Pahang: not a PKFZ please.

Pahang has no PKA- Port Klang Authority. But it has PKNP. Pahang does not have its Kuala Dimensi. But it has Putra Perdana SB, PPES( Swak) SB, Arus Widuri and Ibra' Construction. I have a feeling all these people have a common ancestor lurking behind. Pahang has no PKFZ but it can have its own version in Tanjung Agas Oil and Gas Supply Base. If we are not careful, the state stands to forfeit 5000 acres of land belonging to the people and lots and lots of money disappearing faster than David Copperfield's vanishing monuments trick.

The PKFZ mess should be a reminder to all public money spending bodies to be fastidious and disciplined. In that case, the original cost of RM 1 over billion then became RM 4 over billion and finally will be a RM 12 billion granddaddy of all financial disasters. Some people must have misled and withheld information from the government but later managed to persuade the government in making a retrospective authorization for the additional expenditures. The government must explain this monumental slippage in attention. Otherwise, it will stand to be accused as co-embezzler of public money. We hear reports and counter reports but so far no one has been brought to bear responsibility. We have the dead body in the form of PKFZ, but we don't have the murderers.

I hope the culprits behind the PKFZ will be brought to justice. Public office is not an excuse to plunder public money. We are tired of scams schemes involving the privatization of profits but socializing or making public the costs. No matter how powerful the people who were responsible, the government mustn't back off from bringing them to justice.

Here, in Pahang, if we are not careful, we will have our own carbon copy of a PKFZ horror. It involves the development of some 5000 acres in Pekan in an area known as Tanjung Agas. There, the sponsors of the idea planned to develop the area into a gigantic oil and gas supply base. Jolly good.

But let's be clear about this- the sponsor of this idea is only the developer of the facility. Developing the area and making it hum and buzz are 2 different things. As developer, whoever the chosen one  is, it will build the entire infrastructure, the buildings, clear land, prepare plots for industries, factories and fabrication yards all that. They have already formed a club there- no others can enter. Maybe later, at the persuasion of the PM who is MP in this area, all the class F contractors the majority of whom are UMNO members will get to build culverts here and there, toilets for workers, perimeter fences etc. They will be happy enough to proclaim, this is another benefit of BN rule. Maybe they will get 5-10 million worth of jobs, sufficient to buy loyalty and obedience.

The sponsors don't have the money- so they borrow from the federal government. Hence the claim that they will finance it privately is a bloody lie. They have only the idea but no money. Even the original idea was hijacked from one fellow who has since passed away. But the people at PKNP, the performance--challenged GLC behemoth, was enamored with the idea. The idea landed on their laps after the Pahang MB decided that PKNP not PASDEC Corporation was the more suitable business partner.

They can be easily satisfied with a crumb of equity- a free 30%, the standard requirement sufficient to buy acquiescence and docility. Certainly they live up to their reputation as the most famous and prominent Ali-Baba entity.

The whole area is set to become a one stop super market for the oil and gas industry. After readying all the facilities, TAOGSB will lease/sell/rent out the facilities to operating companies- ship builders, fabricators, oil field service providers who will set up shop. I suppose the sponsors will employ their charm to attract some major oil field players- Murphy oil, Halliburton, Schlumberger, and others to operate out of Tanjung Agas. But where are the oil fields? Somewhere off the cost of South Pahang and North Johor?

We will talk about that later. Right now, we, PUTRA PERDANA SDN BHD, PPES ( Swak) Sdn bhd with our esteemed friend ARUS WIDURI SB and IBRA' CONSTRCTION, we are just doing the infra work. RM 300 million is not peanuts- it's almost half of the state's yearly revenue.

The sponsors of this idea have roped in members of the Pahang Royalty- notably the Tengku Muda who is a respectful and affable person. At least sakmongkol can also tell his cynical and republicanish friends that the scion of the royalty from his home state can also do business. They have business acumen in addition to other better known attributes. To add weight to the proposal they also brought in the state government in the form of the leading GLC in the state- Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Pahang( PKNP). Hence by definition, the TAOGSB becomes a GLC and should be managed by people seconded by the government.

The PKNP is only a passive partner. Yet, the PKNP proudly says, they got something for free and unashamedly admit they don't have the knowledge in this area. Of course they don't- having spent their miserable free loading lives as enforcers of bureaucratic rules. Everyone regards PKNP as the mandore extraordinaire. I don't blame the PKNP tongongs because they probably only heard of this 'novel' idea for the first time in their lives.

So the pleasantly surprised PKNP felt happy at being given 30% of equity in the venture. Maybe they are right – 30% equity is the biggest deal they had. All previous deals and transactions ended in fiasco. Even the equity they got through PASDEC on the development of the EAST COAST MALL is only 17%. This was admitted by the MB in answer to my question in the DEWAN. I say this now, because I don't want some eager beavers from either PKNP or PASDEC to deny they got only 17%. So I am going to say this also, since you managed to get only 17% , I consider you stupider than the makcik in Jaya Gading who would have insisted to get at least 40% EQUITY plus some premium upfront. Did you people ask for a premium upfront? So the state through its agency got only 17% in return for the land where Transit Quarters once stood. I am emotional over this matter- because as a young boy I stayed there in Jalan Lipis exactly the spot occupied by the entrance to east coast mall.

Sorry for the digression. Back to Tanjung Agas.

Through it, the state of Pahang will alienate by way of a long term lease, the 5000 acres needed for the venture. I have written several articles about this venture. Some smart alec in PKNP thought I didn't know what I was talking. Allow me to tell these people that I know what I am talking because I was from the oil and gas industry. I am also aware the land isn't given or sold. Some jokers in PKNP triumphantly declared that the land isn't sold but only leased and thought by saying that, somehow their passive role in this business venture is redeemed. Sorry, people will still say, PKNP is full of shit.

Of course I and everyone know- only the state government can give out land. Any land alienated to a 3^rd body such as PKNP in this case, becomes automatically leasehold land. That is why when I was serving as ADUN, I asked the dewan to declare whether the land developed as EAST COAST MALL was leasehold or free hold. Either PKNP or PASDEC as owner of the land on the east coast mall has no authority to alienate land to the developers as free hold land. I had asked the question because I have heard of some moves by unseen hands to convert the land to freehold. Let me remind these ghosts that the land doesn't belonged to you or your father. It belongs to the state of Pahang.

Regarding the Tanjung Agas Oil and Supply base, I hope it will not be managed by PKNP. Hell, they can't even manage Kompleks Teruntum and it will be incredulously stupid to allow them to assume greater responsibility.

I hope some public spirited ADUNs will ask what the public wants to ask; wasn't the whole project was to be financed by private initiatives? So I was surprised to hear that the federal government gave them a start up fund to develop the infrastructure over the land.

The people of Pekan, I am sorry to say, they know nothing of the business deals that are taking place there. What they were told was to expect some trickle down effects from the project. Rest assured, the expected trickle down will just be some very viscous drips. To do what? The infrastructure works- namely the construction of a RM300 million access road were already given to a group of companies and will be a joint venture between this group and a Sarawakian developer. Let me repeat- a Sarawakian developer. How does PKNP feature in this arrangement? Just as a bystander.

If we have sunk huge amounts of money in setting up the facilities and infrastructure, how could any operating companies domiciling in Tanjung Agas hope to compete? The logistics of the location in relation to oil fields represent a daunting cost hurdle. All the new oil fields at present are located off the Sabah Coast. These can be serviced by the Labuan Supply Base. Would any oil drillers out there source their services and products from Tanjung Agas when they can get these cheaper from Labuan? Singapore has its own supply base and can compete with a newcomer such as Tanjung Agas. Or perhaps, the field of transport economics has reached perfection that now; it will cost the operating companies in Tanjung Agas nothing to transport their goods and services to far flung oil fields. Wow!