Most Read
Most Commented
Read more like this
mk-logo
From Our Readers
Maika rescue scheme needs further probe

I write with reference to the ongoing attempt by G Team Resources to purchase shares of Maika Holdings.

As you know Westport’s G Gnanalingam has repeatedly insisted that he is purchasing the Maika shares at a premium to net asset value as his way of giving back to the Indian community.

He has also stated that any profit made from the disposal of Maika and/or Oriental Capital Assurance (OCA) shares will be donated to charity.

However, a number of data points have not been transparently shared and I am writing to inform your readers of this, with the hope the truth may eventually be highlighted.

On June 21, Gnanalingam and his son Ruben were interviewed on BFM radio. To summarise, the interview started with the Maika issue where Gnanalingam clearly stated he was rescuing Maika to help the community. Then the interviewer asked questions on the development of Westport and how successful the port is.

However, around the 23rd/24th minute of the interview, Gnanalingam, in response to a question (which by his tone, he was not expecting and not pleased about), clearly stated that he expects the government to provide RM200m from the 10 Malaysia Plan Facilitation Fund to Westport for its RM2 billion expansion.

Whilst there is no legal link between the purchase of Maika and the RM200 million grant, it is not farfetched to assume that the 'rescue' of Maika (at a maximum cost of RM80 million, probably much less once the OCA shares and Tumbok estate are sold) will be 'compensated' via the RM200 million of funding from taxpayers.

The above is compounded by the fact that many Malaysian Indians working as labourers in Westport have lost their jobs by virtue of Westport undertaking certain previously contracted out tasks itself (eg, the 'lashing' of stacked containers) to reduce costs to ship-owners, particularly CMA-CGM.

These Malaysian Indian labourers have been replaced by cheap foreign labourers, some of whom are illegal. I understand anecdotally (no confirmation) that a petition has been made to the Ministry of Transport on this issue but so far no action has been undertaken. Those concerned in the shipping industry and in Klang can delve into this further.

Finally, there is a second part to the Maika buyout which may or may not happen. Gnanalingam has repeatedly stated that any profit from the sale of Maika/OCA will be paid to Indian charities.

However, he has not clarified

(a) to whom OCA will be sold to (apart from stating an ‘interested investor’ in the Maika share purchase prospectus) or

(b) how much more 'value' will be added to OCA post-sale (eg, through the grant of certain rights/ licences) such that the ‘interested investor will then make a tidy profit from a quick on-sale of OCA post purchase’.

I fully appreciate the above statements are circumstantial at best and I have no further proof to share apart from the fact of statements made on the radio interview and the fact that Malaysian Indian labourers are now out of work in Westport. I trust however that this will spur further public debate on the matter in the broader public interest.

ADS