KUALA LUMPUR: The finance ministry (MoF) has confirmed that 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) president Arul Kanda Kandasamy has been removed from Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

The confirmation came from Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani in a statement yesterday about the Budiman Committee, which was set up by the cabinet in 2015 to oversee the rationalisation exercise undertaken by 1MDB to resolve its issues.

“Apart from the removal of Mr Arul Kanda as the chairman of Bandar Malaysia, 1MDB’s board and the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) will continue to manage the issues with respect to Bandar Malaysia directly with the parties concerned,” read a paragraph in Johari’s statement.

Since the termination by the ministry of the sale of its 60% stake in Bandar Malaysia to IWH CREC Sdn Bhd last week, there had been talk of Arul Kanda’s removal from his board positions in Bandar Malaysia and TRX City Sdn Bhd, the MoF company that owns the Bandar Malaysia land.

One news portal quoted sources as saying Arul Kanda was removed due to “potential conflicts of interest”, while another portal quoted an unnamed government source as saying that he was ousted because he objected to terminating the Bandar Malaysia deal with IWH CREC.

Arul Kanda himself was quoted by a newspaper as saying that he had not received any official notification on the matter.

DAP parliamentarian Tony Pua, meanwhile, raised the question as to whether Arul Kanda will continue to helm 1MDB.

“Now that Arul Kanda has lost the confidence of the MoF, will his role as the president and CEO (chief executive officer) of 1MDB remain tenable, and for how long?” Pua asked in a statement earlier this week.

Johari’s statement yesterday also made reference to the settlement between 1MDB and Abdu Dhabi’s state-owned International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).

“The recent settlement arrangement entered into between 1MDB and IPIC and the current dispute between IWC CREC and Bandar Malaysia were handled, and are being handled, directly by the PMO and 1MDB’s board,” said Johari.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 12, 2017.

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