KINIBIZ There is a mysterious vehicle that has spent double-digit billions and there is an air of mystery, alongside a strange propensity to walk uphill, surrounding what should have been a straightforward initiative through Pembinaan PFI Sdn Bhd. The emerging picture, however, raises the question of whether Putrajaya’s private finance initiative is simply an excuse to reward the select few.

As far as government initiatives go, Pembinaan PFI Sdn Bhd, a company wholly owned by the Finance Ministry, reeks terribly. A long list of questions remain unanswered on what should be a clear-cut undertaking by Putrajaya to move some projects to the private finance initiative (PFI) sector.

The concept, underpinned by Pembinaan PFI as a special purpose vehicle, is simple enough. Eight years ago Putrajaya announced that it will begin awarding concessions for public projects to smaller bumiputera contractors, who build and operate the infrastructure from said projects in exchange for regular payments throughout the concession period.

In a strange departure from established PFI practices, however, Pembinaan PFI was also intended to provide funding to the concession-winners. Accordingly the company was armed with RM20 billion in seed funding via a loan from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), with another round of funding later.

Naturally there are questions aplenty on a subject very much lacking in answers. There are four main question marks that paint an alarming picture.

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This story was written by Khairie Hisyam.