Tony Pua: “Zero” interest in Bandar Malaysia

PETALING JAYA (July 19): The government’s call for tender proposals for the development of Bandar Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur have attracted no suitors so far, said Ministry of Finance (MoF) special officer Tony Pua.

He said the ministry’s officials told him that there were “zero” developers who expressed interest in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd-linked project, reported the Malay Mail.

In 2015, IWH CREC – a 60:40 joint-venture between Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo’s Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH) and China Railway Engineering Corp Sdn Bhd (CREC) – made a winning bid of RM7.41 billion for a 60% stake in Bandar Malaysia via open tender.

However, two years later, the MoF axed the agreement, claiming that the consortium had missed the deadline to assemble a bank-backed guarantee for the outstanding deferred payment of RM4.5 billion.

The ministry had called for tenders to redevelop the 500-acre site in June, seeking companies with the following criteria – companies which have earned revenue of RM50 billion in the last three years, experienced in “international quality real estate development projects”, and linked to Fortune 500 organisations “to ensure financial strength”.

The absence of a station for the deferred Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) line may potentially diminish the appeal of the development and require the government to call for fresh tenders for the site given its changed circumstances.