MB Khalid defends Talam buyout, says done with basis

PETALING JAYA, July 3 — Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim today defended Selangor’s debt buyout of Talam Corporation Bhd two years ago, saying the restructuring of the troubled property developer’s debt restructuring was done “with basis”.

But the Selangor mentri besar refused to directly address the MCA’s claim that the state government’s units have yet to recover the debts owed by Talam, saying he will do so tomorrow.

He said he would first give the MCA a chance to “study” its allegations, pointing out there were contrasting news reports as to the figures of Selangor’s so-called bailout.

“I will answer after tomorrow’s executive council meeting. I will give them (MCA) time to think.

“Like I said we have shown what we have done in regards to the restructuring of Talam… we do not do something without basis,” he told reporters here.

Khalid (picture) said his administration will release a “white paper” on Talam Corp’s debt restructuring plan at the end of this year, during the Budget 2013 presentation.

“I think we will come out with a white paper when presenting Budget 2013,” the Bandar Tun Razak MP said.

“What is good is that we see MCA’s lack of understanding about Talam’s restructuring... maybe our DAP friends can teach them,” said Khalid.

MCA Young Professionals Bureau chairman Datuk Chua Tee Yong said today Khalid’s administration had bought over Talam Corp’s RM676 million assets to clear Talam Corp’s outstanding debts.

“PR Selangor government must explain to the rakyat the acquisition of the RM676 million worth of assets and the usage of RM392 million allocation which totals to the RM1 billion questionable deal,” Chua told reporters here.

The Selangor state assembly approved a supplementary budget of RM391 million for Mentri Besar Incorporated (MBI) in November 2010 to buy over Talam Corp’s debt incurred after several failed real estate ventures with state agencies.

Talam Corp, now known as Trinity Corporation Berhad, had owed Universiti Selangor (Unisel) and Permodalan Nasional Selangor Berhad (PNSB) RM277 million as well as SAP Holdings — a subsidiary of listed company Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor Berhad (KHSB) — RM115 million, or a total sum of RM392 million.

The property developer’s annual report in 2010 stated that Selangor also purchased assets worth RM284 million from the company in addition to recovering its RM392 million debt, or a total of RM676 million.

Chua claimed that Talam’s debts with the state companies were still outstanding, and produced KHSB’s 2012 annual report as proof.

“Based on KHSB’s annual report, it shows RM115 million is still outstanding from the Selangor government. This shows that no payment was received by KHSB, the state company,” Chua said.

“Unisel has also not received any money. There is no need for Unisel to sell assets to raise RM30 million for its usage if they did receive money from Talam Corp,” he added, referring to Selangor’s announcement last month that it would liquidate assets to help Unisel students whose student loans had been frozen.

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