purchase personal goods.

"Who paid for these goods which would be used for campaigning? Was it Barisan Nasional or the MB's office? The invoice here is addressed to the MB's office," he added.

He said it was improper for Shahidan to use his office as a "facility" to apply for duty exemptions for party purposes and asked if the opposition would be granted similar exemptions.

Husam also demanded an explanation from the customs officials.

Confidential terms

In another development, Deputy Finance Minister Dr Mohd Shafie Salleh told the Dewan Rakyat earlier that the agreement terms regarding the privatisation of MAS catering were "confidential".

He said this was because the concerned parties - which involved Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's brother, Ibrahim Ahmad Badawi - were still in the process of reaching a consensus on several clauses in the agreement despite the share sale agreement becoming unconditional on Sept 25.

The deputy minister was responding to a question by Husam.

The reply led Kamaruddin Jaafar (PAS-Tumpat) to protest, saying the silence on the details denied parliamentarians' right to know and displayed the ministry's disrespect for them.