KUALA LUMPUR: The developer of the gargantuan Melaka Gateway project is crying foul over the “sudden termination” of the project and hints that legal action will only be taken if talks fail between them and the state government.
KAJ Development Sdn Bhd CEO and founder Michelle Ong said they were slapped with a termination notice on Nov 16 with “no reason given” for the termination.
“We want to find out why,” she said during a press conference held here.
She said they had spent RM700 million on the project so far, having carried out 40% of the project work, including soil investigations.
Ong said they had managed to attract foreign direct investment worth billions of ringgit for the project work, to be carried out over the next 10 years.
“We cannot allow these investments to fail. We have already spent so much money.”
Asked on possible legal redress, she said they wanted to settle the matter amicably and move forward.
“The first priority is to resolve it between both parties.
“If there’s no choice, then we have to move forward. If there are any legal implications, we are ready for that,” she added.
Ong further said the state government had given them 14 days since Nov 16 to vacate the premises.
“I am having sleepless nights because I have been receiving phone calls from all over on what will happen to the investments.”
KAJ Development is the master developer for the Melaka Gateway mega project and holds the concession to reclaim and develop three islands spanning 246ha.
The three islands had been categorised for tourism lifestyle (including medical treatment), business outsourcing and Asia’s gateway for investment.
On Nov 16, it was reported that the Melaka government had terminated a land reclamation agreement to reclaim the three islands under the Melaka Gateway project.
The chief minister’s office said that the agreement with property developer KAJ Development Sdn Bhd, signed in October 2017, had expired on Oct 3.
Bernama reported that a termination notice was sent to the company after it failed to complete the project.
However, Ong said the the state government’s move to terminate the land reclamation project was “unlawful, invalid, unfair, unreasonable and unconstitutional”.
“We would further like to reiterate that what was terminated was the reclamation concession but the Melaka Gateway is not a reclamation project but a whole private development that KAJ Development had conceived and developed.”
Ong added Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had stated boldly that he does not want to see anyone left behind, in other words to “support businesses and to strengthen the economy”.
But she said the Melaka state government was doing just the opposite for a business venture that would benefit the country.
She added the project could have offered 40,000 to 45,000 jobs and a gross development product of RM125 billion, with a multiplier effect of RM1.88 trillion. - FMT
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