Selangor to re-examine joint venture agreements with private companies
(TMI) – The Selangor government said today that it will re-examine all its joint venture deals with private corporations and take steps to rectify agreements which are biased towards these companies.
Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim (pic) said an order has been issued to state-owned organisations to be more careful when going into agreements involving land development with private companies, which would only benefit the latter.
“We will continue our efforts to identify assets and land belonging to GLC (government-linked companies) and agencies under the state government and take measures to revise any agreements which are biased, or we will seize any land involved in any unprofitable ventures,” he said in a statement today.
This, he added, was to ensure that the rights of the state and the people in Selangor would continue to be protected.
He said the joint venture agreement between Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) and Nusa Gapurna Development Sdn Bhd, which was eventually contested in court, was one of the deals being investigated and re-examined by the state government.
“In fact, for PKNS alone, 30 joint venture agreements are being looked into,” added Khalid.
Yesterday, PKNS lost its suit against Nusa Gapurna and the Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) over a breach of shareholders’ agreement in a stake in PJ Sentral Development Sdn Bhd.
PKNS filed the suit against the two companies in June last year, saying that Nusa Gapurna had breached the shareholders’ agreement between itself, Nusa Gapurna and PJ Sentral.
It stated that it had pre-emption rights over 70% shares in PJ Sentral but Nusa Gapurna countered, saying it was entitled to sell its 70% shares in PJ Sentral to MRCB.
PKNS was ordered to pay RM100,000 in costs to Nusa Gapurna and RM50,000 to MRCB.
“As we all know, Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor Berhad (KHSB) and a few other GLCs have worked with private companies including Talam Corporation Bhd. And in the end, the state government had to rectify its mistakes through Debt Settlement Agreement to recover the land which was given to Talam,” Khalid said.
“The state government will now also call on all GLCs to sign the corporate integrity pledge with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to ensure that business deals are carried out in the right way, and ensure that the state’s rights are protected.”
