Court overturns Sime Darby Property’s RM78.6mil compensation

 The Malaysian Highway Authority objected to the additional compensation awarded for the acquisition of its land for the West Coast Expressway project.

The government acquired 504,101 square metres of Sime Darby Property’s land for the West Coast Expressway. (WCE pic)

PETALING JAYA:

The Shah Alam High Court has set aside the RM78.6 million additional compensation awarded to Sime Darby Property Bhd for the government’s acquisition of its land for the West Coast Expressway (WCE) project.

The court ruled in favour of the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) last Friday in setting aside the compensation for severance and injurious affection awarded to the group’s wholly-owned subsidiary Sime Darby Property (Klang) Sdn Bhd.

“The company is assessing the High Court decision, including its available legal options,” Sime Darby Property said in an exchange filing today.

In 2015, the Klang district land administrator awarded total compensation of RM169.3 million for the compulsory acquisition of seven plots of land in Klang measuring 504,101 square metres for the WCE project.

The compensation comprised RM90.7 million for the market value of the land, and the balance of RM78.6 million for “severance and injurious affection”. This refers to losses suffered by landowners when the acquisition of part of their land affects the value or usability of the remaining land.

However, LLM filed its objection to the RM78.6 million injurious affection award with the High Court on Aug 6, 2015. The case went through various proceedings and appeals over the years and was re-heard on March 10-11 this year.

Sime Darby Property said the court will determine other consequential matters, including costs to be paid, on July 20.

“At this stage of litigation, it is not expected to have any material operational impact on the group,” it said, adding the written grounds of judgment have yet to be issued by the court.

The WCE is a 233km highway stretching between Banting, Selangor, and Taiping, Perak, and was designed as an alternative to the heavily congested North-South Expressway. It features 21 interchanges and connects directly to other major highways to improve coastal connectivity.

News of its legal setback did not impact Sime Darby Property’s share price, which closed one sen or 0.7% higher at RM1.37, giving it a market capitalisation of RM9.32 billion. - FMT