1MDB’s sale of 60 percent equity stake of Bandar Malaysia to a consortium comprising Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH) and China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC), in a bid to pay its mounting debts, has sparked outrage.
Among others, critics question why the nation’s self-styled strategic investment firm is selling prime land it obtained from the government for a song, to a foreign entity.
This was compounded when China Railway’s notice to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange showed a price tag lower than what was announced by 1MDB.
Critics also raised concern that the sale will raise China Railway’s chances of winning the bid for the plum High Speed Railway project from Bandar Malaysia to Singapore.
Najib has admitted he prefers loyal fools around him, rather than sharp advisors.
These guys will believe anything they are told to believe, if paid.
But, the rest of Malaysia can see that Najib is flogging off chunks of valuable land to try and pay back the debts created by the theft of billions from 1MDB.
Because they are desperate to balance the books (which they are notably failing to do, because of their earlier extreme greed) they are selling off central KL at bargain prices to foreign buyers – and then pretending they have got a better deal than they have.
In fact, this Bandar Malaysia deal is no deal at all. The whole edifice is subject to further negotiations, which might fail resulting in no more money and even the demand for a repayment of the measly 10% deposit!
Najib will use some of the stolen cash to buy the Sarawak State election (which is easy to cheat) and then the next General Election. If Malaysians let him, they must wonder what he will pillage next.