MP joins chorus against PLUS takeover bid
Published on: Tuesday, October 03, 2017
Kuala Lumpur: Member of Parliament for Setiawangsa Datuk Ahmad Fauzi Zahari has joined a growing chorus of people and organisations opposing the takeover bid of PLUS Malaysia Bhd, the country's largest highway concessionaire, by Maju Holdings Bhd.Ahmad Fauzi makes out a strong case why PLUS should remain in government control via its 51 per cent ownership by Khazanah Nasional Bhd and the remaining 49 per cent by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).He warned of a similar spectre and the bitter lessons learnt from Malaysia Airlines (MAS) which the government had to bail out by the billions after being privatised.ADVERTISEMENT Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani last week expressed the government's concern over the takeover bid out of fear that the nation's strategic assets would fall into foreign hands because the source of funding was unknown.Meanwhile, Malay rights pressure group Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa wants the government to reject the offer outright in the interest of the people and nation.Maju Holdings, controlled by businessman Tan Sri Abu Sahid Mohamed, has made a RM36 billion offer to take over PLUS.In its bid, Maju Holdings plans to freeze toll rate hikes for 20 years until the end of the concession period as well as forfeit the government's compensation of about RM900 million owed to the toll road operator, a result of toll hikes not implemented.ADVERTISEMENT Ahmad Fauzi said there was absolutely no reason why such a strategic asset like PLUS should be sold to another entity as it has been giving good returns to Khazanah and especially to EPF whose 14.5 million members depend on such a gem for their dividends."An asset such as PLUS has turned out to be one of EPF's best investments ever and is something that is extremely difficult to come by again.
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"PLUS, with its 772km of highway network from north to south, is the backbone of Malaysia's road system which has been very well managed all this while." In 2015, it gave out RM815 million in net dividends and RM720 million in 2016 . Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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Over the long-term, PLUS gives steady returns not only to EPF or Khazanah but more importantly to the ever increasing number of EPF members," he told Bernama.Ahmad Fauzi said over the next 20 years it would be a "tall order" for EPF to secure an investment as good as PLUS with its steady stream of income coupled with some 600,000 motor vehicles registered, annually, based on 2011 to 2015 statistics. – Bernama