The public must be convinced that we will not be taken for a ride

by DASHVEENJIT KAUR

ANY decision to dispose of PLUS Malaysia Bhd to private entities must take into account public feedback, non-governmental organisations’ (NGOs) views and key stakeholders.

Tycoon Tan Sri Halim Saad recently joined the race to take over the company, putting a RM5.2 billion bid for Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s entire stake in PLUS.

Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute director Tan Sri Dr Ramon Navaratnam said the government should not make any decisions without adequately giving the public the full rationale.

He said some of the private takeovers in the past had not delivered the expected results and left the public to bear the burden.

“The public must be convinced that we will not be taken for a ride,” he told The Malaysian Reserve recently.

Ramon proposed a Parliamentary Select Committee and townhall discussions over the matter. “Why fix something which is not broken? You don’t have to break up a good system to move ahead. Just make entities more competitive with private sector partial ownership and participation,” he said.

Halim’s bid came following the offers from Bumiputera construction giant Widad Business Group, Malaysian-led Hong Kong-based private-equity firm RRJ Capital and Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd.

The highways involved in the takeover are North-South Expressway, Second-Link Expressway, Penang Bridge, North-South Expressway Central Link, Butterworth Kulim Expressway and Seremban-Port Dickson Highway.

Sunway University Business School economics Prof Dr Yeah Kim Leng said it would be ideal if the people are well informed on the details of the takeover.

“While details and merits of the various proposals are not revealed, it would be desirable to put in place a feedback mechanism for the public, NGOs and other stakeholders such as financial institutions and investors,” he said.

Yeah said the government is “spoilt for choice” as of now, which is a good thing in terms of getting the best deal should the stakeholders decide to proceed with the divestment.

He said a partial divestment is recommended for PLUS.

“I recommend the shareholding to be structured to leverage on the efficiency and technological capability of the private sector while minimising compensation and the cost of capital through government support to ensure reduced toll rates,” he said.

The government said it would study all proposals to see if they meet the country’s demands and benefitted motorists with lower toll rates.