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PETALING JAYA: The Melaka government has been urged to be transparent about its decision to end the 43 billion ringgit recovery project for the Melaka Gateway.
The state government must reveal why the project was canceled, said economists Barjoyai Bardai and Yeah Kim Leng.
Barjoyai, who works with Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, said the state government must disclose the circumstances that caused it to take the drastic action of asking the developer to leave the facility within 14 days.
He also questioned whether there were political reasons for the cancellation.
Yes, who is at Sunway University, said that transparency was required about any breach of the terms and conditions so that both parties could achieve a win-win situation.
He said current and potential investors are monitoring the developments. “It will have an impact on the state of Melaka, as investors can be cautious unless there is transparency.”
However, business consultant Hoo Ke Ping, an advisor to the Kingsley Strategic Institute, questioned the viability of Melaka Gateway and its ability to compete with Singapore.
“Singapore’s ports have been built over decades and are among the largest in the world. Will Melaka Gateway compete? ” he said.
Hoo said the Melaka project is part of China’s One Belt, One Road project and needs to be properly scrutinized to see if it is sustainable in the long term.
Melaka’s chief minister’s office said on November 16 that the state government had terminated the land reclamation agreement with property developer KAJ Development, as the agreement, signed in October 2017, expired on October 3, 2017. year.
A termination notice was sent to the company after it failed to complete the project, the prime minister’s office said.
On November 21, KAJ Development founder and CEO Michelle Ong said the company received a termination notice for “no reason.”
Ong said that RM700 million had been spent on the project so far, and that 40% of the project’s work had been carried out, including soil investigations.
The company is the lead developer of the project and holds the concession to reclaim and develop three islands covering 246ha, which would include a deepwater port and the largest cruise terminal in Asia.
In 2018, the federal government canceled the company’s cruise port and terminal projects. The decision was overturned by the Transport Ministry in November last year in a company appeal. The cruise terminal was supposed to be finished in September 2020.
