KUALA LUMPUR – As stakeholders protest against the Selangor government’s desire to open up 971ha of the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve, two companies are in the spotlight after being named as parties interested in developing the contested land.
Menteri Besar Selangor Inc (MBI) is the state government’s major investment vehicle, while not much is known about Titian Jutaria Sdn Bhd (TJSB), apart from its princely directors and shareholders.
Checks on TJSB based on its filing with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) raised more questions on the firm’s feasibility and financial strength to undertake a large-scale development project.
It is understood that 364ha of the proposed development will be owned by MBI, and the remaining 607ha will be awarded to TJSB.
TJSB’s directors are Raja Muda Tengku Amir Shah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and Syed Budriz Putra Jamalullail, the son and nephew, respectively, of Selangor’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.
Syed Budriz and Sultan Sharafuddin are also 60:40 shareholders of the company.
A newly incorporated entity, TJSB was established on December 12, 2018 with a paid-up capital of RM100,000. Whether it has a healthy balance sheet is unknown as one has yet to be filed at the time of writing.
As for TJSB’s esteemed shareholders and directors, publicly available information from CCM and Bursa Malaysia provides a snapshot of their other business interests.
For starters, Sultan Sharafuddin owns 0.56% of listed furniture-maker Homeritz Corporation Bhd, 5% of Hard Rock Cafe Enterprise (M) Sdn Bhd and 19% of Srivijaya Sdn Bhd, the master franchisee of US ice-cream chain Cold Stone Creamery.
Homeritz and Hard Rock Cafe Enterprise registered net profits of RM22.12 million and RM385,458 for the financial years ended August 31 and December 31, 2019, respectively. Srivijaya netted a loss of RM699,936 for the financial year ended December 31, 2018.
The ruler also owns 34.72% of moneylending company Radar Credit & Leasing Sdn Bhd. According to the company’s latest filing, it posted a net loss of RM3,938 for the financial year ended June 30, 2019.
Sultan Sharafuddin’s major business groups, however, are ISY and Jugra. The former comprises ISY Equity Sdn Bhd, ISY Holdings Sdn Bhd, ISY Limousine Sdn Bhd and ISY Sepang Sdn Bhd, and the latter, Jugra Automobile Sdn Bhd and Jugra Publication Sdn Bhd.
All are loss-making except for Jugra Publication, which posted a net profit of RM97 for the financial year ended June 30, 2019.
Tengku Amir, meanwhile, is either a director or shareholder of Blueprint Energy Sdn Bhd, Blueprint Projects Sdn Bhd, Blueprint Projects Shah Alam Sdn Bhd and Blueprint Property Sdn Bhd.
Only Blueprint Projects and Blueprint Property posted net profits of RM4.21 million and RM3,368 for the financial years ended February 28, 2019 and August 31, 2018, respectively.
Tengku Amir also wholly owns Red Giants FC Sdn Bhd, which manages state reserve team Selangor II.
Aside from their posts in TJSB, he and Syed Budriz are directors and 50:50 shareholders of investment holding firm Tasb Capital Sdn Bhd, a RM2 company incorporated on October 24, 2017 that posted a net loss of RM9,976 for the financial year ended March 31, 2019.
Other companies that Syed Budriz either owns or has a directorship in include B3 Medics Sdn Bhd, Konsortium Mikris Sdn Bhd, Rezeki Bahagia Sdn Bhd and Sepang Hijau Sdn Bhd. All are loss-making, according to CCM filings.
He also established Medic Alliance Sdn Bhd, which was incorporated on January 4 last year. The company’s filing states that it deals in construction.
Impact on Orang Asli
At a September 29 town hall, Orang Asli, environmentalists and lawmakers from both sides of the divide panned the state government over the proposed degazettement of the forest reserve.
Concerns were raised as to the intention of pushing forward a development project at a time when the country is facing a property glut and a contracting economy triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.
More importantly, the livelihood of the Orang Asli is at stake as they depend on the forest to produce crafts and carvings. Parts of the sanctuary are also their ancestral land.
It is believed that developing the reserve will displace more than 2,000 Orang Asli and critically endangered species such as the Malayan sun bear.
The peatland forest, estimated to be 8,000 years old, was gazetted as a reserve in 1927, and at the time, measured 7,247ha. But over the years, its boundaries gradually shrank to make way for development projects. – The Vibes, October 2, 2020
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