Yesterday, the Prime Minister’s Department announced that an external audit firm has been appointed to conduct a forensic audit on Kuala Lumpur Vertical City (KLVC) Project. The Prime Minister Najib Razak said that he had instructed action to be taken to safeguard and not to compromise the interest of Felda and it settlers.
It has now been two weeks since Felda was exposed to have lost the ownership of the piece of land located at Jalan Semarak as a result of a dubious deal that took place in 2015. The transfer of the land was completed, against the interest of Felda, by the Power of Attorney granted to the Developer, Synergy Promenade Sdn Bhd.
It is strange for a proprietor of a development land, in this case Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FIC), to grant a full Power of Attorney to the Developer in any joint venture development. Any Power of Attorney granted will always come with limited power that is solely for the purpose of facilitating the application of all the approvals for development from the authorities. In normal practice where the proprietor’s interest is to be safeguarded, the Developer will not even have the power to charge the Land for their loan financing, let alone to transfer the ownership of the Land without the knowledge of the proprietor.
The Gross Development Value (GDV) of KLVC Project is reported to stand at RM6billion. Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd’s entitlement could reach up to a hefty sum of RM1.5billion if its entitlement in the Joint Venture Project is fixed at 25%, a rate that is normal in any joint venture development involving Government Linked Companies. Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd has put its interest on the Land and its entitlement in the Joint Venture project at stake by granting the Developer the full Power of Attorney.
The Prime Minister claimed that the Land has not “lost” and the Registrar Caveat on the land will ensure that Felda’s interests are safeguarded. That is not true. The Registrar Caveat lodged will only prohibit further dealings on the Land, and it will never revert the ownership of the Land to Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd without a Court Order as the transfer of the ownership had long been registered at the Land Registry.
The Joint Venture Agreement for the development of KLVC and the Power of Attorney granted to the Developer should be declassified as the first step in identifying the culprit behind the whole dubious transaction of the Jalan Semarak Land transfer.