KHSB to refund Semesta

‘We have no right over Dengkil sand-mining site’

PETALING JAYA: Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor Bhd (KHSB) has denied it has any legal right to do business on a 20ha site in Dengkil which was used for sand-mining activities.

Subsequently, it will refund all monies it had received from stateowned sand-mining company Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd.

“KHSB wishes to clarify that upon further investigation, the current management noted that KHSB had no legal right to do business using the said land at that material time since there is no letter of authority or power of attorney given by the registered proprietor, Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad,” KHSB told Bursa Malaysia.

Though it had earlier denied having been embroiled in a dispute with Kumpulan Semesta, this latest statement according to sources suggests that it did not even have legal right to the land.

However, in a statement to Bursa Malaysia on March 16, KHSB said: “As a matter of fact, KHSB board, on Feb 21, 2011, approved the receipt of royalty for sand extraction based on state government’s policy of sand mining on government linked companies’ land at 8% of sales revenue.”

That would mean that KHSB has to refund RM630,968 it received from Kumpulan Semesta in February 2011.

This latest announcement, according to sources, raises more questions than provide clarity to the situation.

The sources are asking who is the rightful and registered owner of the land then and whether a power of attorney is really necessary in this case.

Kumpulan Darul Ehsan is the Selangor government’s investment arm and KHSB is the latter’s property unit.

The Star reported on March 15 that KHSB was embroiled in a dispute with Kumpulan Semesta over royalties for sand-mining on the 20ha site in Dengkil, even though both companies have denied this.

The report quoting sources said KHSB was “forced” to give approval to Kumpulan Semesta to extract sand from the site it owned at a rate of RM4.50 per tonne. For that KHSB should have received Rm2.6mil instead of RM630,968.