S.O.S Alert. Save our Selangor
Rakyat Marhaen
The last Dewan Negeri Selangor was held almost a year after Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim was forced to resign as Menteri Besar following a string of defamatory accusations ranging from corruption, abuse of power and bad management. But unlike the previous sittings, this time around, Khalid appeared to be more poised and confident – an obvious effect from the apology he obtained from the former PKR Secretary-General who admitted that the accusations were mere lies propped up for their political agenda.
Despite not saying much, coupled with his famed mumblings and unfinished sentences, Khalid managed to irk the current Menteri Besar, Azmin Mohamed Ali, when he likened the state’s new investment set-up, Darul Ehsan Investment Group (DEIG) with 1MDB. Azmin seemed far more upset with that short comparison notwithstanding DEIG was actually first raised by DAP’s state representatives. His excuses and attempts to explain were not very convincing especially after the media dunked his claim that DEIG has not commenced operations when the truth is, it had already advertised for a request for proposal (RFP) and even paid out zakat (apart from the controversial nationwide distribution of zakat via his political party machinery). When pushed to the corner and unable to answer questions satisfactorily, he played the blame game and Khalid became the target.
If Azmin was to be believed, setting up DEIG to replace Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) was necessary to make up for Khalid’s “tainted legacy”. He claimed Khalid did so badly that Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (KDEB) owes the state government RM400 million. He further claimed Khalid had failed to realise the full potential of assets owned by subsidiaries to the extent of making a special mention of Yayasan Selangor. The inner circle of the Selangor government saw through the hypocrisy with disgust as Azmin had conveniently failed to mention that the non-collateral loan with four percent interest was approved by the Dewan to acquire Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor Berhad (KHSB). As reported in the media, Khalid announced the issuance of the “bridging loan” as a strategic business decision in view of KHSB’s huge land bank of 2,800ha with estimated gross development value of RM6 billion.
http://perangsangselangor.com/sites/default/files/MY_2223_20130706_N_Star_NT_PG28_21fc1b.pdf
Government sources revealed that the actual reason for the acquisition of KHSB was to offer the land bank to the state economic development agency, Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS), which was fast running out of land to develop. PKNS’s promise to offer RM500 million for KHSB’s land bank, would enable KDEB to pay off its loan to the state government. Indeed, it was a win-win plan for KDEB, PKNS and the state government. However, soon after Azmin was made the Menteri Besar, PKNS suddenly abandoned its plan to make an official offer to KDEB. Has PKNS lost interest in KHSB’s land bank? Of course not, they said. After all, the KHSB’s takeover was deemed as a crucial move for the survival of PKNS, which now has very little land resources – a direct effect of the wheeling and dealing during the UMNO/Barisan Nasional administration. Through KHSB’s takeover, PKNS could immediately have access to a land bank of reasonable size to work upon in the next few decades.
It is an open secret within the corporate Selangor inner circle that MBI had issued a strict instruction to PKNS “not to touch” KHSB – now seen as the goose with the golden eggs badly needed by DEIG to enable them to embark on five township projects worth at least RM10 billion.
http://www.theedgeproperty.com/my/tags/darul-ehsan-investment-group
It is mind-boggling how DEIG with 20-odd staffs could be tasked to implement a mega real estate development project, gambling with assets belonging to the people of Selangor. The only logical deduction that one could make is that DEIG would merely play the role of a sleeping joint venture (JV) partner in multi-billion ringgit property development deals or even worse, act as a plain and pure land broker. Of course, now that PKNS was forced to abandon taking over KHSB, it now has to fend for itself given its gradually diminishing land bank with 3,000 staffs on its payroll. Not to mention KDEB which is now saddled with a RM400 million loan and forced to figure out a new repayment scheme to the state government.
As if the KHSB episode is not enough, DEIG is also rumoured to be seriously eyeing Yayasan Selangor as hinted by Azmin who accused Khalid of failing to realise the full potential of the foundation’s property assets. The foundation, set up to provide scholarships and financial assistance to all Selangor-born in need, was given an array of assets as an income-generating avenue in order to fulfil its objectives. While many assets were lost amidst various deals during the UMNO/Barisan Nasional administration, it still managed to retain a few valuable assets, including the land on which the A&W PJ outlet sits, its buildings along Jalan Bukit Bintang and Jalan Masjid India, to name a few. If all these assets were transferred to DEIG – whose discussions are in fact already in the works – it is feared that these assets, of which many are located at strategic and prime sites, would be all sold off soon. Yes, we would get a few hundred million ringgit but the question that we should be asking ourselves is, how much will that amount last in the next 10 to 20 years? How will Yayasan Selangor survive in the future when it has no income-generating assets to fall back on to cover its financial needs?
The unfolding fiasco has not escaped the attention of the palace. Sources claim that DYMM Sultan Selangor has openly expressed his worries recently and noticeably soon after he declined to attend a scheduled Majlis Santapan at the state mosque. It is learned that the palace has instructed several senior government officials to closely monitor the developments surrounding DEIG, and rightly so.
When Azmin was made the Selangor Menteri Besar, many had doubts on how Selangor would fare with him at the helm. It certainly would be hard for him to rise to the benchmarks set by Khalid. After all, Azmin’s experience in running a company selling luxury imported cars can hardly stand against Khalid’s illustrious career in managing Permodalan Nasional Berhad and Guthrie Berhad, just to name a few. Many feared that Azmin would resort to UMNO’s old ways of promoting JVs favouring the private sector and questionable land dealings. The establishment of DEIG affirmed their fears. What little actions Azmin and his DEIG team have made so far are far from transparent, what more to inspire accountability and integrity. They must be stopped. It is time to save our Selangor.
