Selangor govt urged to address SMG project with public hearing in state assembly

SHAH ALAM - The Green Party has sent a memorandum to Selangor state Speaker's office to demand a public hearing session in the Selangor State Assembly to unravel some important issues regarding the Selangor Maritime Getaway (SMG) project.

The party also requested the state government to furnish all the details regarding the project to be made accessible to the public under the Freedom of Information Act 2011.

Its secretary-general Abdul Razak Ismail today handed over the memorandum to the Selangor State Legislative Assembly Speaker Ng Suee Lim's representative in front of Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah building.

In the memorandum, Green Party brought up the issue of awarding the SMG project aimed to clean, deepen and widen Klang river worth RM700 million to a joint venture company named Landasan Lumayan Berhad (LLB) through direct negotiation.

Abdul Razak explained that there was a clear conflict of interest when Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari and state Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Modernisation of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry council chairman Izham Hashim were appointed the directors of the joint venture company.

"We are questioning the real intention of this project because we were informed that it also involves housing projects on both sides of the river with an area of 500 acres, a 56 kilometre stretch from the Mid Valley City in Kuala Lumpur to Port Klang," he said.

"We were also told that the Gross Development Value for the housing project is worth RM10 billion," he added.

The Green Party also questioned the land tax premium relief worth RM117 million to the special purpose vehicle company and the state government has to bear a debt amounting to RM54 million.

In an exclusive report by Sinar Daily revealed Amirudin was a director of a company allegedly awarded an RM700 million mega project via direct negotiations by the Selangor government.

Abdul Razak said LLB was a joint venture with Tan Sri Vincent Tan's Berjaya Land Berhad (BLand) holding a 55 per cent stake in the company, while LLB held the remaining 45 per cent.

Amirudin Shari's press secretary Jay Jay Denis has stated on March 1 that he was appointed as the director of the company to ensure the projects are done right.

Jay said it was by virtue of the project being under the Menteri Besar Selangor Incorporated (MBI), with LLB being its subsidiary.

Abdul Razak had also questioned how LLB could be considered a subsidiary of MBI, given that it was Bland who held a controlling 55 per cent stake.

In response to this, Amirudin stated in a press conference that both Izham and himself sat on the board of directors to safeguard the interests of the state government and that the matter of conflict of interest did not arise.

He also explained that the tender was not handed via direct negotiations, but instead it was Bland who had approached the state government with an offer for a joint effort which encompassed both development and flood mitigation.