URUSHARTA Jamaah Sdn Bhd (UJ) “strongly denies” allegations that the Ministry of Finance (MoF) or its minister Lim Guan Eng has irresponsibly shut down TH hotels and dismissed the affected staff.
UJ said in a media statement dated Feb 20 the viral social media posts maligning the Minister of Finance, including one which carried a death threat, were being made against someone who is not involved in the decision-making for the restructuring exercise.
“The Minister of Finance was not involved in the decision-making for the above restructuring exercise or any decision that pertains to UJ. He did not even attend any meetings on any of the matters relating to UJ.
“The management of UJ and its assets are governed by the board of UJ, which is chaired by Ketua Setiausaha Perbendaharaan (Secretary-General of the Treasury), Tan Sri Ahmad Badri Mohd Zahir. All of the board of directors, CEO Izad Sallehuddin, and the senior management of UJ are Muslim professionals,” it adds.
UJ is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MoF Inc, which had acquired RM9.63 bil worth of assets from Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) for RM19.9 bil, via issuance of two series sukuk and cash to LTH. This means that the government effectively paid RM10.3 bil more to rescue LTH.
The assets transferred to UJ consist of a mixture of listed equity holdings, 29 properties and one unlisted asset.
They include four operating hotels, namely TH Hotel Kota Kinabalu; TH Hotel Bayan Lepas; TH Hotel & Convention Centre Alor Setar; and TH Hotel & Convention Centre Kuala Terengganu. These hotels will be managed by UJ’s wholly-owned subsidiary, UJ Property Management Sdn Bhd.
However, the transfers do not include land or assets under TH Plantations Bhd, in which the shares remain under the ownership of LTH.
The restructuring exercise will also see 90% of the existing staff at TH Hotel & Residence Sdn Bhd absorbed into UJ Property Management, with the remaining 10% absorbed by TH Hotel & Residence Kelana Jaya.
“Under the new management, the hotels will operate and remain shariah-compliant under the new name of Raia Hotel from April 1, 2020. UJ has further approved funds to improve hotel facilities and service quality,” the statement said.
UJ also identified that, with the rescue package proposed by LTH to protect the interest of LTH contributors and to help nurse LTH back to health, LTH will no longer need to bear the RM10.3 bil of losses on the value of these assets, as the losses are borne by UJ and the government. LTH will also no longer need to be burdened with the risk of further losses on these transferred assets.
“As a result of the restructuring exercise, LTH has already demonstrated the seeds of recovery by registering a profit of RM1.3 bil for the first nine months of 2019. For the same period, its total assets have also improved, exceeding its liabilities by RM2.3 bil,” said UJ. – Feb 20, 2020
