1MDB may have achieved the targets of its rationalisation plan, but the issue of corporate governance and accountability is still unaddressed.

PKR lawmaker Wong Chen said it is “absolutely astounding” that a massive debt hole had to be covered, yet no one has been sacked or charged for gross mismanagement or corruption.

“If we ignore this aspect, then we will perpetuate a culture of corporate impunity and this will send a very bad message to the financial market.

“Foreign and domestic investor confidence will continue to evaporate,” said Wong to Malaysiakini .

1MDB’s rationalisation plan may have solved a severe cashflow problem, but the Kelana Jaya MP wonders, at what costs to the public?

“There is always a cost to pay in any restructuring as there is no such thing as a free lunch from the market,” he said.

Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) central committee member Dzulkefly Ahmad, on the other hand, could not help but question 1MDB’s ‘middleman’ business model.

“Rationalisation plan or whatever you call it, the fact remains that 1MDB had to do this to get out of the rut.

What business model is this?

“As the strategic arm of the government, they have done nothing spectacular. They survived due to asset valuation,” said Dzulkefly.

1MDB, he said, survived solely because it was given “dirt cheap assets on a silver platter” which it in turn flipped “1,000 times”.

“Selling the assets to those who were willing to pay for that price. In the end 1MDB flipped it to foreigners.

“What business model is this?” he questioned.

Dzulkefly pointed out how 1MDB had never brought real value proposition for the country.

“1MDB should have developed all those assets (by way of) gross development value (GDV) which would generate billions, but it didn’t,” he said.

Nevertheless, 1MDB is definitely not out of the woods yet, said Dzulkefly.

“They still have scandals on their hands. For all the scandals raised against them so far, they have not answered them,” he said.

Rafidah: 1MDB has not contributed to growth

Former minister Rafidah Aziz in a Facebook post yesterday said 1MDB, despite its “billions” has not contributed to the country’s economic growth.

“1MDB, for all the billions, has not input into the economic growth of the country. Every effort must be made to bring back confidence and trust in economic and social governance,” said Rafidah.

In its rationalisation plan, 1MDB reached a debt settlement agreement with International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC), where it will see a debt reduction of up to RM16 billion for the company.

The second step was the sale of Edra Global Energy Bhd to China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN). 1MDB chief Arul Kanda Kandasamy had said that the sale of Edra would reduce the company’s debt by RM16 billion to RM18 billion.

The latest and final step to the company’s rationalisation plan was the sale of a 60 percent stake in Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd to a consortium consisting of Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH) and China Railway Engineering Corporation Sdn Bhd (CREC).

The 60 percent stake of Bandar Malaysia is worth RM7.41 billion while the current evaluation of its total value stands at RM12.35 billion.

1MDB's latest financial statements as of March 31, 2014 showed that it had accumulated debts of RM42 billion.

The rationalisation plan, first presented to the cabinet in May, was aimed at turning the troubled state fund around by reducing its debts.

Though as critics observe, nothing yet has been done to address the mismanagement in 1MDB, nor to punish those responsible.