The Selangor government’s decision to approve an additional RM391 million budget allocation to Mentri Besar Inc (MBI) to take over the debts owed by Talam Corp Bhd to three state agencies has stirred controversy.

Basically, under the move, MBI will use the money to settle the amount that Talam owes Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd, Permodalan Negeri Selangor Bhd and Yayasan Pendidikan Selangor. The state government is then supposed to recover the amount due from Talam.

While critics are viewing it as a bailout, Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim says the rationale is to ensure that Talam gives a higher priority to its debt (to the state), incurred over the last decade, ahead of its other creditors. On 10 Nov, Khalid gave Talam three months to settle the debt, incurred in connection with several property development projects.

Whatever the reason, let’s take a closer look at Talam.

The Edge reported the following on 10 Aug 2009:

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