THERE is growing concern within Selangor Pakatan Harapan (PH) over two infrastructure projects that occurred without transparent public tenders, both involving land swaps. Power brokers in the back rooms of the coalition are actively looking for a potential replacement of the present MB Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.
The Green Party of Malaysia has made a number of representations to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), but are not receiving any responses seven months after their complaints were first lodged.
Both the projects in question surprisingly transformed into mega projects, involving land swaps as a way to finance them.
The Shah Alam Sports Complex re-development is touted as an RM1.5 bil project. The original tender documents described the Selangor Sports Complex project as a refurbishment.
Meanwhile, the Klang Valley dredging project – reframed into the Selangor Maritime Gateway project – is said to be a RM700 mil project. An overseas non-governmental organisation (NGO) was willing to supply the Selangor Government with the equipment needed to undertake the dredging. The Selangor state could have just acquired the labour to operate the machinery.
Both projects are now completely different from what the state government originally specified.
The Selangor Sports Complex was put to tender as a refurbishment. The JKR estimated it to cost around RM196 mil.
Malaysia Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) was awarded a contract for re-developing the entire sports complex site with a lush commercial, hotel and shopping complex. The actual stadium would only be half the size as the present iconic Selangor stadium.
The Klang River dredging project became the Selangor Maritime Gateway with prime developments along the Selangor River. This contract was awarded to Landasan Lumayan Berjaya Sdn Bhd which is a joint venture between a Selangor state corporation and the Berjaya Group.
Abdul Razak Ismail who is the secretary-general of the Green Party of Malaysia has asked why MB Amirudin awarded the contracts for the Selangor stadium re-development and Selangor Maritime Gateway without proper transparency.
Razak had even sent a letter to the Selangor Select Committee for Competency, Accountability and Transparency (SECAT) chairman Ng Suee Lim on the Klang River issue.
The Selangor State Government has been very opaque over land grants within the Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve, claiming the information is under the Official Secrets Act (OSA),and thus cannot be publicly divulged.
There have been calls in the media for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to make a personal intervention into the above issues that are plagued with allegations of impropriety.
The Selangor State election is due before October this year with the Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional (PH-BN) coalition posed to hold the state.
However, clearing up these scandals would certainly deprive the Perikatan Nasional (PN) of electoral ammunition regarding corruption within Selangor during the upcoming campaign. – April 15, 2023
Australia-born Murray Hunter has been involved in Asia-Pacific business for the last 40 years as an entrepreneur, consultant, academic and researcher. He was previously an associate professor at the Universiti Malaya Perlis.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
