KUALA LUMPUR – An online petition has been launched urging Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to promptly investigate and address the string of unsuccessful investments made by Khazanah Nasional Bhd.
This came in light of legal battles faced by TAR PH Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Khazanah’s Themed Attractions Resorts & Hotels (TAR&H) Sdn Bhd.
The petition, available on change.org, claimed that the sovereign wealth fund’s management team was accountable for the failed investments, and that they must face the consequences of their decision-making.
“Is it true that Khazanah’s TAR&H would rather go into liquidation than (fulfil) its contractual obligations?” the description on the petition reads.
The petition was initiated by a user named John Low Seong early yesterday, and has since received several supporters.
It also cited a report by Scoop, which detailed TAR PH as facing a winding-up petition lodged by Jana DCS Sdn Bhd, after allegedly failing to comply with a statutory demand for payment last year.
With the closure of TAR PH-owned JEN Johor Puteri Harbour Hotel on May 9 this year, the winding-up petition stated that TAR PH has no income to settle its debt, valued at RM94.746 million.
As such, the debt is rooted in an arbitration award of RM89.262 million favouring Jana DCS, after TAR PH wrongfully terminated an agreement over the supply of cooling loads to the hotel in 2012.
This followed the voluntary winding-up of another TAR&H subsidiary on June 11, after the failure of KidZania Singapore – where its non-movable assets were sold to theme park operator Sim Leisure Group for a mere SG$110,000 (RM379,398).
A similar fate occurred to KidZania’s Malaysia outlet in Mutiara Damansara, which was sold to Sim Leisure Group for RM3.8 million over ineffective management.
Khazanah had reportedly injected RM550 million into TAR&H, to keep the leisure business operating.
As prime minister, Anwar is also Khazanah’s chairman, while its managing director is Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir.
Meanwhile, Stephanie Saw has been TAR&H group CEO and managing director since April 2019. – August 24, 2023