Government Okays Soft Loan For Port Klang Free Zone, Says It's Not A Bail Out!
The government has approved a soft loan at four percent interest a year to the Klang Port Authority to manage the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ), Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin said Tuesday.However, the government has yet to finalise the terms and conditions for the loan, he told the Dewan Rakyat when winding up the debate on the Supplementary Supply Bill (2007).
"This is not a bail out, it is money (given out) with interest," he stressed. "In principle, the interest rate is four percent a year with a repayment period of seven years, and the government is still finalising the conditions for the loan."
PKFZ is a national infrastructure project for cargo development at Port Klang and has cost RM4.6 billion including land purchase.
Awang Adek said PKFZ was initially planned in two phases and was expected to self-finance its development by using its revenue, but it was implemented in a single phase on the advice of experts from Dubai. "At first, the first phase involving 400-500 acres was expected to generate revenue to finance the second phase," he explained.
"But the government brought in experts to be advisers and manage the project and they proposed that the project be undertaken in a single phase as the (development of the) second phase will disrupt operations under the first phase. "The government agreed to this, so there was no revenue from the original first phase to fund the second phase."
On the land acquisition for PKFZ, Awang Adek said the government had agreed that the land be bought at a certain price because land acquisition is a complicated and time-consuming affair. "According to the Land Acquisition Act, if a development order has been issued, there cannot be land acquisition based on economic policy," he pointed out.
On the 50th Merdeka Anniversary celebrations, Awang Adek said the Prime Minister's Department and the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry, through various agencies, had allocated more than RM100 million.
***** If this is not a bail out I would love to know what else it can reasonably be termed as. The statement that our government has yet to finalise the terms and conditions for the loan can imply either the kerajaan has not decided what terms to impose or better than that for the recipients of this largesse, no conditions at all will be set and the lucky fellows can laugh all the way to the various banks, local and Swiss.
The explanation about the land being bought at a certain price because land acquisition is a 'complicated and time-consuming affair' is plain bullshit and a crude attempt to cover up for those umnoputras who reaped a huge windfall.
Image - Source
Labels: Business, Cheats., Corruption, Questionable Decision, Umnoputras - Blunders And Plunders.
posted by The Malaysian. at 9/04/2007 10:32:00 PM
2 Comments:
repayment period of 7 years at 4% interest. goodness gracious, if you follow what the GM of PKFZ said, the revenue stream is expected to run up to RM40.0 million by 2010. He did not even clarify whether this is after running expenses. assuming the figure is net off all running expenses, the RM40.0 million revenue is not enough to pay the interest! how to repay the principal unless the government in a stroke of generosity decides to forgive the said sum.
is this not bail-out? dont give us the bullshit about problems in land acquisition. asked the former landowners where Jusco is in Klang how their land suddenly were snatched away from them with the stroke of a pen.
i am dead mad at you corrupts, not because of the implementation of the PKFZ project but how you all rip off the rakyat in bright daylight in the guise of strategic development. And how you ministers without any backbones and integrity defend the corrupts.
Mr Deputy Finance Minister, you are a shame to your position and religion with your outright lies.
The question is who are the beneficiaries of the bail out.
Taxpayers money is pumped into the project. Should not the taxpayer be the beneficiaries and reap the benefits and rewards of the project.
No!! the beneficiaries are the promoters of the the projects, namely, UMNO and MCA corrupt politicains are the beneficiaries.
Why not let the project die a natural death and revive it as a new project by an open tender. There will then be transparency and accountability. It will also have the benefit of making the corrupt politians pay, through their losses, for their sins of robbing the taxpayer.
All the high hopes of high revenues by the project are pious/pipe (opium?) dreams. It has been proved that the promoters of the project have made unrealistic projections of high revenues and profits just to obtain government backing for the scheme. Their record speaks out loud on this point.
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