1MDB chair insists Bandar Malaysia project will go ahead

1MDB chairperson Irwan Serigar Abdullah repeatedly insisted that the Bandar Malaysia project will go ahead.

This was his response when asked pursued by reporters today about the collapse of a RM7.41 billion deal that would have seen a consortium buying a 60 percent stake in Bandar Malaysia.

“The project is still on, no problem, still on,” he told journalists at a function in Petaling Jaya.

Irwan, who refused to elaborate on the matter, then made for the exit.

Journalists pursuing Irwan then asked if the deal fell apart because of China’s refusal to grant approval to state-owned China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) from acquiring the land but he only repeated his earlier response.

“The project is still on,” said Irwan, who is also the treasurer-general.

He also remained mum when asked whether Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s visit to China next week is to seek new investors.

Yesterday, Finance Ministry-owned TRX City Sdn Bhd said it will be retaining the Bandar Malaysia land as the proposed sale had lapsed.

CREC, in a consortium with Johor-based Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH), had in December 2015 inked a deal to purchase a 60 percent stake in the 486 acres prime land in Sungai Besi for RM7.41 billion.

However, TRX City Sdn Bhd claimed that the consortium failed to make payment despite repeated extensions.

The consortium said that TRX City Sdn Bhd’s claim was not accurate and was considering legal action.

The sale of the Bandar Malaysia plan was previously touted as a key milestone in the rationalisation plan of scandal-plagued 1MDB.

The land had since been transferred and placed under the Finance Ministry.

TRX City Sdn Bhd now plans to keep the land and invite a master developer to develop the plot.

The land is a key part of Klang Valley’s development as it will host the terminal of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail terminal as well as future MRT stations.- Mkini