After Perikatan claims conflict, MB says only representing Selangor in sustainability project
KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 — Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said today that his presence in an environmental sustainability company that has dealings with his state was not a conflict of interests.
Instead, he said his position in the company was to safeguard the interests of the state government.
“If you understand the chronology, as mentioned in the LLSB’s (Landasan Lumayan Sdn Bhd) statement earlier, I represent the state government and I want to ensure that the state’s interests is not interfered with, including revenues.
“The process, as I have stated from the very beginning, from 2008 through the imagination of the late Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali who gave a loan worth RM45 million to LLSB, up until we managed to tie-up with Berjaya Land Berhad (Berjaya Corp Bhd’s subsidiary) through the process of evaluating 98 companies that sent proposals through a request for proposal (RFP),” Amirudin told a press conference at the Parliament building here today.
Amirudin was referring to allegations made by Perikatan Nasional (PN) that he, along with Selangor executive councillor Izham Hashim, had abused their power to award LLSB a river-widening project.
Earlier today, Selangor Perikatan Nasional information chief Mohd Shukor Mustaffa lodged a police report against Amirudin and Izham alleging abuse of power in relation to the project worth RM700 million.
Shukor claimed that the project, known as the Selangor Maritime Gateway, had been directly awarded and instead of being opened for tender.
Serdang district police chief AA Anbalagan confirmed receiving the report made at 2pm today.
“It’s a state subsidiary company, not a private company, not individually owned,” the MB reiterated.
“I come as a representative of the state government and there are all kinds of RFPs, a combination of sorts, because with the state government, there are full ownership and partial ownership, and I represent 45 per cent which is there, and not any other interests.
“The important thing is, it is funded by LLSB and they don’t need to pay for part of the premium and also through funding in the form of financing with banking that will be made by the Berjaya platform.
“So, I don't think there is any conflict of interest. The one who raised this probably isn’t familiar with the questions regarding conflict of interests,” he added.
Amirudin previously said the Selangor Maritime Gateway initiative was aimed at transforming the Klang River into a maritime economic zone for the State, and expected to bring in more than RM1 billion in investments by 2030.
He said the investments would be coming in the form of joint ventures with the state’s special purpose vehicles.
