Kampong Boys Tak Tahu Niaga - Duit Amanah Saham Pun Lesap Jadi Asap.

PNB And EPF To Bail Out Spiralling Costs Of London's Battersea Power Station!

18 JAN 2018

Battersea Power Station sold by gomen to PNB / EPF for RECORD RM8.7b 

development black hole on South Bank, London

swallowed gargantuan RM8.6b public money from EPF / PNB 

face-saving pressure of Minister of Finance.

surprise news hit headlines in London late Thurs 

spiralling costs, gomen pulled out, bail out required.

most expensive property purchase ever in London

dwarfing Walkie Talkie Tower of £1.3bn last year.

project nightmare spelt out in the figures

original Sime Derby/ Setia bought in 2012 for £400m

crumbling white elephant project on South Bank.

original price in 1987 just £1.5 million

present purchase by PNB/EPF thousand times greater.

profit forecast cut from 20% to 8% since 2012 sale to SP Setia   

not due to be completed till 2020 

malls, residential blocks not finished till 2028.

S P Setia itself 70% owned by PNB/EPF 

PNB/EPF re-finance their own investment

cost over-runs in all directions

hazards such as asbestos 

four chimney towers taken down and re-built

costs doubled from 750m pounds to 1.5 b

project spearheaded by Najib Razak

mover behind deal Lord Marland, key promoter of UK deals with Msia

influx of M'sian money into London his crowning achievements.

Battersea created planning headaches for decades 

present plan is 7th attempt to find profitable use for site

Without this latest bailout entire project up for auction

save face for Najib in advance of upcoming election  

pensioners savings in PNB / EPF different matter

My conclusion :  RM8.7 billion of EPF and PNB money !! 

I tell you folks, that 1MDB is just a sideshow. Just a distraction. These thieves are stealing the whole country blind. 

The purchase of the Battersea Power Plant by EPF/PNB did strike me as odd. And very risky. 

Hello EPF/PNB you should read about the collapse of Olympia and York and their famous Canary Wharf project in London waaaaaay back in the 1980s.  

Canary Wharf was another 'Battersea Power Plant' type redevelopment, of the old London dockyards, but on a much larger scale. 

The Canary Wharf project was started in 1988 and went bankrupt by 1992.  Only 11 years later in 1999 it finally began turning around after an underground line was extended to Canary Wharf (the Jubilee Line Extension).  

Then another 24 years later, since 2012-2014, the Canary Wharf project generated high prices and high returns (more than 8% lah).  

• Why go to all that trouble just to earn a return of 8%?
• Just put OUR money in Fixed Deposits lah. 
• Or give it to the professional fund managers lah. 
• They can easily do 8% return on investment.

My view is all these foreign property plays overseas by our local kampong boys are driven by the commission agents, the kickbacks from property deals, simple corruption, ignorance and an excuse for senior management to travel overseas for inspection tours and shopping trips.

I am told Tabung Haji once bought an apartment in Mecca without checking the tenure of the lease, which was expiring. But who gives a flying duck. They have so much Tabung money.

Then they bought a gentleman's drinking club along the Thames in London. Haram. They justified the purchase by saying the bar and alchohol business was less than 20% of the revenue.  I think the senior management just wanted a place to hang out in London.

MARA buying buildings in Australia at way above market prices. Those purchases are now under investigation for corruption. 

Felda started a "chain" of Malaysian restaurants overseas which I believe have also gone bust.

A few years back Sime Darby blew about RM800 million in some project in Qatar. Their Chairman said it was a useful learning curve for our boys and girls !! What ?? At a cost of RM800 million of corporate money? Sime is also substantially owned by PNB. Public money again.  

If 'learning curve' is what you want, then just send our local boys and girls to work overseas for a few years. Some of them are illegal farm workers now in South Korea. No need to bust RM800 million of public money.

The argument for the NEP (New Economic Policy) is that the Malays cannot compete with the non Malays, especially with the Chinese. The playing field is not even, so they say. This is nonsense. 

Anyway, to even out the playing field, we provide crutches. There are restrictions, controls, licenses and permits in the economy. It is all race based. Affirmative action. Bla bla bla.

It is now 2018 and you still cannot compete on an "uneven playing field" inside Malaysia. 

Then how the hell do you think you are going to compete on an even more "uneven" playing field like the London property market? 

There is no New Economic Policy to protect you in London.

If you feel that you are ready to compete in London (with the Brits, the Jews, the Europeans, Chinese, Japanese who are all investors in London) then why not free up the 'playing field' in Malaysia as well? Abolish all the NEP restrictions that are still in force here in Malaysia. 

But you cannot abolish the NEP just yet.

We all know that.

Then why did you blow RM8.7 billion in the London property market?

It has to be another corrupt idea.

There is no real intention to be 'even playing field' property developers in London.

Its just a mechanism to siphon out money.

Again the people (PNB/EPF) will bear the cost.