Gaps start widening in SRVA’s leadership

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KUCHING: Barely two years after its registration, Sarawak Rangers Veterans Association (SRVA) looks set to face a major crack in its leadership.

It is believed that the association has been split into factions, with one led by its president Colonel (Retired) Robert Rizal Abdullah and the other by secretary-general Captain (Retired) Mohd Johari Ibrahim as both are claiming to be legitimate office bearers.

Rizal told The Borneo Post yesterday Johari was no longer SRVA secretary-general since November last year and therefore had no authority to deal with the association’s business.

“He (Johari) was sacked from his post in November 2013 because of certain misdoings by him. As the president, I have the power to sack him under Clause 20 (m) of our constitution. The Registrar of Societies (ROS) had also been duly informed about his sacking but unfortunately despite being served with official notice he still refused to leave the office,” he said.

As such, the president said Johari had no authority to call for a meeting of the association.

“Any meetings conducted or called by him are deemed null and void and so was the purported extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held on April 20 in Kuching,” Rizal said.

He also cautioned that the action by Johari and his group was actually inviting trouble with the ROS, and should be stopped immediately.

“The so-called April 20 EGM is invalid because how can you conduct such a meeting in my absence when I am still the legitimate president. In fact, our actual annual general meeting (AGM) will be held in Sibu on April 26 where I am going to relinquish my post and nominate Lt Colonel (Retired) James Tomlo Isa as interim president,” he said.

Rizal said he had decided to step as he was residing in Peninsular Malaysia and therefore “I prefer to pass down the helm to the local guys”.

“I fully agree with the names they put forward during the unofficial EGM last Sunday. The only problem is we need to make it official and this is what we are going to do in our AGM in Sibu this Saturday,” he
added. Among those proposed by members were Tomlo as the acting president and retired warrant officer Billy Panyau.

Meanwhile, Johari in an SMS to The Borneo Post on Tuesday said the proposed Sibu AGM on April 26 would be considered null and void.

“At its EGM held on Sunday April 20, the members unanimously agreed and passed a resolution to treat as null and void the AGM scheduled to be held in Sibu on April 26. One reason is that the executive committee members have never met to decide on that,” he pointed out.

Following these latest developments, many people feared that the association would be heading towards a big crisis if the conflict was not resolved.

A non-member ex-serviceman said if the crisis was allowed to fester, there was every possibility that the association would be deregistered by ROS. State ROS director Ken Leben, when contacted yesterday, said his office had yet to receive any report on the matter although he said his officers would be conducting an investigation.