Wednesday August 8, 2012

Selangor under fire again

ULU YAM: The Selangor government has come under fire again over a land deal in Ulu Yam as part of its efforts to recover RM392mil from Talam Corporation Bhd that ended with questionable deals worth over RM1bil.

The latest expos involved 80.6ha of Class 3 and 4 hillslope land near Ulu Yam through a RM4.2mil acquisition of 60% share from Talam's subsidiary Ulu Yam and Country Club Sdn Bhd (UYCC) in 2010.

“The state offered the shares to its subsidiary of Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor Bhd (KHSB). which owns 40% stake in the company but it was rejected in May that year,” MCA Young Professionals Bureau chief Datuk Chua Tee Yong said at the site here.

Thorough check: Chua examining a plan involving the hillslope land in Ulu Yam.

“KHSB later carried out a valuation of the land in 2011 by Sulaiman & Co where the land was valued close to RM5mil.”

He said the valuation meant that the 60% share was worth RM3mil although the Selangor Government had paid an access of RM1.2mil for it.

To further compound the deal, he noted that UYCC had yet to start operations as of Jan 31, 2010 and was straddled with liabilities of RM807,000.

“The deal raises questions as to why the Selangor state government overpaid RM1.2mil for the shares and was a proper valuation done by the state valuers beforehand?” he said.

He chided the state for failing to carry out due diligence before purchasing the shares from UYCC.

“We are not against the state governments from recovering debts but it must be done in a responsible and transparent manner as it involves the rakyat's money,” he added.

Chua said the Selangor Government was involved in five property and share deals with Talam (now known as Trinity Corporation Bhd) and had paid between RM107mil and RM165mil in over-valuation.

“We have asked them (the state government) to show the state valuation reports for the deals but to date they have failed to respond and continue to remain silent,” he said.

He noted that Pakatan leaders were merely trying to hoodwink the rakyat by diverting attention away from the issue.

He cited Selangor executive councillor Teresa Kok's inconsistent statement over a RM18mil deal involving a separate plot of land in Ulu Yam as an example of Pakatan leaders defending the state government's questionable deals with Talam.

DAP leaders had defended the Selangor Government's bid to recover the RM392mil debt owed by Talam to three state entities Unisel, SAP Holding and PNSB.

On July 3, Chua challenged the Selangor Government to explain how its exercise to recover the RM392mil debt from Talam ended in questionable deals worth over RM1bil.

The state government is said to have obtained a RM392mil grant and acquired additional assets worth RM284mil from Talam bringing the total acquisition to RM676mil. This RM676mil purchase of assets was said to be part of the RM1bil questionable deals.

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