SHAH ALAM, 4 Jan: The Barisan Nasional (BN) Government is not sincere and concerned about the people in this country when they made the move to purchase all shareholding in Kesas Holdings Bhd, thereby giving 70 percent of the majority stake to Gamuda.
The DAP Deputy Secretary, Ng Suee Lim, said that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, should have prevented PNB, which is controlled by the central government, from agreeing to sell the shares to Gamuda.
He said that BN completely ignored the toll hike which will burden the citizens.
“As the central government that is supposedly fighting for the fate of the people, with the slogan ‘People First, Performance Now’, He (Najib) should take action to prevent it.
“Although we know that this transaction involves business profit, however, if the government is really sincere and concerned about the citizens, the government must stop it and reject it because it will lead to an increased rate which will burden the people,” he said via an SMS text to Selangor Kini.
Suee Lim, who is also the Assemblyman for Sekinchan, said that he is disappointed with PNB’s action, which is insensitive to the current complaints of the people.
“Do not let the people continue to grapple with the cost of living, which is increasing every day, by increasing the toll, which only lets concessionaires reap extreme profit,” he said.
Prior to this, Gamuda also revised the purchase decision in relation to the offer received from Amcorp Properties Bhd on 18 December 2013, from RM250 million to RM280 million.
On 18 December 2013, Gamuda increased its stake in Kesas, from 30 percent to 50 percent, following the receipt from Amcorp to dispose of all its shares in Kesas.
Recently, PNB agreed to sell its entire 20 percent stake to Gamuda, making the share composition to 70 percent, and 30 percent owned by the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS).
This shows that PKNS will own a minority stake, thus reducing their power to stop the toll hike by Kesas.
According to the Maybank Investment Bank Research report for November 2013, KESAS recorded an increase of five percent of vehicles each year, involving 490,000 users each week, which contributes profits many times over at 121 percent from 2008 to 2012.
Previously, the Selangor Economic Advisor, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, said that the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat will use its shareholding in the KESAS, Sprint and the LDP to reject the toll hike, as announced by Barisan Nasional.
