Hungry Ghost festival come early in Johor
A close friend advised us to keep the ghost story until after the election.
The problem is the election date is everybody's guess. Some say March, some claim May, and there is the prediction of second term of the school holidays. Last but not least, there are those that predicted it to be next year.
The way things are moving in Johor, it maybe a wee bit too late.
In the meanwhile, the RM60 billion Pengerang Petronas Rapid Complex is due for commissioning by 2016, which is 4 years from now. There is not much time. The initial planning work and acquisition of land is already on the way.
About two weeks ago, CEO and President for Petronas, Datuk Shamsul Azhar Abbas had sent Executive Vice President of Downstream Business of Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Bin Wan Ariffin to Johor Baru to begin discussion on the said project.
He brought along a member of the Board of Director of Petronas and his fellow MCOBA President, Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin.
Why the need to bring Megat Najmuddin? After all, he was once a strong candidate for CEO of Petronas. He represents Petronas, the biggest company in Malaysia and a Government wholly owned company.
In our previous posting here, we've described the massive quick money scheme in flipping properties in Iskandar Malaysia and the Johor Central Business District revitalisatin plan in and our of public listed vehicles.
The Petronas Rapid project (Rapid) of refinery and petrochemical complex in Pengerang, will include a tripatrite gas power plant that can support a petrochemica! l indust ry there. Read Bigdogdotcom here.
The power generated by the power plant is to be sold Singapore. It will involve Malakoff, Petronas and Singapore's Keppel Group.
Pengerang was chosen because of its deep waters can allow for very large crude carriers and ultra large crude carriers.
It will complements plans for the RM5bil independent deep water petroleum terminal, which is to be the first of its kind in South-East Asia. Thus making Teluk Ramunia and Pengerang a true oil and gas hub with supporting and ancillary industries.
This will generate about 20,000 jobs and develop this South East Johor backwater. .
There will be gas pipeline built from Pengerang to Kota Tinggi, down to Ulu Tiram, into Tanjung Langsat and all the way to Johor Baru CBD.
Naturally, the Johor state government will be a joint-venture partner of the project and will provide the required land.
Mention state land and a project of this size, the beeper in the ghost mobile sounds it's alarm.
The land for the Pengerang complex will come from consolidated state land, large tract of private land, and probably even the orang kampung land.
There will be the supporting and ancillary industries mushrooming along the gas pipeline. That needs land too!
The gas pipeline will be owned by Petronas but for those industries needing land near the pipeline, could they secure the land?
If they could secure, how?
Although we've just celebrated New Year, the Hungry Ghost Festival that usually comes in the seventh lunar month, is before Chap Goh Meh.
S ecuring the land has suddenly become difficult unless one is ready to meet vampires close to the Hungry Ghost. Unlike European vampires, Asian vampires in Hong Kong movies are not flamboyant flyers but jump from one lace to another.
To get their proposal through, these companies need to wet the beak of the Hungry Ghost. The problem is it does not just stop at getting percentage equity in the company or some up-front amount.
The proposer may face the prospect of having these vampires or probably the Ghost himself determining the proposer's equity in their own business and have to pay for the Ghost or his proxy's equity portion.
The biggest nightmare to any businessman will be when the Ghost determine who are the business partners in their venture.
One oil and gas company, Cailog or something to that effect had to pay up front S$ 10 million.
Perhaps Wan Zul's recent trip to Johor Baru has something to do with these neo-feudal masters of Johor. He had to bring Megat Najmuddin whose personal touch and diplomacy could smoothen discussion.
And perhaps, it did not come out so smooth.
If this is the way business is run in Johor, foreign investor will get turned off to such archaic ways of doing business and exorbitant unstated cost. This could be a serious economic threat to Johor.
If the common rakyat knows of such intimidating abuse, there will not even be sands at the end of the rainbow.
Like sands in the hourglass, time has move on.
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