And now Zeti wants to alienate the land to the Malaysian Cricket Association, which will be a huge loss to Permodalan Nasional Berhad, Lembaga Tabung Haji and Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera, and a windfall to whoever eventually ends up getting their hands on the Kinrara Oval land.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
On 12th May 2018, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad appointed Zeti Akhtar Aziz as a member of the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP). On 1st July 2018, Mahathir appointed Zeti as the Group Chairman of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB).
PNB was established on 17th March 1978 as one of the instruments of the New Economic Policy (NEP). It is one of the largest fund management companies in Malaysia and is supposed to be a “trust agency” for the Malays or Bumiputeras.
Hence that not only makes Zeti one of the most powerful persons in Malaysia but also puts her in charge of the future of Malay-Bumiputera economic interest. But does that not tantamount to putting the fox in charge of the chickens?
Most of you may not be aware of the AFP news report of 15th February 2019 (SEE BELOW) regarding Kinrara Oval, a prime piece of property (18.5 acres) and the jewel in the crown for Perumahan Kinrara Berhad’s Bandar Kinrara development project.
Perumahan Kinrara Berhad is owned by Permodalan Nasional Berhad, Lembaga Tabung Haji and Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera — all Malay trust agencies.
Putting the fox in charge of the chickens
And the story goes like this.
In 2002, through some “under-the-table” arrangement, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad forced SP Setia Berhad to give the Kinrara Oval land to the Malaysian Cricket Association to use temporarily for 15 years (from 1st November 2003 to 31st October 2018).
When the lease expired on 31st October 2018, the Malaysian Cricket Association refused to vacate the land and hand it back to Perumahan Kinrara Berhad.
Perumahan Kinrara Berhad then started legal action against the Malaysian Cricket Association but Mahathir, who was prime minister (PM7) of the Pakatan Harapan government then, intervened and put a stop to it.
Since 31st October 2018, the Malaysian Cricket Association has been occupying the land for free without paying the RM259,182.00 rental a month, which comes to a total of RM7,257,096.00 to date.
And now Zeti wants to alienate the land to the Malaysian Cricket Association, which will be a huge loss to Permodalan Nasional Berhad, Lembaga Tabung Haji and Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera, and a windfall to whoever eventually ends up getting their hands on the Kinrara Oval land.
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Malaysia’s top cricket stadium, Kinrara Oval, saved from closure
(AFP, 15 February 2019) – Malaysia’s top cricket stadium, which has hosted some of the game’s greats including Sachin Tendulkar, was saved from closure Friday after the (Pakatan Harapan) government blocked an attempt to turf out the sport’s local governing body.
The Kinrara Oval, which was built in 2003 and has hosted one-day internationals featuring India, Australia and the West Indies, as well as Under-19 World Cup games, sits on a plot of prime land west of the capital Kuala Lumpur.
But the Malaysian Cricket Association’s lease expired in October and the property company that owns the land ordered them out of the ground to make way for a new development.
After several months in limbo, the ground’s future is now assured after the cabinet agreed it should continue operating as a cricket stadium following talks with parties involved in the dispute, said Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman.
Cricket more important than Malay interests, says Syed Saddiq
“The Malaysian government is committed to saving this… cricket ground,” he said on Twitter.
“Cabinet decided that saving the cricket ground is more important than commercial development.”
The final terms of a deal will be hammered out in a meeting between the sports ministry, developer Perumahan Kinrara Berhad, and the cricket association, the ministry said.
The association had mounted a campaign to save the ground, and the International Cricket Council also threw its weight behind the effort last year saying that the game in Malaysia was “flourishing”.
It is not clear what the developer wanted to build on the venue, which is surrounded by residential developments, and where legendary batman Tendulkar scored a sparkling 141 against the West Indies in an ODI in September 2006.
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