MK Land says it has valid grounds to set aside Crest Builder’s arbitration award

• The dispute started when Saujana claimed that CBSB, which it employed as a main contractor for a project in 2011, failed to complete the job. CBSB then made a counter claim of RM31.08 million against Saujana. The dispute was later referred to arbitration with the appointment of the arbitrator in 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR (June 30): MK Land Holdings Bhd says it has valid and reasonable grounds to stay the enforcement of an RM18.36 million arbitration award that favours Crest Builders Sdn Bhd (CBSB), and to set it aside.

The developer said this in a brief bourse filing on Friday (June 30), in which it also said that CBSB, a unit of Crest Builder Holdings Bhd, had filed an application with the Kuala Lumpur High Court dated June 21 to register the arbitration award.

The group previously announced that an arbitration tribunal had awarded CBSB the RM18.36 million in relation to the latter’s counterclaim against Saujana Triangle Sdn Bhd — a subsidiary of MK Land — after rejecting Saujana’s claim of RM94.67 million against CBSB following a payment dispute between the parties.

The money was awarded to CBSB for certified sums, costs of idling, and dayworks and retention sum. Saujana was also ordered to bear CBSB’s cost of the arbitration, plus interests.

The dispute started when Saujana claimed that CBSB, which it employed as a main contractor for a project in 2011, failed to complete the job. CBSB then made a counter claim of RM31.08 million against Saujana. The dispute was later referred to arbitration with the appointment of the arbitrator in 2015.

In its latest filing, MK Land said it would announce further material developments on the matter at the appropriate time.

The company’s shares closed half a sen lower at 14 sen, for a market capitalisation of RM175.05 million. Crest Builder ended the day unchanged at 48 sen, for a market capitalisation of RM83.16 million.