Chua Jr says Talam deal resulted in hefty bank loan
MCA has urged the Selangor government to explain why it chose to “burden” a profit-making GLC in the acquisition of Talam Corporation Bhd assets.
MCA has urged the Selangor government to explain why it chose to “burden” a profit-making government-linked company in the acquisition of Talam Corporation Bhd assets.
Its central committee member Chua Tee Yong said “debt-free” Permodalan Negeri Selangor Berhad (PNSB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the state, is now saddled with a RM230 million debt with an interest of RM86 million because of the acquisition.
“The (plots) land sold to PNSB consists of Bukit Beruntung 2 and Bestari Jaya, totalling RM450 million ,” said Chua, adding that there has not been any major development on the land since 2010.
Chua said PNSB’s audited accounts as of 2009 revealed that it was a debt-free entity and had a cash balance of RM76 million.
“PNSB is now in debt after the acquisition of Talam assets from the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat government. The usage of the loan of RM230 million would have been used to repay Selangor for the purchase of the assets,” he said.
However, he was not able to ascertain that PNSB had taken the hefty loan to purchase the plots of land in the Hulu Selangor constituency as the state firm’s 2011 audited accounts are not yet available.
“In 2009, they (PNSB) had a lot of cash, so there is no reason why they need to take a bank borrowing.
“The bank borrowing came in after the acquisition (of the plots). So even though we don’t have the 2011 audited accounts we can safely say that it was for the repayment of purchases made,” said Chua in coming to the conclusion.
He also demanded that the state explain why the land was not disposed to “private entities” instead of “burdening” PNSB.
Selangor had acquired RM676 million in assets from Talam as part of a complicated debt restructuring exercise in 2010.
The move was undertaken to recover RM392 million owed by Talam to three state agencies during the previous BN administration.
But Chua had claimed earlier that the state government had bailed out Talam with RM266 million of public funds.
He said the PKR-led state government had overpaid RM42 million to Talam for land as part of the debt restructuring deal with the company, now known as Trinity Corporation Berhad.
These claims were debunked by DAP’s national publicity secretary Tony Pua who had said that the total valuation for all 13 properties surrendered by Talam should be taken into consideration for the debt restructuring exercise.
In total, he pointed out, the Selangor government actually obtained the 13 parcels of land at a RM9.1 million discount.
‘Exco members are just a rubber-stamp?’
Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, who was to explain the matter in the state legislative assembly sitting yesterday, announced instead that five established auditing firms will be given the task to present a white paper on the debt restructuring exercise.
Khalid said the “white paper” would be tabled in the state legislature in November, along with the 2013 budget.
Asked on the matter, Chua hit back that the Pakatan government had “promised a white paper” in 2010 right after the exercise.
“They didn’t honour the promise. This is all wrong. Why is all this surfacing - appointing audit firms, tabling white paper at the year-end only afer MCA started asking questions?
“Why are the DAP executive councillors quiet on the matter? They don’t know the issue or they don’t understand the issue? Or are they merely a rubber-stamp?”
He questioned the November deadline, hinting that the state government can evade its responsibilities if the state legislature and Parliament are dissolved to pave the way for the general election.
Moreover, he ridiculed the state auditors competency, saying that “they failed to explain the deal”.
“Have they lost faith in their people? I think they are doing this just to buy time.”
‘Prospective buyer for Danau Putra difficult to come by’
On another matter, Chua showed a letter dated March 24, 2010 from Selangor Menteri Besar Incorporated, where a note is inscribed that the Danau Putra land acquisition will have to be put “on hold” as “prospective buyers” would be difficult to come by.
Chua had earlier claimed that Selangor had overpaid Trinity Corporation for Danau Putra’s 134 acres plot by RM57.3 million, but it was rebutted by the company which said everything was done above board.
“When a land is auctioned there is an advertisement, there are terms and conditions, you can visit the land before to apply for the tender and after that you bid for it. If necessary a replacement piece of land could be found after purchase.
“Since the transaction has been dragging on for two years, did the Pakatan government search for a replacement land from Trinity? (...) because in the letter it is clearly stated that prospective buyers would be difficult to come by,” said Chua.
“I want to know, if you know it is difficult to get prospective buyers, why are you buying this land?” he asked.
He had also alleged that the one of the plots, 80 percent of which was under water, was auctioned at RM15 million, or RM5.20 per square foot.
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