@ Double Entry 15.5: Warisan Merdeka Project ..Why the objections ?

Much have been talked about the project since it was first announced and unveiled, during Budget 2011 by the Malaysian Prime Minister. The discussions centered around how the project will benefit Malaysia and Malaysians public in general politically, socially and economically.

I shall put aside the political aspect of the discussion, as I believe no matter how " professionally, academically the arguments are supported by statistics and evidences, it remains politics. I have nothing against politics, but sometimes people are so much blinded and clouded by political points of view, until they are not willing to call "a spade a spade" and reluctant to think outside the box and to see beyond one's political view, unfortunately.

I have written about the subject in one of my entry on the 18th of October 2010. From my reading, I do understand why so many Malaysians object the idea of the project. They label this project as another white elephants, benefits to be enjoyed by certain group of people and "elitist", another waste of tax money while money should be spent on educations, improvement of facilities , providing housing , helping the poor and etc. While they opponents of the project do have valid reasons, they forget one thing that PNB [ as the owner of the project] is a separate legal entity from government, and government earn dividend and income taxes from PNB as sources of its revenue, which in turns use the money to provide all the items mentioned earlier. Still so much skeptics out there ! How come ? Yes, this is where the argument will go on ;

"If the project doesn't fly [ technically and financially] or "kapoot", the government will come to the rescue and use the public money to continue with the project ."

While the proponents of the project use the old same arguments to convince the people that the project will benefit and economic spill over to the people through tourism, constructions of the projects, maintenance of the building, providing employment opportunities, small business shall thrive, opportunities to SME s, and bla bla bla. Yet, people are not convinced. Why ?

Permodalan Nasional Berhad who is said to be the "driver " of the project manages the largest unit trust funds in Malaysia such as Amanah Saham Bumiputera, Amanah Saham Wawasan and Amanah Saham Pendidikan and naturally, people who invested in the unit trust scheme [ including myself] shall be worry that returns in the form of dividends received every year would be affected or eroded with this project of such magnitude and worst still if the project is a failure. So, understandably, it is a valid concern.

From my readings, it is normal to have objections for such a magnitude of projects, elsewhere in the world . I quoted one example i.e. English Channel Project to link UK and France via undersea tunnel was implemented [ famously known as Channel Tunnel " ;

" The project was beset since inception in 1986 by financial and technical woes, blown schedules and highly public battles between the Anglo-French company managing the projects- Eurotunnel and its contractors".

The same also happened during the privatization of London Metro or London Tube. Same old stories, financial and technical woes, blown schedules and government via public fund came to the rescue.

Sound familiar ? How many ill , sicks, overblown budget projects in Malaysia now ? When the objectives of the projects were so noble and wonderful on paper when it was first mooted? I just quoted few examples, the new Palace in Jalan Duta? The poorly maintained and low quality of certain Putrajaya buildings- leaking here and there, " bocor" sana" bocor" sini ", the KL-Ipoh double tracks project ? The Angkatan Tentera Malaysia Hospital ? the Plaza Rakyat ? and the lists go on. Those make the public skeptical and emotionally object the project. The victim, the project which benefit the Malaysian economy through economic spill over activities.

No doubt and it is worth to mention about successful projects like Kuala Lumpur City Centre, KL Central and KL Tower. Unfortunately, the sick and poorly managed projects outnumbered the successful ones. Worst , it is "perceived and believed" by the general public that the same groups of persons who got the projects who failed to deliver the earlier projects ! How can we blame the ordinary people for objecting the project of such magnitude? It is all about perceptions. Sometimes too much is too much, and people have enough of everything. So, the challenge is now for PNB to manage that perception and silence the critics.

Shall the project be stopped ? If you ask me personally, my take is still the same, i.e. the project shall proceed as I believe that the benefits economically and socially more than the cost. Turn this project into an icon that symbolize the progress of Malaysia and something that Malaysians can be proud of to be associated with. e.g. I am proud to be associated with Petronas Twin Towers :)

On top of what I have highlighted in my earlier entry, perhaps below are some of the other considerations that PNB may want to consider to make the project a success and to silence the critics of the project;

1.Invite capable investors [ both technically and financially] to be part of the venture or owner of the building to show to the public that it is NOT government initiative, and PNB is committed to make the project a success by spreading and sharing the risk with the partners. In addition, the partners can bring potential multinational companies or clients to lease the building. At the same time, PNB may lease and own the building at the later stage;

2. Make known to the public the development concepts of the areas and worth to get the public constructive feedback. Make this project as "game changer" and have distinctive features to align with the " Greater KL/Klang Valley " initiative and others to emulate ;

3. Made the tendering process transparent and be known to the public as to who won the slices of the pie;

4. Incorporate in the project something for the public or what are there for the public ? It shall based on " pay forward" concept - e.g. emphasis on financial or monetary or economy educations for the young generations OR by virtue of its name Warisan Merdeka, emphasis on the "culture and arts" where the public and visitors can learn about Malaysia or perhaps a greener cultural village ? [ More suggestions in my previous blog entry]

5. Above all, the execution and implementation of the project must be done in the most professional and transparent manner with latest green technology, commendable safety, health and environment record, lower than the budget or estimated cost [ resulting in cost saving], and finish timely.

Last but not least, I am challenging*** PNB to announce to the public that for each phase of the project to be completed in " xxx number of days" instead of " Year 2015 " and RESPECT, HONOR and ACCOUNTABLE with the PROMISE.

E.g. "That the Warisan Merdeka Tower will be completed on 01.01.2012 " INSTEAD OF " January 2012"

***Note : I am challenging other projects as well such as the proposed LRT extension and MRT projects to give a completion date.

If this can be done and achieved, it would be easier to get buy in from the public for future projects.

Malaysia Boleh, right ?

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