SHAH ALAM, April 3 – There have been inconsistencies and simply too many questions that have not been properly addressed with regards to the Shah Alam Sports Complex project, says Green Party’s pro-tem secretary general Abdul Razak Ismail.
Apart from wanting to know why four stadiums in the vicinity of Stadium Shah Alam should be completely razed under the project when the Works Department had verified that the structures would stand strong for another 100 years, Razak also sought answers for more questions including several on the Klang River deepening project and called on for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s immediate intervention in the matter.
In a statement issued here today, Razak there had been no open tenders for both the sports complex project as well as another mega project in Selangor – the Klang River Mitigation project, which now includes property development along the the Klang river under a land swap exercise.
The party cited inconsistencies, and claimed that both projects, being undertaken without open tenders, were in abuse of power, had conflict of interest, and had breached the principles of good governance.
Information on the Shah Alam Sports Complex project, to be built at a cost of RM1.4 billion to RM1.5 billion, has been inconsistent all along, said Razak.
Initially, the Mentri Besar of Selangor had proposed the renovation of the Shah Alam football stadium at RM787 million, while JKR Selangor had put the cost at RM196 million to repair and renovate the football stadium and the Indoor Malawati stadium.
However, several months down the road, the plan was changed to completely destruct and construct a new stadium with a smaller crowd capacity of 35,000 people while the current stadium’s capacity is 80,000.
A model displayed for people to to see in February at the SACC Mall in Shah Alam, featured a hotel, shopping mall and a commercial centre as part of the development package in the area.
Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Amirudin Shari had said that 15 companies had been called to give their proposal on the project but MRCB Berhad was awarded the project. MRCB is to finance the development in exchange for a land to be given to it.
The Green Party’s question was if the same offer was made to the other 14 companies, said to have sent in their proposals.
There was also no open tender announced for the Selangor Maritime Getaway project, which will involve the deepening and expanding of Sungai Klang at a cost of RM700 million, Razak said.
This project also involves the offer of 500 acres of land by the Selangor government to a joint venture between Berjaya Land and the state government – a special purpose vehicle known as Landasan Lumayan Berjaya Sdn Bhd, in exchange to finance and carry out the project. The 500 acres of land along the Klang River meanwhile has been projected to be developed by Berjaya Land with an estimated Gross Development Value of RM10 billion.
Razak said there was no transparency in the offer of the project and in line with the present government’s stand on good governance in the handling of major government projects, he called upon the prime minister to intervene in the matter and ensure that an open tender process be carried out.
The costs could have been also inflated with direct negotiation, he alleged.
Meanwhile, he also said the Shah Alam complex was not a priority project in the state where more than six million people were facing all sorts of challenges post Covid-19 pandemic.
He also believed that the deepening and widening of the Klang River wil not provide permanent solution to the flooding in Taman Seri Muda, Kg Bukit Lanchong and several areas along the river.
Local residents have raised issues of non-maintenance by the local authorities including poor maintenance of drains and other water drainage systems, water pumps that had not been repaired as well as other reasons such as rampant tree fellings for the swelling of Klang River and the flash floods.
–WE