Ex-CJ with indirect links to Kidex wants to meet Selangor MB, sources say

(Malay Mail Online) – A retired Chief Justice whose wife has a stake in the proposed RM2.42 billion Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) has requested to meet Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali over the matter, several insiders have disclosed.

Malay Mail Online understands that Tun Zaki Azmi had contacted Azmin, asking for a meeting over the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government’s stand on the federal project sometime last month, but the new Selangor mentri besar has yet to respond to this request.

It is also understood that Azmin had disclosed this during his meeting with anti-Kidex lobby, Say No to Kidex (SNTK) last Wednesday.

“MB mentioned this during the meeting. He said that he had not responded (to Zaki’s request) as he wants to meet the affected residents first over Kidex,” a source, who was present during the briefing with Azmin, told Malay Mail Online when met at the state secretariat building here.

Another source, one close to Azmin’s office, said the request was made sometime last month.

“The request to meet MB was made in October. MB has not responded yet or replied,” the source told Malay Mail Online.

Highway developer Kidex Sdn Bhd is owned by Emrail Sdn Bhd and Zabima Engineering Sdn Bhd.

Toh Puan Nik Sazlina Mohd Zain, who is married to Zaki, is listed as Emrail’s company director while Umno lawyer Datuk Hafarizam Harun is listed as Zabima Engineering’s company director and Emrail’s chairman.

According to its official website, Zabima Engineering is a PKK Class A and CIDB G7 registered company incorporated in 1982 under the Companies Act 1965 and that it specialises in infrastructure construction particularly road works, including pavement and bridges, general civil construction as well as water and waste water treatment facilities.

It holds the necessary accreditations (PKK Class A and CIDB G7) so it can bid for government contracts.

Emrail is a private limited company incorporated on 2 March, 1973. It is currently a full-fledged railway engineering company involved in telecommunication and infrastructure development projects, mechanical and electrical works, civil construction and power utility works.

Last week, Putrajaya said it is prepared to publicly disclose the details of its concession agreement with Kidex Sdn Bhd provided the highway builder’s shareholders and funders consent to the move.

Azmin has said that Kidex Sdn Bhd must publicly disclose the details of its concession agreement with Putrajaya if it wants the Selangor government to even consider reviewing its Kinrara-Damansara Expressway project (Kidex).

“The concession agreement is bound by a confidentiality clause which means it has to be agreed by all parties if the agreement is to be made public,” Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof told Malay Mail Online via text message.

Responding to MB Azmin’s demand, Fadillah said that Kidex Sdn Bhd would have obtain the consent of its “funders and shareholders” if a full public disclosure of the deal was to be made.

“The ministry has no problem if all parties in the agreement agree because in other agreements once all parties have consented the details can be accessed and read by many people in the ministry’s library,” the Works Minister added.

Azmin said he has laid out three terms that Kidex Sdn Bhd and the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) must follow, adding that the new conditions must be met before the extended concession agreement expires on February 15 next year.

The other two conditions, said the Selangor MB was a full disclosure of the proposed toll rates and returns of the highway that also shares the company’s name, and proof through a thorough traffic impact assessment that it would be beneficial to users and residents in Petaling Jaya.

Azmin, who replaced Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim as the chief of Malaysia’s richest state in September, has publicly stated his administration would not oppose any highways which were beneficial to Selangor, provided the assessment reports and viability of these projects were done above board.

Critics have claimed that the Selangor government’s current stand on the Kidex highway is against PR’s 2013 general election pledge to abolish tolled highways should they assume federal power.

A Kidex Sdn Bhd official told Malay Mail Online recently said that the concession deadline was extended to February next year because Kidex is part of Putrajaya’s “overall transportation and traffic management initiatives” for the Klang Valley.

Works Minister Fadillah has said the final approval for the controversial highway project ultimately lies with the Selangor government.

The Kidex project has been rejected on three occasions by the city council as the developer failed to provide sufficient details.

Under Section 18 of the Town Country and Planning Act, construction cannot start unless a highway fits with the MBPJ’s local plans.

The Kidex highway is currently not incorporated into the council’s blueprint for Petaling Jaya.

Among the areas that could be affected by the project are Tropicana Mall, SS2 Mall, Rothman’s traffic lights, Section 14, Amcorp Mall, Hilton Petaling Jaya, Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital, Jalan Templer roundabout, Taman Datuk Harun, Taman Medan Baru and Bandar Kinrara.