BRIEFLY taking a breather from his rare earth element (REE) rift with Home Minister Datuk Seri Saiffudin Nasution Ismail, Kedah caretaker menteri besar has turned his attention to his Selangor counterpart Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari by accusing Amirudin of being involved in a scandal with Berjaya Group founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun.
The Perikatan Nasional (PN) election director was referring to the river-cleaning project which he claimed is “worth RM10 bil in exchange for 600 acres of land in the state”.
According to Sanusi, the scandal involving a company owned by the Selangor Menteri Besar (Incorporation) for the Klang River project will cost the Selangor state government around RM180 mil.
“How can these 600 acres be given for free to this tycoon? How could the tycoon just take over a 55% subsidiary of MBI? Huh, it getting hot in here … just waiting to explode,” HarakahDaily quoted him as saying at the PN BEST Sayangi Kedah Sejahtera mega tour in Jitra last night (Aug 2).
For the record, Berjaya Land Bhd (BLand) had on Nov 30, 2021 formed a joint venture with Menteri Besar Inc Selangor’s subsidiary Landasan Lumayan Sdn Bhd (LLSB) to undertake river cleaning, river rehabilitation and river developments in the Klang Valley.
Dubbed Landasan Lumayan Berjaya Sdn Bhd (LLB), BLand holds a 55% stake in the JV company while the remaining 45% is held by LLSB.
Among the river initiatives which LLB will undertake is the Selangor Maritime Gateway (SMG), a high economic impact project which will see approximately 600 acres of land along about 56km of the Klang River to be developed over the next eight years.
On March 1, Amirudin has denied allegations of conflict of interest involving himself and a state executive councillor after PN lodged a police report on the SMG project worth RM700 mil.
Selangor PN information chief Mohd Shukor Mustaffa had questioned the position of Amirudin and state exco Izham Hashim as directors in LLSB.
Amirudin who is also the Sungai Tua state assemblyman had clarified that he and Izham represented the state government’s interests in the project. He also shared that the project was inspired by former menteri besar the late Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and continued by his successor Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali with a loan of RM45 mil to LLSB.
“I don’t think there is an issue of conflict of interest as LLSB is a subsidiary of the state government,” Amirudin had pointed out, adding that the project would be fully funded by Berjaya Land while the state would only provide the land.
Playing dirty politics
Delving further, Sanusi also warned PKR leaders on the need to properly manage the state governed by them “as opposed to playing politics in Kedah like what PKR secretary-general Senator DS Saifuddin Nasution did.”
“You better take care of that Selangor. See for yourself what has happened. Big businessmen are plundering the brains of PKR leaders. At the end of the day, the assets and wealth belonging to Selangorians will fall to these towkays.”
The PAS warlord insisted that the focus of the PN government is on the people and will not defend the big tycoons whether Vincent Tan or (Indonesian tycoon) Riza Chalid (who is known as the ‘Gasoline Godfather’ for his dominance of oil-import business) nor will the coalition pay attention to the towkay’s project.”
“The Klang River is the Selangor MB’s concern and it’s up to him if he wants to protect the tycoon. But I want to protect Kedahans. Yet they still insist on coming to Kedah to teach me how to develop the state,” Sanusi hit out.
“I want to say that if you want to teach me to develop my state by forging alliance with tycoons, you better don’t come over … going to Penang will suffice. If we need to argue, let’s do so over a ceramah. We take on each other as a MB but he’s a coward for he went to lodge a police report and had me arrested at 3am in the wee hours of the morning.” – Aug 3, 2023
