THE Najib administration has moved to put in a new management team to develop Bandar Malaysia, tacitly conceding that the previous team which oversaw the failed IWH-CREC deal was not up to the mark.

The biggest winner in the reshuffle is Treasury secretary-general Irwan Serigar Abdullah. 

He has been appointed chairman of both TRX City Sdn Bhd and Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a reward for his key role in bringing to light the inability of the Iskandar Waterfront Holding-China Railway Engineering Corporation consortium to meet financial obligations under the 2015 RM7.41 billion share sale signed with the government.

Prime Minister Najib Razak said Irwan will head a team for the overall development of TRX City and Bandar Malaysia as well as the monetisation of scandal-scarred 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) remaining real estate assets in Air Itam and Pulau Indah. 

There is clearly no role for K. Arul Kanda, the 1MDB president, in this new set-up to develop TRX City or Bandar Malaysia. And while he continues to helm 1MDB to manage debt repayments only, it is clear that Irwan and his team will have the final say on the disposal or development of land held by the controversy soaked government-owned entity.

In a statement, Najib also confirmed that the work of the Budiman committee – formed in 2016 to oversee the rationalisation of 1MDB’s debts – has come to an end.

It also said a request for proposal process to develop Bandar Malaysia will be announced shortly.

“Contrary to some erroneous reports, the termination of the previous agreement is final and it will not be reinstated,” the statement said, referring to a report in a mainstream newspaper that the IWH-CREC ‎deal is still alive.

The Malaysian Insight understands that the front-runners to develop Bandar Malaysia are the Dalian Wanda group and a consortium of China’s state-owned enterprises. 

There is a possibility that Wanda and the consortium could both be appointed to develop Bandar Malaysia, given the financial heft needed to turn the swathe of land into a major tourism and transport hub. 

“Given the importance of this project, it is critical that Bandar Malaysia has the right leadership, the right partners and the right ownership structure to ensure that its full potential is realised,” said Najib, who added that the Ministry of Finance will retain 100% ownership of Bandar Malaysia.

The IWH-CREC agreement to develop Bandar Malaysia was cancelled by the government earlier this month because the consortium failed to meet its financial obligations despite being given more than 10 extensions. 

That surprising decision sparked off a flurry of frenzied lobbying by the consortium in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, and raised some questions, namely, why did the stakeholders take so long to pull the plug on the agreement?

However, Putrajaya has remained silent on the matter. It has, however, repaid the deposit and interim payments paid by IWH-CREC consortium. – May 17, 2017.