‘Only 2nd phase funded privately’

PETALING JAYA: Only the second phase of the Felda New Generation Housing Project (PGBF) will be financed by private companies, Felda chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad said.

Shahrir said Perumahan Felda Sdn Bhd, a company in charge of the project, had signed an agreement with Putra Star Investment Holdings Pte Ltd and Terranova Builders Sdn Bhd in September last year to fund the project under the Private Funding Initiative (PFI).

He, however, said the second phase of PGBF, consisting of 11,530 houses, could not be implemented yet as there were technical and compliance issues pertaining to the PFI agreement.

“All three parties involved in the agreement are in a process of negotiation to resolve the arising issues,” he said in a statement responding to a question raised by PKR vicepresident Rafizi Ramli.

Rafizi on Wednesday questioned why Putra Star Investment Holdings, a Singapore-based company, was picked by Felda to finance the Felda housing project.

Rafizi told a press conference that if Felda was to get funding from renowned institutions such as Citibank or the World Bank at least there will be some confidence that they are a responsible institution with a firm financial standing.

The PGBF was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak during the tabling of Budget 2013, consisting of 20,000 houses to be built over a five-year period.

Shahrir said the funding for the first phase of the housing project came from Felda’s internal sources and loans.

He added a RM200 million allocation had also been approved for the phase.