Putrajaya asked to explain loan for RM1.5b highway privatisation

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — Questions have been raised over why the federal government awarded the privatisation of the RM1.55 billion East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE) when taxpayers are forking out half the cost in a loan to the concession holder.

It was reported yesterday that Putrajaya had agreed to provide a RM635 million loan to Ahmad Zaki Resources Bhd (AZRB) for the 50-year EKVE concession, which the DAP’s Tony Pua pointed out today was the second-longest concession awarded in Malaysia’s history.

“The obvious question is, if the government is already able to fork out nearly half of the required investment to build the highway, why is there a need to privatise it in the first place?” said Pua(picture) in a statement.

“Is it so that certain companies can bleed the rakyat for multi-billion ringgit profits in the future?” added the DAP publicity chief.

He said that the EKVE concession was awarded to AZRB through direct negotiations.

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP also pointed out that the RM5.2 billion West Coast Expressway (WCE) deal was given to Kumpulan Europlus Bhd (KEuro) last month, despite the government providing a RM2.24 billion soft loan and bearing the RM980 million cost of land acquisition.

Pua said last month that the WCE concession was awarded to KEuro through direct negotiations, a company which, he said, did not have the necessary track record and financial capability for the highway project.

“Earlier last year, the government also awarded a RM2.2 billion Kinrara Damansara Expressway (KIDEX) project to companies linked to Umno lawyer Datuk Hafarizam Harun and recently retired Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi, who was also formerly Umno’s discliplinary committee chairman,” said Pua.

The DAP MP also noted that the RM1.2 billion Ampang Line LRT extension contract was awarded last July to water meter manufacturer George Kent Bhd despite the company having no experience in the rail industry.

“A month later, another RM1.33 billion contract was awarded to MRCB (Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd) for other work on the same LRT line,” said Pua.

He added that RM8.82 billion of contract work has been awarded to Bumiputera companies for the multi-billion Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) rail project.

“The above are just a shortlist of the billions of ringgit of contracts and privatisation agreements which have been signed by the government in the last 12 months alone,” he said.

“Firstly, there is a never seen before urgency to award large contracts before the general election, clearly out of fear that there is a real likelihood that Barisan Nasional (BN) will lose power, hence the ‘Sapu Malaysia’ (Sweep Malaysia) mentality.”