The Puspahanas project, which will house the National Defence College and the Armed Forces' Command and Staff Training College, is partially completed. – The Malaysian Insider pic, January 18, 2015.
Ten years after a project to build Puspahanas, a Defence Ministry academy, was awarded to an Umno-linked developer with no track record in construction, the government is no clearer on when the building, already beset by delays, will be completed.
Deputy defence minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri when asked by The Malaysian Insider for the latest update, said he had no information on the expected completion date, but added that it would be finished at some point.
"It's alright, it will be finished, so don't worry. The project is to build a college for the ministry, so we are monitoring it," he said when approached on the sidelines of a ministry event recently.
Located in Precinct 1 in the federal administrative capital of Putrajaya, Puspahanas, or the National Defence Education Centre, will house the National Defence College and the Armed Forces' Command and Staff Training College.
Awan Megah Sdn Bhd, which was given the project in 2005, is owned by Umno's Selangor senator, Datuk Raja Ropiaah Abdullah. The academy was slated for completion in 2011 but has been delayed numerous times, invoking criticism from opposition lawmakers and the public.
The controversy lies in the manner Raja Ropiaah was awarded the project. She won it in exchange for some 80 hectares of land in Bukit Raja, Selangor, and RM27 million.
PKR politician Rafizi Ramli had scrutinised the deal and claimed it made no commercial sense since Awang Megah had no track record in construction.
Rafizi had also done a check with the Companies Commission of Malaysia and found the filings made by Awan Megah showed that its last activity was on December 31, 1993. This was 12 years before it won the Puspahanas deal.
A check in December last year with the consulting engineering firm working on the project found that Puspahanas was now some 70% completed.
An engineer with the firm KTA Tenaga Sdn Bhd, who refused to be named, said it could be completed by the middle of this year.
"We are not sure of the date when it can be fully operational yet," he said.
The back entrance to the project site. – The Malaysian Insider pic, January 18, 2015.The Malaysian Insider also visited the project site, where it found the main building to be partly completed. Roads in and around the centre, however, had not been built.
From the front, the academy's three main buildings can be seen but the arch, which is to be the main entrance, has not yet been built.
The Malaysian Insider reporter was greeted by a guard and three construction workers at the entrance to the project.
They said the project was almost due for completion and only "small parts" were still to be finished.
One of the workers, who is also the site manager, said the project would probably be completed by the middle of this year.
The site at the back part of the project was surrounded by white zinc and was where lorries and tractors made their way in and out of the construction site.
When asked about the Puspahanas arch gate, the site manager said that the buildings would have to be completed first before moving on to the roads and the surrounding landscaping.
On the information board outside the project site, Awan Megah is listed as the developer, Garis Architect Sdn Bhd is the architect and the Defence Ministry is the owner and manager of the project.
The information board states Awan Megah Sdn Bhd as the developer of the Puspahanas project. – The Malaysian Insider pic, January 18, 2015.It also names KTA Tenaga Sdn Bhd as the engineer, KPK Sdn Bhd as the quantity surveyor, Malik Lip Associates as the landscape architect and Sri Binaraya Sdn Bhd as the contractor.
The buildings to be constructed, according to the information board, include a three-storey auditorium, a three-storey library, a multi-purpose hall, a weaponry facility and several two-storey buildings for officers' houses.
The Puspahanas project was originally meant to be built at the Templer's Park in Rawang. From 1972 to 1985, the government had commenced with land takeovers for the project site.
But it was then moved to Putrajaya and in November 2008, the then prime minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, attended the project's groundbreaking ceremony.
The controversy over the Bukit Raja land-and-money-swap, which saw Awan Megah getting the project, has never been explained.
It appears to go beyond the Puspahanas project, for the same Bukit Raja land was also eyed for RM130 million by Boustead Holdings Bhd, which is majority-owned by the army's pension fund, Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT).
In addition to its interest in the land, Boustead also eyed an 80% stake in Astacanggih Sdn Bhd, a property development company owned by controversial businessman Deepak Jaikishan.
Deepak is the carpet dealer and property developer linked to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor. The late private investigator P. Balasubramaniam had accused Deepak of forcing him (Bala) to retract his first statutory declaration in which he linked Najib to the murder of Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Deepak's Astacanggih had in 2007 agreed to buy three parcels of land for RM13 million and a RM72 million bank guarantee for a land bond form Raja Ropiiah.
Later, Deepak sued Raja Ropiaah's Awan Megah for allegedly cheating him out of the land in Bukit Raja.
- TMI
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