Prasarana mum over report Tajuddin is flexing his powers
Prasarana Malaysia Bhd has declined to comment on a report which questioned the leadership and direction of the company since the appointment of Umno leader Tajuddin Abdul Rahman as its chairperson in May.
"We have no comment on this subject," said a Prasarana official in a text message.
Prasarana Malaysia Bhd has declined to comment on a report which questioned the leadership and direction of the company since the appointment of Umno leader Tajuddin Abdul Rahman as its chairperson in May.
"We have no comment on this subject," said a Prasarana official in a text message.
Malaysiakini also made an attempt to reach out to the three-term Pasir Salak MP for comment, but he has not replied.
This came after The Edge reported that Tajuddin was exerting his authority by seeking significant changes at the rail and bus transport operator. Some of these changes have supposedly raised questions about the leadership and direction of the wholly-owned unit of the Finance Ministry.
Tajuddin has allegedly sought to terminate the contract of RM1.2 billion Latitud 8, a mixed-use commercial development at the Dang Wangi light rail transit (LRT) station to allow Prasarana to play a more prominent role in the project and eventually move its office to the new development.
The Edge cited documents sighting in reporting that the termination of the joint land development agreement (JLDA) may cost Prasarana up to RM80 million.
The documents also allegedly indicated that Finance Ministry has given "tacit approval" for Prasarana to move to the new tower being built in Dang Wangi from Menara UOA in Bangsar.
Reportedly the reason given was that Dang Wangi is the ideal location as it is located in the Golden Triangle area of Kuala Lumpur, which has one of the best values in terms of property and also one of the best commercial addresses in Kuala Lumpur.
The companies involved in the construction of Latitud 8 are Crest Builder Holdings Bhd and its 51 percent unit Intan Sekitar Sdn Bhd. The remaining 49 percent of the company is held by Detik Utuh Sdn Bhd.
Interestingly, Tajuddin's daughter Rahayu sits on the board of Detik Utuh.
Detik Utuh’s shareholders are Tindakan Juara Sdn Bhd (40 percent), Obata-Ambak Holdings Sdn Bhd (35 percent) and Vignesh Naidu Kuppusamy Naidu (25 percent).
Tajuddin's family members own Tindakan Juara. The company is 35 percent owned by his daughter and 35 percent by his wife Rohkiah Abd Samat while the balance of 30 percent is owned by his son Firdaus.
Both Rohkiah and Firdaus were appointed as Tindakan Juara directors in early 2007, about four months after the company was registered. Sri Rahayu was appointed to the board in February 2010.
In March 2012, Crest Builder and Detik Utuh were granted the development project.
Prasarana, which owned the 2.72 acres tract in which the development slated to take place, was to receive RM46.64 million or 21.2 percent of the project’s estimated gross development value of RM220 million.
The Latitud 8 was originally slated to be launched in 2016, but it never happened. However, Crest Builder said in its annual report FY2019 that the project had already commenced the main building works.
The development of Latitud involves a single block of 43 storeys, with 17 storeys of office space and 418 SoHo units on top of the offices, as well as a retail podium, all located above the Dang Wangi LRT station.
However, the construction work was reportedly halted and scheduled for a relaunch of the project in 2020, but again, it failed to take place. The offices of Latitud 8 said the launch will only take place in one or two years due to market sentiment.
Show-cause to CEO
The Edge also cited a copy of a show-cause letter given to Prasarana CEO Muhammad Nizam Alias and linked the disciplinary action to Nizam being insubordinate when he was instructed by the chairperson and the board to investigate MRCB George Kent Sdn Bhd, the joint-venture party tasked with constructing the LRT3.
Nizam is said to have made allegations against Tajuddin on the award of contracts.
Nizam was appointed in July, taking over from Mohamed Hazlan Mohamed Hussain, who had left after being suspended in early 2020.
On Dec 16, financial daily Malaysian Reserve quoted a source alleging that Prasarana was interfering in the appointment of subcontractors for the project by its main contractor MRCB-George Kent Sdn Bhd.
The turnkey contractor has refused to give into Prasarana's demands for "more say" but that this has resulted in MRCB-George Kent being given “a hard time” on its progress payment by Prasarana.
The source said that a high-ranking individual in Prasarana requested that MRCB-George Kent award a work package worth a substantial amount to a particular firm.
This firm, the source claimed, is politically linked to a senior figure in Prasarana, hence raising the issue of conflict of interest for the urban public transport operator.
Prasarana owns and operates the country’s urban rail services, which include three LRT networks and the KL monorail on top of operating the mass rapid transit (MRT) line.
It also owns and operates the stage bus services in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang, Perak and Pahang; provides management and engineering consultancy services locally and abroad; and undertakes commercial and transit-oriented developments within its assets, as well as key public transport infrastructure projects in the country.
As of December 2019, Prasarana had total assets of RM1.3 billion while its total liabilities stood at RM35.38 billion. It also had accumulated losses of RM42.41 billion.
Thanks Mkini for publishing this report. You followed up from the Edge report, that's great! Keep exposing, it will be a long battle but worth the fight. Now the true colours of PN is exposed. Not only talibanism, but kleptocrazy of a scale never seen before. Only Harapan can stop this, but they are infighting, glad to see some positive moves. Good Anwar realized this is the grave and present danger, and he needs all help available, and that talk of leadership is irrelevant. I hope people can see which is the greater evil and enemy, and don't waste energy looking back at the past. I also see some of the professional Malays standing up, at a great loss to them. I am sure there are many more Malays like them. Harapan has to get itself in order, and offer itself as a professional platform to all right thinking Malaysians.
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