The Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) fiasco had taught the public much of how projects could inflate into a fullblown controversy following cost overruns and other irregularities – all at the expense of taxpayers and to the benefit of politicians and their cronies.
Will we see the same, sordid saga following the transfer by railway firm Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTMB) of land it owned in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, to property developer Pelaburan Hartanah Berhad (PHB)?
This is the question on the mind of Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, who has demanded to know the fate and future of the property, and which has been estimated to be worth at least RM300 million.
It was earlier reported that KTMB had transferred eight hectares of land situated behind the former Unilever headquarters on Jalan Bangsar to Pelaburan Hartanah Bumiputra Bhd – now known as Pelaburan Hartanah Bhd (PHB) – allegedly far below the property’s market value.
Said to be worth at least RM400 million, theSun reported last month that the national railway company may be paid only RM50 million by PHB for the prime real estate.
PHB is the subsidiary of Yayasan Amanah Hartanah Bumiputera, a foundation initiated in 2006 with RM2 billion capital, to raise bumiputra property ownership.
Though the Valuation and Property Services Department had in 2007 valued the tract of land at RM299.477 million, theSun cited industry players as placing its minimum worth at RM350 – RM500 million.
While neither KTMB nor PHB have confirmed nor denied the allegedly low quantum of the “compensation” deal, concerns have been raised over the matter given the national railway company lost RM118 million in 2008 and could do well with a larger cash injection.
Select few to benefit
Nurul Izzah, however, said the KTMB land sale also raises the spectre of another PKFZ-like controversy recurring in light of information now publicly available of how the latter was manipulated for the pecuniary gain of a select and politically connected few.
Among the possible senarios, said Nurul Izzah, is the eventuality of a selected few using either a private company or a government body to justify the purchase of state-owned land at below-market value.
During the course of project development, she added, “friends and families” of the “selected few” could doubly benefit by being awarded the project at an then inflated price sub-contracting the work at very low prices.
Another possibility is the move by “crony development companies” to use their relations with politicians to obtain favorable government-backed loans or government guarantees for private bond issues.
Deep discounts
Upon the project’s completion, would the completed units be sold at deep discounts to selected bumiputeras, while the majority of the rakyat are prevented from availing of such opportunities due the prohibitively high prices?
Or will the bumiputera owners then sell these properties onto the secondary market – or offload them onto government agencies for their use as headquarters or branch offices – at a huge profit?
In the end, Nurul Izzah asked further, will the project finally end up as a white elephant in need of a government bailout on the pretext of saving a bumiputera enterprise?
“Just like the transaction of the land belonging to KTMB in Tanjung Pagar, this current transaction by the present government raises a lot of unanswered questions.
“It is a form of indirect subsidy or ‘tax’ for the benefit of the few which is quite unjust especially during a time when the subsidies for the rakyat are withdrawn.
“I hope I am proven wrong,” she said.
Nurul Izzah also said she will be monitoring the developments of this project and propose the set up of a bipartisan caucus in Parliament to monitor the implementation of bumiputera policies with the view to producing an annual on the list of beneficiaries and the results of the policies.
