PETALING JAYA, 8 Jan: The Senior Wanita Umno Leader, Datuk Raja Ropiah Raja Abdullah, was essentially given ‘free money’ amounting to RM13 million, due to the cancellation of the agreement between Boustead, Astacanggig and Awan Megah, for the construction of the National Defence Education Centre (PUSPAHANAS).
The Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Strategy Director, Rafizi Ramli, said that the contract between the government and Awan Megah to build Puspahanas is null and void.
He said the company also failed to secure a land bond for the project, as required in the agreement.
“Therefore, Ropiah received free money from the ongoing project. Let us not forget that she still has 90.25 hectares of land in Bukit Raja,” he said in a press conference at the PKR Headquarters today.
Rafizi said that as a shareholder in Boustead Holdings Berhad, he personally has checked the agreement.
“Awan Megah and Boustead must fulfil other conditions within three months from when the agreement was signed.
“Until now, the three companies signed the privatisation contract for the construction of PUSPAHANAS. The Selangor Government’s approval to transfer land and the termination of a joint-venture between Awan Megah and GuppyUnip has not been fulfilled.
“The preparation of the new land bonds worth RM87,554,408 to replace the land bonds have expired,” he said.
In relation to that, the construction of PUSPAHANAS continued through an invalid contract and in non-compliance with the procurement requirements because Awan Megah, as the recipient of the contract, did not provide land bonds.
“The contract between Boustead Holdings Berhad, which is a subsidiary of Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT), and Awan Megah, which is controlled by Wanita Umno exco member Datuk Raja Ropiaah Raja Abdullah, was automatically nullified because other conditions in the contract were not fulfilled within three months after the contract was signed on December 27, 2012,” he said.
He was also disappointed with the Defence Minister at the time and now, for continuing to ignore public outrage when millions of ringgit have been wasted.
“If the contract between Boustead, Astacanggih and Awan Megah is nullified as he believed it to be, the RM13 million deposit paid to Awan Megah would be forfeited.
“I will officially write to the Auditor-General to audit the Puspahanas project and Boustead management to confirm the status of the project,”
Earlier, Rafizi revealed that Raja Ropiah, through Alam Megah, was awarded 90.25 hectares of land for free by Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in return for designing and building a military training college in 2005.
The land is located in a prime land area between Bukit Bandaraya Shah Alam and Bukit Raja, which was initially taken by the central government and gazetted for the purpose of establishing a military camp.
Previously, Raja Ropiah, through her company, Alam Megah, actively conducted efforts to sell the land to Bakti Wira Sdn Bhd, a company fully owned by Boustead Holdings Berhad.
