Tanjong Pagar KTM land deal: Were we suckered.........

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim suspects national railway company Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) may have been shortchanged in the recently concluded deal with Singapore to relocate its Tanjung Pagar station in the republic to Woodlands, also in the republic. The Malaysian government has hailed the deal as an amicable solution to a longstanding bilateral problem because the KTM land forgone would be replaced with six parcels of land.

However, Anwar believes that the land given in return would be less in value to what KTM has had to give up.

"We suspect that the value of the land exchanged, either in Marina South or Ophor Rochir, will not be equal in value to the KTM land," he said in a statement today. The Malaysian government has said that under the deal, the six parcels of land would be managed by M-S Pte Ltd, which is 60 percent owned by the Malaysian government's investment arm Khazanah Nasional. Anwar also alleged that the presence of Khazanah was just another way to mask an attempt to enrich government cronies.

The Permatang Pauh MP also questioned the wisdom of the move by the government to develop the six land parcels in Singapore as any future development will not stimulate the domestic economy.

"How many of our entrepreneurs, contractors or suppliers will actually be involved in the joint venture?" he asked.

'Table it in parliament'

Anwar, who is the Dewan Rakyat opposition leader, urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to explain the Points of Agreement between Malaysia and Singapore in Parliament during the coming June sitting.

"We want to know if Najib used the Point of Agreement of 1990, outlined by then finance minister Daim Zainuddin, which was never approved by the cabinet," said the former deputy premier.He added the prime minister should also explain if there have been any new developments in the dispute over the price of water being supplied to Singapore.

While acknowledging that a cordial diplomatic relationship with Singapore was paramount, Anwar said the recent KTMB deal must be reviewed as it involved Malaysian sovereignty and assets. These include the Tanjong Pagar rail station, parcels on land in Kranji, Woodlands and Tanjung Pagar as well as prime lands parcels tagged as '76-2 mk 16', '249 Mk 4' and '32-10 Mk 16'.

"We are worried that the understanding agreed to by Najib was made and announced in a rush without a proper study although the matter involved national interests and sovereignty and which goes contrary to the position of Najib's administration previously," said Anwar.

Baca di sini.

source:malaysiakini

Well, we are famous in ceding land to the Portugese, Dutch, British,Brunei and Singapore. The 60-40% partnership is just a cover-up but the truth is UMNO will gain from this mysterious dealing.

My question is why give away 40% stake to a land that is 100% ours for 999 years? Imagine the value of the land 50 to 100 years time.......unless it has got to do with our national deficit of RM363 billion?

cheers.