KL Tower’s former concessionaire fails to block new appointee taking over

 

The High Court ruled that the balance of convenience did not favour the grant of an ad interim injunction to prevent LSH Service Master Sdn Bhd from taking over the concession to manage the iconic Kuala Lumpur Tower. (Envanto Elements pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

The Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday dismissed an attempt by the former concessionaire of the Kuala Lumpur Tower to prevent LSH Service Master Sdn Bhd from taking over as operator of the iconic tourist hotspot.

In her decision, Justice Roz Mawar Rozain said the balance of convenience did not favour the grant of the injunction sought by plaintiffs Menara Kuala Lumpur Sdn Bhd (MKL) and its parent company, Hydroshoppe Sdn Bhd.

The plaintiffs are suing LSH Service Master, LSH Best Builders Sdn Bhd, communications minister Fahmi Fadzil, his ministry and the Malaysian government over the award of the new concession.

Roz Mawar noted that MKL’s concession was set to expire at the end of last month.

She said, the evidence before the court did not favour the grant of the temporary injunction sought. In particular, she noted that the government had issued a request for proposal to take over the concession in March last year.

“The argument that (LSH Capital and its) subsidiaries had no expertise to run or manage the KL Tower is not a basis for this court to grant an ad interim injunction,” the judge said, according to The Edge.

The judge said she would here the application proper for an interim injunction on June 9.

Hydroshoppe and Menara KL were represented by Rosli Dahlan, while Arthur Wang represented LSH Capital and LSH Service Master. Federal counsel M Bharath appeared for the government.

MKL, originally a Telekom Malaysia subsidiary, had held five consecutive concession agreements covering a period spanning almost 30 years. In 2022, TM transferred ownership of the company to Hydroshoppe.

The plaintiffs claim to have invested heavily in the tower’s infrastructure and operational maintenance over that period, and are suing to recover the concession and RM1 billion in damages from the defendants for its allegedly wrongful termination.

The defendants deny any wrongdoing.

They assert that the plaintiffs were well aware that an interim agreement entered with regard to the concession was set to expire at the end of last month and had on Dec 18, 2024 issued letters terminating the services of its 205 staff.

The defendants also say the plaintiffs knew of and participated in a request for proposal exercise conducted in the first half of last year following a Cabinet decision made in December 2023.

The government announced LSH Service Master and LSH Best Builder as the new concessionaire in May last year. - FMT