PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli has raised a poser over 1MDB's sale of Bandar Malaysia to a consortium comprising a China-based company and a local firm: will the sale expose the country's military bases to China?
The state investment fund had sold a 60 percent stake to the joint venture comprising China Railway Engineering Corp (CREC) and Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH).
Rafizi said this was because under the original deal, Putrajaya had granted the land, which the Sungai Besi Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base sits on, to 1MDB on condition it help relocate the base besides upgrading six other RMAF camps and a police air unit camp.
Rafizi asked if CREC will now take over that role after its joint-venture purchase in Bandar Malaysia.
"I urge Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to personally explain these issues as soon as possible as a sovereign nation should not allow foreign companies to be involved in matters involving our military equipment and facilities," he said in a statement today.
Rafizi added that the Sungai Besi RMAF base is among the most important in the country.
He said the other RMAF camps that 1MDB was supposed to upgrade under the original Bandar Malaysia deal are in Kuantan, Gong Kedak, Senawang and Butterworth as well as the Ipoh police air unit camp.
Last week, it was announced that the joint venture between CREC and IWH will purchase the 60 percent stake in the 486-acre Bandar Malaysia for RM7.41 billion.
However, questions were raised yesterday after CREC informed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that the joint-venture purchase was actually RM5.28 billion, RM2.13 billion less than the sum announced by Putrajaya.
1MDB president Arul Kanda Kandasamy today clarified the price was not final as it is subjected to "whether or not certain Bandar Malaysia-related liabilities can be passed to the consortium”.
This includes a sukuk obligation worth RM2.4 billion in notional value at maturity as well as contract costs for relocating existing military facilities on the land.
Rafizi said if 1MDB's obligations to relocate and upgrade the military camps are transferred to the consortium, it will have profound implications on the country's sovereignty and national security.
