TTF: Dato’ Seri Najib Razak claimed that the Selangor government will purchase Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Holdings (Splash) for a whopping RM2.7 billion (see news item below).
The former premier alleged that the purchase will benefit a certain Tan Sri who he claimed currently possesses a 30 percent stake in Splash.
Najib was likely referring to Tan Sri Wan Azmi Wan Hamzah, who, together with Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Berhad (KPSB), own 60 percent of shares in Splash, the second concessionaire awarded a 30-year contract to maintain the Sungai Selangor Dam.
The contract was awarded on the 1st of January 2001 by the (then) Selangor government at the behest of Daim Zainuddin, a well known Wan Azmi associate.
On the 14th of March 2018, I wrote (in red):
“SPLASH is controlled by a Tan Sri who is as much a Mahathirist as he is an Anwarist. Then, you have the guys at KPSB who are controlled one way or the other by Dato’ Seri Azmin Ali via Menteri Besar Selangor (Incorporated), the state’s asset management company. Factor all this together, and you have sufficient grounds to reason that SPLASH is 60 percent Pakatan Harapan ‘controlled’ and not a ‘Barisan Nasional entity’ as Hannah Yeoh would have you believe.”
It should interest you to know that the remaining 40 percent of Splash is currently owned by Gamuda Berhad, an engineering, property and infrastructure company that happens also to be a Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) core entity.
Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz was recently named Sime Darby non-independent and non-executive chairman.
On the 21st of July 2018, I wrote (in red):
“Mahathir is backing Mirzan all the way in his pursuit for deep water technology. To prevent the possibility of there being competition for his sons in the near or distant future, the Prime Minister is undertaking to consolidate all oil and gas related entities in Malaysia that are service based under the roofs of his cronies. That helps explain Vincent’s recent purchase of T7 shares and the initial scrapping of the HSR project. By calling off the project, Mahathir effected a 37.6 percent decline in the price of Gamuda Berhad’s shares which Daim’s and Vincent’s people have since purchased.
“Gamuda had previously partaken in a 50:50 joint venture (JV) to provide solutions mainly to the Government of Malaysia (GoM). The company it partnered with, MMC Corporation Berhad, is an investment holding entity that is 51.8 percent owned by Tan Sr Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary. Syed was the onetime owner of an oil and gas concern that he recently sold to one of his own companies, Melati Pertiwi Sdn Bhd.
“Thus, not only is Bukhari in the business of oil and gas, he is a joint shareholder with Gamuda in a company that constructs airports, highways, bridges and railway links. That is another reason why Daim is seeking to renegotiate terms associated with the construction of the ECRL. Apart from looking at ways to establish a banking nexus with EXIM and CITIC, the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) de facto chief is seeking to offer MMC-Gamuda a lucrative slice of the ECRL project in a quid pro quo that involves the transfer of Melati Pertiwi shares to his people. The Chinese government is expected to commit itself to Melati Pertiwi in deep sea drilling at the edge of the South China Sea.”
Finally, on the 9th of July 2018, I wrote:
“The duo (Mahathir and Azmin) are attempting to break every possible link there may be between Anwar, Wan Azmi and Gamuda’s largest shareholder, Raja Dato’ Seri Eleena Raja Azlan Shah.
“Raja Eleena is the daughter of Raja Azlan Shah and happens also to be listed in Forbes’ 40 Richest Malaysians as among the country’s richest women.
“Both Mahathir and Azmin are concerned that Anwar may share a rapport of sorts with Raja Eleena though the Sultan of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah.”
And how does everything end up?
Well, Zeti now holds the chair at PNB, which happens also to have a domineering influence over Gamuda Berhad’s Board of Directors.
She gets Wan Azmi to relinquish his stake in Splash for a handsome profit while Eleena is offered a lucrative slice of the ECRL project together with Syed Mokhtar, her business partner in the more than illustrious MMC-Gamuda JV.
Being the Minister of Economic Affairs, Azmin will probably be offered a bite into Wan Azmi’s profit margin as he helps Mahathir draft policies and strategies for the listing of Petronas shares.
But the last part is pure speculation.
What we’re sure, however, is that Mirzan is at this very minute trying his level best to interest San Miguel Corporation into purchasing a chunk of Petronas’ interests.
San Miguel happens to be a food and beverages (F&B) conglomerate that owns 63 percent of Petron Corporation, the largest oil refining and marketing company there is in the Philippines.
The company has Mirzan’s name listed all over it both as shareholder and board member.
But Mirzan isn’t the only one within the Mahathir household doing the wheeling and dealing in hopes of monopolising the oil and gas industry.
His elder brother, Mokhzani, has his sights set on some deep sea technology Syed Mokhtar owns via Melati Pertiwi, which the former is set on purchasing assuming the Council of Eminent Persons’ renewed efforts to negotiate a deal with China finally goes through.
KLANG: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has claimed that the Selangor government will purchase Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Holdings (Splash) for a whopping RM2.7 billion.
Najib also alleged that a “Tan Sri,” who has a 30 per cent stake in Splash, will benefit handsomely from the purchase.
He said that the Tan Sri is a crony of a top Pakatan Harapan (PH) leader and co-founder of a political party which he did not name.
“I want to inform you that within these one or two days, there will be a purchase of Splash by the Selangor government.
“The Selangor government will pay RM2.7 billion.
“There is a Tan Sri in Splash who owns a 30 per cent stake in the company.
“This Tan Sri is… the co-founder of (a political) party,” Najib said in a speech at Bandar Putera while campaigning for Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate, Datuk Lokman Noor Mansor, who is running in the Sungai Kandis by-election.
Najib said the payment is a far cry from what was stated by former Selangor menteri besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim a few years ago.
“Back then, Khalid said the purchase would only (cost) RM250 million.
“And now, (the state government) is paying RM2.7 billion,” Najib said, adding that the purchase would lead to an increase in the state’s water tariff.
“The people of Selangor have been taken for a ride. This is why we need a voice in the state assembly to state that such an agreement should not take place.
“Under the BN government, we did not make people’s lives difficult,” he added.
Last Saturday, Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar had brushed aside a foreign media report suggesting that the federal government is set to pay RM1.9 billion for the takeover of Splash.
Singapore’s Straits Times had reported that a joint-funding deal had been struck, and that the total buyout was set at between RM2.5 billion and RM2.7 billion, and that the Selangor government is expected to fork out between RM600 million and RM800 million.
It was reported that the process of restructuring the state’s water industry had been put on hold because of disagreements between the then PH state administration and BN federal government.
The state government, then led by menteri besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, had rejected a proposal for the state government to bear 40 per cent of the cost and the ministry to pay 60 per cent.
Xavier had also said issues over the takeover would be resolved by early August.
At a separate event tonight, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said the takeover of Splash is considered complete, but has yet to be finalised due to documentation work.
