Rebutting claims: Chua (centre) explaining about the settlement agreement during the press conference. Looking on are Selangor MCA secretary Wong Koon Mun (right) and MCA publicity bureau deputy chairman Loh Seng Kok.
(The Star) - Claims that the previous Barisan Nasional-led Selangor Government did not attempt to recover debts owed to it by Talam Corp are not true, said MCA Young Professionals Bureau chairman Datuk Chua Tee Yong.
This was because a supplemental settlement agreement was entered into by Pendidikan Industries YS Sdn Bhd (which owns Unisel), Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (a Selangor state subsidiary), Maxisegar Sdn Bhd (a Talam subsidiary) and Talam Corp in 2007 a year before Pakatan Rakyat took over Selangor, he said.
At a press conference yesterday, Chua said that based on the March 8, 2007 agreement, the total debts due from Maxisegar and Talam Corp to KDEB and Unisel stood at RM284mil.
The agreement was brought up by Selangor exco Teresa Kok to counter Chua's earlier allegation that the Selangor Government had overpaid RM1.89mil to acquire five leasehold office lots in Menara Pandan, Pandan Indah in 2010.
Kok said that the previous state government had entered into the agreement with Maxisegar and Talam Corp and the current government had to abide by it.
The office lots were part of the assets offered by Talam Corp to offset its RM392mil debt owed to the state government.
“An early incentive settlement amounting to RM36mil was given,” said Chua, noting that Talam and Maxisegar's debts would be reduced to RM248mil if they settled the outstanding sum early.
Chua said the Pakatan government had honoured the early incentive “discount” and acknowledged that the amount due to it was RM248mil in a new agreement signed in 2010 although the previous agreement had “expired” in 2008.
“They have not disclosed to the state assembly the rationale for this reduction or discount,” he said, adding that the Pakatan state government could have taken Talam to task for failing to repay its debts.
Chua also reiterated his call for the Selangor Government to explain the “apparent over-valuation” of assets and shares it recovered in the debt recovery exercise.
These include land in Bestari Jaya, Danau Putra and Ulu Yam as well as office lots in Menara Pandan and 60% share from Talam's subsidiary Ulu Yam Golf and Country Club Sdn Bhd (UYGCC).
Meanwhile, Kok has clarified that the Ulu Yam land, that was allegedly acquired by Selangor state subsidiary Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor Berhad (KHSB), was a “disposal” under the global debt settlement between Selangor and Talam.
She said this in reference to Chua's claims that the Selangor Government had overpaid RM1.2mil for 80.6ha of class 3 and 4 hillslope land near Ulu Yam, Selangor, through the acquisition of a 60% share from UYGCC.
“There was never, at any time, any formal sale and purchase agreement signed between KHSB and Talam on the said Ulu Yam land,” Kok said in her blog yesterday.
