Pengerang land: MPHB Capital on 'last lap' of Federal Court case versus Johor govt, Petronas

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 18): MPHB Capital Bhd (MPHB) “seems to be on the last lap” of a long legal tussle with Johor and Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) over parcels of land in Pengerang that were acquired by the state government, The Edge Malaysia reported today.

According to the report, the seven parcels of land measuring 2,800 acres currently host Petronas’ Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project, with MPHB stating that the lands “were acquired cheaply by the state government at 93 sen per sq ft (psf) compared with more than RM5 psf as appraised by its valuer”.

This means that the parcels were bought for about RM115 million. The weekly wrote that “MPHB is claiming over half a billion ringgit for the difference in valuation”.

The civil suit has been struck out while the land reference suit is set to be heard in the Federal Court on Jan 21 (Tuesday).

“This will be the second session in the Federal Court for the land reference case and judgment on the legal dispute could be made then,” wrote the business publication.

Previous reports showed that the Pengerang lands belonging to MPHB wholly-owned subsidiary Kelana Megah Development Sdn Bhd were “compulsorily” acquired by the Johor State Authority for the Rapid project.

The land reference proceeding initiated by MPHB is to object to the award of land by the land administrator and to seek the court to award a fair market value for the seven parcels.

MPHB had alleged that its seven parcels were “unlawfully acquired by the Johor government at 93 sen psf despite there being an agreement between the latter and Petronas to purchase the land at RM8 psf”.

The 2,800 acres “make up about 45% of the total land acquired for the Rapid project”.

Read the full report in this week’s The Edge Malaysia