STATE'S DINAR AND DIRHAM NOT LEGAL TENDER, COIN SELLER AGREES

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 (Bernama) – Kelantan Golden Trade Sdn Bhd, the sole
state agency responsible for the sale of gold dinar and silver dirham,
today stressed that the coins are not legal tender.

Its Chief Executive Officer, Umar Ibrahim Vadillo, in stating this said the
use of the Kelantan’s dinar and dirham was strictly on a voluntary basis.

"Nobody has been forced to use or buy the coins as some media has suggested.
People buy the coins voluntarily and the shops join the network also
voluntarily," he said during a media briefing here Saturday on the gold dinar
and silver dirham being used in the state.

He said Kelantan State Chief Minister Corporation, Kelantan Golden Trade
and other government agencies have also agreed to allow their employees who want
dinar and dirham for part of their salaries to be given these coins but only
upon request from the employees and on strict voluntary basis.

He said he was also disappointed with some of the media and the way they
have reported on the matter.

"The issue of legal tender is clearly nothing to do with us," he said in
response to media reports which stated that the state was trying to make use of
the coins as legal tender.

Umar said the company fully understood that only Bank Negara Malaysia has
the right under the law to issue currency in Malaysia and that the ringgit was
the only currency which was the legal tender for payment of goods and services
in the country.

Umar explained that the introduction of gold dinar and silver dirham in
Kelantan was not a new idea or experiment but it was the first time in history
that people were being given a choice to use these coins for the payment of
zakat and services.

The Kelantan government introduced RM2.0 million (US$1=RM3.1) worth of gold
dinar and silver dirham for the people of the state in August 12 this year.

To date, about RM1.5 million of gold dinars have been sold out. The value
for the dinar and dirham are based on the market price.

As at Friday, the price for one gold dinar is about RM592 and RM13 for
dirham.

Umar said that the state government planned to double the operating capital
of the company from RM2.0 million to RM4.0 million to allow for the larger
production of coins.

Kelantan Golden Trade also planned to add production of the coins in a
second minting facility in Penang with Public Gold Sdn Bhd. The first production
was made by Emirates Gold in Dubai.

-- BERNAMA