Daniel's graphic sums up best how Warisan Merdeka tower would complement Petronas Twin Towers to form 1M or 1Malaysia, and our urge to splurge on mega projects. The bigger the better for 'commissions' to all those connected. Everybody seems to know something except our MACC. To those who do not know Hokien, 'Wa-oo-lui-than' means 'I have money to make'!We are still paying for lop-sided contracts in favour of concessionaires and IPPs, approved by our national leaders before, yet those responsible could get away from being responsible.
Either you approve toll rate increase or you compensate. We buy all your power produced at favourable prices, regardless of demand. Win-win for the companies and political party and leaders while rakyat bears the burden for years to come.
Dr. Rafick, a critic most times, is in favour of PNB's proposal to build Warisan Merdeka because he has confidence in PNB's competence all these years and took pains to differentiate PNB is a company and not a government agency.
According to what I have gathered, PNB serves to take up shares allotted to Bumiputeras which have not been taken up, to help achieve government target on Bumiputera ownership. The perception seems to be that they have pre-emption rights (right of first refusal) to participate in mega projects or take up shares in companies listed on Bursa Saham. In other words, they have priority over others and can pick and choose whatever they want. So the ability to earn more than other funds is almost a given, unless someone cocked up on a mega merger like Sime Darby.
According to him, PNB bought the land meant for this proposed Warisan Merdeka from Danaharta in 2000 for Rm310 million, (by the way, Danaharta was the source of miseries for those unfortunate over-geared owners of properties who were at its mercy). Therefore, PNB has every right to build whatever they think fit, so long as they can continue with their ability to pay more than average dividends to their fund investors.
The way I look at it, PNB must have started with initial funds from the government, just like the latest 1MDB which started with Rm5 billion. Past successes does not guarantee future success and there is always a possibility of failure, especially where it involves a project bigger than any they have done before. Since PNB is a government funded corporation, it owes a duty to the people to be cautious in investments, and if at all possible, to consider the needs of the people. In this particular case, there is a very real scenario of parking problems and traffic gridlocks, besides the usual need to ensure there is going to be sufficient demand for such a huge supply of office, commercial and residential spaces. Dubai has already shown the financial problems related to an over-ambitious project. If PNB needs good investments to ensure high returns, why can't they think in terms of investments in sectors like education, health and public transport which would benefit the public as well? If there is political will to give priority to these sectors, government policies could be formulated to ensure success for the companies involved. Taking away the corrupt portions would help in a big way towards that end.
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