Prasarana Malaysia Bhd has declined to comment on a report which questioned the leadership and direction of the company since the appointment of Umno leader Tajuddin Abdul Rahman as its chairperson in May.
“We have no comment on this subject,” said a Prasarana official in a text message.
Malaysiakini also made an attempt to reach out to the three-term Pasir Salak MP for comment, but he has not replied.
This came after The Edge reported that Tajuddin was exerting his authority by seeking significant changes at the rail and bus transport operator. Some of these changes have supposedly raised questions about the leadership and direction of the wholly-owned unit of the Finance Ministry.
Tajuddin has allegedly sought to terminate the contract of RM1.2 billion Latitud 8, a mixed-use commercial development at the Dang Wangi light rail transit (LRT) station to allow Prasarana to play a more prominent role in the project and eventually move its office to the new development.
The Edge cited documents sighting in reporting that the termination of the joint land development agreement (JLDA) may cost Prasarana up to RM80 million.
The documents also allegedly indicated that Finance Ministry has given “tacit approval” for Prasarana to move to the new tower being built in Dang Wangi from Menara UOA in Bangsar.
Reportedly the reason given was that Dang Wangi is the ideal location as it is located in the Golden Triangle area of Kuala Lumpur, which has one of the best values in terms of property and also one of the best commercial addresses in Kuala Lumpur.
The companies involved in the construction of Latitud 8 are Crest Builder Holdings Bhd and its 51 percent unit Intan Sekitar Sdn Bhd. The remaining 49 percent of the company is held by Detik Utuh Sdn Bhd.
Interestingly, Tajuddin’s daughter Rahayu sits on the board of Detik Utuh.
Detik Utuh’s shareholders are Tindakan Juara Sdn Bhd (40 percent), Obata-Ambak Holdings Sdn Bhd (35 percent) and Vignesh Naidu Kuppusamy Naidu (25 percent).
Tajuddin’s family members own Tindakan Juara. The company is 35 percent owned by his daughter and 35 percent by his wife Rohkiah Abd Samat while the balance of 30 percent is owned by his son Firdaus.
Both Rohkiah and Firdaus were appointed as Tindakan Juara directors in early 2007, about four months after the company was registered. Sri Rahayu was appointed to the board in February 2010.
In March 2012, Crest Builder and Detik Utuh were granted the development project. – Malaysiakini