Kota Kinabalu: The State Cabinet has decided that the Local Government and Housing Ministry should coordinate a meeting between relevant parties to address issues surrounding the long-abandoned PacifiCity housing project, said Deputy Chief Minister II Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.
He said the decision was made after he briefed the State Cabinet on the latest developments concerning the project.
He said the Local Government and Housing Ministry, headed by Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif, was the appropriate authority to coordinate efforts involving the project.
“My name has been mentioned, I don’t know for what. So I briefed the Cabinet what had happened so far. We decided that the best ministry to coordinate all this effort is the Local Government and Housing Ministry,” he said when met after he represented the Chief Minister in officiating at the opening of the Sabah Carbon Market Forum: Unlocking Carbon Market Opportunities for Sabah at Hilton Hotel here Thursday.
Masidi, who is also Finance Minister, said the State Government understood the concerns of the purchasers and was committed to assisting them, but any solution must be pursued within the framework of the law and existing policies on the use of public funds.
“Don’t worry, we hear you. The Government hears you. We understand the problem. If we can, we want to solve it together. But then we have to work within the framework of the law,” he said.
He said it would be inappropriate to expect the Government to bail out every failed housing project, adding that a viable “white knight” was ultimately needed to revive PacifiCity.
“It’s not that we don’t sympathise with the buyers. To be honest with you, these are the people with probably not much money and they have invested, particularly their lifesaving,” he said.
Masidi also defended Sabah Development Bank (SDB) against allegations that it had failed to take action to help revive the project.
He said SDB was the financier rather than the developer and had itself suffered substantial losses, with almost RM300 million outstanding.
“The bank is the one who suffered most. Nearly RM300 million,” he said.
Masidi said SDB had also been pursuing potential parties interested in rescuing the project, including conducting due diligence on companies that had expressed interest.
“So far, there are two (companies). So if they say they don’t want to do anything and let the building rot, it’s not true,” he said.
He said the companies that had been assessed so far did not have the credentials needed to complete the project.
Masidi said reviving the development would require several hundred million ringgit in initial capital and pointed out that SDB had even indicated its willingness to take a substantial “haircut” on the outstanding amount to reduce the financial burden on a potential rescuer.
“Out of RM300 million, they are willing to have a haircut of up to 50 per cent. That means they are willing to bear the loss just to make sure the project can be saved,” he said.
He said allegations against SDB should therefore be assessed based on facts, rather than assumptions or accusations.
“We choose to try to solve problems rather than just talking. I can talk for hours, but you don’t solve the problems. And when you want to solve the problems, it has to be based on facts and law, not just rhetoric,” he said.
