BILA JALAN DIKOREK SEMULA

Pak Lah mungkin sudah kembali ke tanahair selepas berada di Singapura beberapa hari. Dia sengaja dilapurkan 'berjaya' menjernihkan sengketa (melayu siapa yang lebih berjaya) yang sebenarnya tiada. Tetapi lapuran satu cadangan untuk membina jambatan/terowong mega nampaknya lebih berjaya untuk membuat sekumpulan kroni ceria dan berjaya.

Projek tersebut tenggelam timbul pada tahun 1996, 1998 dan kini 2001. Ada dua kumpulan yang bersedia untuk menggomol habuan yang berbilion itu sekian lama, tetapi mereka terpaksa menekan brek terlebih dahulu kerana kekurangan minyak. Kali ini mereka mencuba lagi kerana BN baru sahaja menang pilihanraya dan terlalu kempunan projek untuk mengisi perut yang sudah berbunyi lama. Lagipun yang diratah dulu masih tidak memadai kenyangnya.

Dengan timbulnya kembali isu ini, kita dapat menjangkakan minyak sudah pun ada. Mana tidaknya, bukankah BBMB sudah ditelan dan banyak bank sudah bergabung - tentu lah ini masa yang sesuai untuk menebuknya. Lagipun UEM sudah memikul semua hutang Renong, dan Halim Saad sudahpun beristerikan orang Singapura....

Kita catat dulu dua kumpulan itu:

1. Gerbang Perdana -- satu konsortium yang dinaungi oleh Ibex Corp (60%, Transwater (20%) dan DRB-Hicom (20%) - meneropong projek infrastruktur jalan.
   

2. Merak Unggul -- konsortium naungan Renong Bhd (50%), DRB-Hicom (25%), Bolton Properties (20%) dan Jasa Meta (5%) -- mengintai penswastaan KTM dan aset-asetnya.
   

KTM memilikki 12,000 hektar tanah di sekitar tambak, dimana 200 hektar berada di Singapura. Dalam siri 14, YTDT oleh Pak MT kita mengimbau bagaimana kroni membuat duit dalam sembunyi:

"Renong membeli tanah RM1.00/kaki dan menjual balik kepada kerajaan RM10.00/kaki persegi seluas 27,000 ekar di Gelang Patah, Johor untuk Link Kedua dan Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas."

Saya akhiri tulisan ini dengan serta-merta kerana itu sudah cukup untuk membuka cerita. Lihatlah nanti siapa yang bergembira dan siapa yang akan menanggung derita. Perhatikan juga nanti bank yang mungkin digabungkan lagi pada fasa yang kedua kerana ia masih tidak mencukupi untuk dikorek semua.

-Kapal Berita-

Rencana Rujukkan:

From The Business Times, Singapore
9th February 2001

Bridge/tunnel project between M'sia, S'pore gets airing again

Proposal for RM1.5b project submitted to S'pore: sources

By Eddie Toh

THE tentative pact between Singapore and Malaysia on relocating the railway station of Keretapi Tanah Malayu (KTM) in the republic is set to jumpstart the bridge project to replace the Causeway, and a proposed railway tunnel to link the two countries.

Sources said Gerbang Perdana has finally submitted a general outline of its proposed RM1.5 billion project to the Singapore government.

"It's linked to the whole bilateral package, but details are not available yet," said a source.

Details are still sketchy as Gerbang Perdana -- a consortium comprising Ibex Corp (60 per cent), Transwater (20 per cent) and DRB-Hicom (20 per cent) -- has not secured the final approval from the Malaysian government.

A Malaysian government source said representatives of Gerbang Perdana met officials of the Economic Planning Unit yesterday to work out details of its concession agreement.

An executive familiar with the blueprint said the tunnel is expected to run along the present route of the Causeway, while the bridge will be built towards the eastern side of the two countries. The 78-year-old Causeway will be demolished when the new bridge is completed.

The project was first mooted in 1996 but failed to take off.

It was revived in late 1998, but nothing much has been done since then due to uncertainties over the precise location of the new KTM station in the Republic.

The project is expected to get the green light from the EPU, which comes under the Malaysian Prime Minister's Department, following the two countries' new understanding on the KTM land in Singapore.

On Wednesday, Singapore agreed in principle to Malaysian premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's earlier request to shift the Malaysian railway station from Tanjung Pagar to Kranji instead of Woodlands or Bukit Timah as stipulated in the Points of Agreement, which was signed by then Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Malaysian Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin in 1990.

According to Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, who had met the Malaysian leader in Hanoi in 1998, Dr Mahathir also wanted a tunnel built from Johor to connect with the Kranji railway station when it was built, and for it to be linked to the Kranji MRT station.

The concession by the Singapore government would require an amendment to the POA.

While the bridge-cum-tunnel project is set to take off, the redevelopment plan of the prized KTM land in the Republic is still hazy.

According to the existing POA, the land parcels will be jointly developed by M-S Pte Ltd, which will be 60 per cent owned by Malaysia, and 40 per cent by Singapore.

An analyst said Merak Unggul -- a Malaysian consortium comprising Renong Bhd, DRB-Hicom, Bolton Properties and Jasa Meta -- is the frontrunner for the Malaysian stake in M-S as it is spearheading the privatisation of KTM.

In the meantime, a report yesterday said Railway Assets Corp, which owns KTM's 12,000 ha of railway land on both sides of the Causeway, is set to sell some of its land tract to pave the way for its privatisation.

A diplomat said the government agency is not expected to sell its 200-ha land tract in Singapore -- its most valuable land parcels -- as its redevelopment is governed by the POA.

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg

KM2 3084:

http://www.globalsources.com/TNTLIST/2000/12/04/ xfdws/1022-1917-VIABLE-PLAN-BLAMED.sked..htm

Lack of a viable plan blamed for sell-off failure,

BUSINESS TIMES
Associated Press
Eirmalasare Bani

December 04, 2000

FAILURE to produce a financially-viable proposal is one of the reasons why the effort to privatize national railway service provider KTM Bhd (KTMB) has been halted, according to an industry observer.

He said the only profitable division of KTMB at present is its freight services, while KTM Komuter and long distance passenger services have been losing a considerable amount of money with little hope of ever breaking even.

''The only way for the Government to make those viable is to agree what subsidy it is willing to pay rail commuters and long distance passengers.

At the moment it is unwilling to do that.

''Ploughing more money into infrastructure does not help KTMB's financial performance,'' he told by Business Times in Kuala Lumpur.

The industry observer, who has been involved in various transportation projects in Malaysia said, ``With so few passengers, the extra maintenance costs surpass the possible additional extra revenue''.

Freight train services contributed 30 per cent to KTMB's turnover in 1998. This contributions are expected to increase to between 40 per cent and 45 per cent this year.

KTMB suffered RM133 million in losses in 1997 but managed to narrow it down to RM78 million in 1998.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik, when asked to clarify over KTMB's privatization status on Wednesday, said the Government may have to ``rethink'' the whole process to determine whether it is a viable proposition.

His statement makes it seem as though the Government is having second thoughts to proceed with KTMB's privatization, which has been assigned to Marak Unggul Sdn Bhd, a consortium led by Renong Bhd.

''Marak Unggul was set up to take over (privatise) KTMB. To date, it is not financially viable and so Renong won't take it,'' the industry observer said.

The consortium's original intent was also said to involve advancing a maximum of RM100 million towards the privatization capital. It took over the management of KTMB in August 1997, but the latter remains as a wholly-owned Government company until the privatization effort materialised.

KTMB was corporatised in 1992 and was given five years to work on going private. The privatization effort was also to pave way for the company to be listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.

It was also put on hold during the economic crisis, pending a review and study, among others, by the Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee.

Meanwhile Marak Unggul, which consists of Renong (50 per cent equity), DRB-Hicom Group (25 per cent), Bolton Properties Bhd (20 per cent) and Jasa Meta Sdn Bhd (5 per cent), is expected to present a new privatization proposal to the Government by year-end or early next year.