The Finance Ministry must come clean on 1MDB president Arul Kanda Kandasamy’s sudden removal from key positions in Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd and TRX City Sdn Bhd, said a DAP leader.
Party’s national publicity secretary Tony Pua said Arul Kanda’s removal from the two entities was “a big, big thing”.
The Petaling Jaya Utara MP questioned the removal, saying Arul Kanda was integral to the deal signed between Bandar Malaysia and Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH) and China Railway Engineering Corp (CREC) consortium.
He said there are now queries about Arul Kanda's alleged conflict of interest in the matter.
“What is the conflict of interest involved? He was removed from the two companies just two days after the collapse of the Bandar Malaysia-IWH-CERC deal. It cannot be a coincident,” Pua said at a press conference after speaking at the “1MDB scandal: What next?” forum in Penang last night.
When contacted, Pua said he wants Arul Kanda to reveal the real reasons behind his removal.
“If he does not explain about his removal or about any conflict of interest involved, it raises suspicion,” Pua said.
Removal raised eyebrows
Arul Kanda’s removal from the companies raised eyebrows but he had said that it was the prerogative of Minister of Finance Inc (MOF Inc), the new owner of both Bandar Malaysia and TRX City.
But a source claimed that Arul Kanda was not informed about the termination of the RM7.41 billion deal although he was a board member of both companies.
The collapse of the Bandar Malaysia deal came as a shock among the business circles because it was so sudden and that the deal was inked with much fanfare back in 2015.
Situated where the former Sungai Besi airport used to be, the project was slated to house a transport hub and digital free trade zone.
Prime Minister Najib Razak cancelled his trip to the site unannounced, while TRX City, the landowner, declared that the deal with the IWH-CREC consortium was off.
TRX City said the latter did not meet payment obligations for its 60 percent stake. The consortium had disputed this claim.
1MDB had earlier bought the prime land from the federal government at a low price and marketed it as Bandar Malaysia and Tun Razak Exchange (TRX).
The trouble state firm had attempted to divest assets, including Bandar Malaysia, as a means of settling billions of outstanding debt.- Mkini
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