Singapore mall denies link to Shahrizat’s family

By Yow Hong Chieh

February 29, 2012

Rafizi yesterday alleged that the NFCorp, through a purported subsidiary, had signed on to be anchor tenants at The Star Vista mall. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29 — CaptaMalls Asia Ltd today denied Farmhouse Supermarkets, allegedly owned by Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil’s family, will be operating the supermarket at its The Star Vista mall.

“It’s not Farmhouse... [The tenant] is a huge company in Singapore and they operate many supermarkets,” a spokesman for the Singaporean property developer told The Malaysian Insider via telephone.

CaptaMalls, which owns and manages The Star Vista mall and over 90 others, had earlier written to The Malaysian Insider to clarify that claims made by PKR yesterday about the tenant were inaccurate.

An artist’s impression of The Star Vista mall in Singapore. — Picture from thestarvista.com

PKR yesterday alleged that Shahrizat’s family had used the National Feedlot Corporation’s (NFCorp) RM250 million federal loan as leverage to obtain loans from two commercial banks to open the supermarket.

The cattle-rearing company is run by the federal minister’s husband, Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh Ismail — a former food science head at Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (UPM) — and their three children.

PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli claimed NFCorp had signed a tenancy agreement to take up 28 units and be the anchor tenant at the mall in Buona Vista, which will open in the third quarter of this year.

He had said that, based on average rental for commercial space in Singapore, the estimated 3,000 sq-m supermarket would incur rental costs of RM2.2 million each month.

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