Talam debt recovered?

by drrafick

• When the issue of Selangor MB Inc. (MBI). recovery effort of Talam debt to several state GLC hits the news about a year back, there were many eagerly attack the Selangor MB over his effort. I chose to give him space and the benefit of doubt considering his corporate background. We must appreciate that we are dealing with an intelligent person that is far superior to the dentist despite his political handicap.

• Last week when the MB announced in the State Assembly that he plans to announce the details of the recovery program, I waited eagerly. I searched everywhere and I must say that I am disappointed as there is very little information available. I had to scout several places all over the web to put the pieces together. I must say I am still disappointed.

• To date, it seems the actual value of the debt is unclear. It has been reported that the value is RM391 mill, 391.8mill, RM391.99 mill and RM392.02 mill. Along the line Talam paid RM50 mill in cash. Talam sold a piece of land identified as Bukit Beruntung (X acres) to MBI for RM150.61mil. It appears that subsequently MBI sold part of the land to PKNS for RM16.9 mill and 1,312.89 acres to PNSB at a price of RM180 mill.

• In FMT it was reported that the SSG manage to recover 6000 acres of land (which I suspect is not related to the MBI deal) but due to Talam failure to pay the premium to the state. FMT also reported that MBI contra the debt with 1300 acres of land in Bestari Jaya, 1000 acres in Bukit Beruntung and 1000 acres at Kuala Langat. FMT also mentioned that the land was valued at RM5 psf. If we take the total of land MBI acquired (excluding the unclear 6000 acres) the total area would be about 3300 acres and at RM5, the total value is RM718.74 mill. The point I am trying to make is that the value does not gel.

• In Selangorku website, the MB released more vague statements in terms of projected value of the land acquired. This refers to the gross development value and should not be confused with the actual value of the land. As part of the residents of Selangor, we all deserved clear and transparent information. Right now the MB has failed to provide it despite publicly announcing it that will do so today. Similarly in July 2010, it was reported that the MB will release a white paper on the subject matter but to-date SSG has not done so.

• I have requested to the MB via twitter to release a simple financial statement to show what is the incoming and what is the outgoing. That alone would be enough to determine if the SSG manage to collect 100% of the debt. In any case even if the present SSG manage to get only 50% of the debt it is much better than the previous government who created the debt but failed to recover them for 10 years