Maju Expressway (MEX) privatised - Najib's crony to milk the 'rakyat',charging toll over 33 years...

Putrajaya must explain why the Maju Expressway (MEX) toll concession was given to Maju Expressway Sdn Bhd (MESB) when it had already funded three-quarters of the 26km highway, Tony Pua asked today.

Labelling it a clear case of “daylight robbery”, the DAP national publicity secretary pointed out that 74 per cent of the cost of constructing the Kuala Lumpur-Putrajaya highway had been borne by taxpayers when Putrajaya gave MESB a RM976.7 million grant to build the MEX, which cost an estimated RM1.32 billion.

MESB is 96.8 per cent owned by Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd, which is in turn owned by Tan Sri Abu Sahid Mohamed. The matter came to light when automotive parts maker EP Manufacturing Bhd (EPMB) sealed a RM1.15 billion deal to buy the MEX highway here by acquiring MESB from conglomerate Maju Group on March 16.

“The question that needs to be asked is if the government can already fund three-quarters of the highway construction project, why was there even a need to ‘privatise’ it to the private sector?

“Why couldn’t the government raise a further small sum of RM343 million to complete the highway without privatisation? Needless to say, the award of the contract was done via direct negotiations without any open tender,” Pua (picture) said in a strongly-worded statement.

“According to reports by the Malaysian Rating Corporation, Tan Sri Sahid Mohamed only invested RM60 million and lent RM87 million in funds to the project.

“The rest of the construction and operational cost of the highway was borne by borrowings which amounted to RM529 million at December 2010,” he added, saying that the MEX agreements have not been publicly disclosed despite the fact highway agreements were declassified by the Cabinet back in November 2008.

Pua demanded Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak be responsible for ensuring the RM967.7 million grant given to MESB be returned to the government.  

“The MEX is the most clear-cut case of making taxpayers pay for the construction of the highway, and subsequently allowing a Barisan Nasional (BN) crony to milk the taxpayers further by charging toll, in this case, over a period of 33 years... RM976.7 million was paid for by Malaysian taxpayers,” said Pua.

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP said that with EPMB’s acquisition, Abu Sahid would “effectively be making a net profit of RM1.09 billion”.

“That works out to more than an astronomical 1,800 per cent return on investment in less than eight years since construction began in 2004 for MEX,” Pua calculated.

According to a Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd (MARC) report, total traffic on MEX was 28.8 million vehicles in 2010, while average daily traffic was 78,962.

Latest figures from June 2011 show the average volume has increased 17.5 per cent to 92,785.
According to AmResearch, the MEX is already making money at the operating level, with financial year 2011 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) at RM44 million on average daily traffic of 90,051, which exceeded projections by nine per cent.

Traffic growth is subsequently projected to grow 12.8 per cent in 2012 and 8.8 per cent in 2014, before levelling to 2.3 per cent by 2037, it added in a research note.

The research house also noted that the valuation of RM1.7 billion by EPMB pegs its acquisition cost at RM65 million/km against its original cost of RM51 million/km.-malaysian insider

Lebuhraya MEX: Dana rakyat RM977j mesti dipulangkan...

Wang rakyat yang diberikan kepada Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd untuk membina Lebuhraya Kuala Lumpur-Putrajaya sepanjang 26 kilometer yang dikenali sebagai Maju Expressway  (MEX) mesti dikembalikan, kata pengarah strategi PKR Rafizi Ramli, berikutan penjualan konsesi itu kepada EP Manufacturing Berhad (EPMB) dengan nilai RM1.7 bilion.

Rafizi berkata dana awam yang besar melalui geran kerajaan bernilai RM976.7 juta telah diberikan kepada Maju Holdings semasa pembinaan MEX, sebelum projek itu siap dibina pada tahun 2007. Keseluruhan projek itu bernilai kira-kira RM1.32 bilion.
 
Akhbar The Edge, Jumaat lalu melaporkan bahawa EPMB akan membiayai pengambilalihan itu dengan menerbitkan sukuk RM1.2 bilion manakala bakinya pula akan diperoleh daripada pinjaman bank.

“Selain geran tersebut, saya menganggarkan suntikan dana yang dibuat oleh Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd hanyalah sekitar RM60 juta (iaitu 4.5 peratus dari kos keseluruhan) kerana ia turut meminjam RM370 juta dari institusi kewangan," kata Rafizi, dalam satu kenyataan.

Justeru, katanya, penjualan berjumlah RM1.7 bilion ini akan memberi durian runtuh kepada Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd sekiranya geran oleh kerajaan berjumlah RM976.6 juta tidak dikembalikan.
“Jika ini berlaku, selepas membayar hutang institusi kewangan berjumlah RM370 juta, bermakna Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd bakal membuat keuntungan berjumlah sekitar RM1.33 bilion sedangkan modal pelaburannya dianggarkan RM60 juta sahaja," kata Rafizi.

Sehubungan itu, menurut Rafizi, PKR mendesak Perdana Menteri selaku Menteri Kewangan mengesahkan sama ada Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd akan mengembalikan dana rakyat sejumlah RM976.7 juta itu, kerana jika tidak ia menimbulkan lebih banyak persoalan yang akan terus menaikkan kemarahan rakyat.

“Jika keuntungan RM1.33 bilion itu disimpan oleh Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd, apakah perjanjian di antara Perdana Menteri dengan pemilik Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd yang diketahui umum penyokong kuat Umno?
“Adakah wujud persefahaman agar keuntungan atas angin yang merampas dana rakyat itu akan disalurkan kembali kepada Umno sebagai dana pilihan raya?” soal pengarah strategi PKR itu lagi.

Katanya, keghairahan Perdana Menteri meluluskan urusniaga melibatkan kroni Umno/BN  Nasional bernilai berbilion ringgit menguatkan syak wasangka rakyat bahawa harga yang tinggi yang dikenakan kroni merugikan rakyat.

Lebih-lebih lagi, tambah Rafizi, urusniaga dalam serba kerahsiaan dan tiadanya ketelusan boleh menguatkan lagi wasangka rakyat itu. Penjualan konsesi lebuhraya ini adalah urusniaga yang kedua dalam masa sebulan yang didakwa membelakangkan kepentingan rakyat.

Kes pertama adalah semasa pembelian aset dan perniagaan Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan oleh dana 1MDB yang dikawal sepenuhnya perdana menteri berjumlah RM8 bilion, walaupun 1MDB tidak pernah ada sebarang pengalaman di dalam industri penjanaan tenaga.

“Perdana Menteri mungkin berfikiran beliau boleh mendiamkan diri mengenai NFC, tetapi sudah tentu jumlah dana rakyat sebesar RM976.6 juta ini memerlukan jawapan dari beliau memandangkan urusniaga tersebut tidak boleh berlaku tanpa kelulusan beliau sendiri sebagai Menteri Kewangan,” akhiri kenyataan Rafizi itu.-malaysiakini

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