THE Government needs to come clean on its involvement in the Metropolis Mamara Development Ltd.
It needs to honestly tell the nation the arrangements, if any, it has with the developer, Metropolis Pacific.
This is necessary in light of the leaked letter Metropolis Pacific wrote to the Government this week, requesting the payment of $21,945,000 for 30 houses, which it expects to complete by the end of June.
The houses include:
- Type A: 3 bedroom and 2-bathroom costs $997,000 each. So, the 5 houses will cost $4,987,500.
- Type B: 3 bedroom and 1 bathroom cost $798,000 each. So, the 10 houses will cost $7,980,000.
- Type C: 2 bedroom and 1 bathroom cost $598,500 each. So, the 15 houses will cost $8,977,500.
Government never tells the nation it is going to buy houses from the developer.
All it says was the developer is going to build houses which can be sold to public servants.
But how can a public servant afford a two-bedroom house – the cheapest of the three types of houses – for almost $600,000?
And is the Government going to buy off the houses and give it public servants?
If so, how is this going to work out?
In this year’s budget, there is no allocation for purchases of house. So where is the Government going to get the $22 million to buy off the houses?
Here is another concern.
The person who wrote the letter, Hii Yii Ging, who is a director of Metropolis Pacific, is also the Malaysian Honorary Consul-General in Solomon Islands.
Ging is a known logger, who has lived in Solomon Islands for many years.
He was heavily involved in the country’s logging industry.
Now we know he was also one of the directors of Metropolis Pacific, which is developing the Mamara Project.
From what has transpired, it appears the Mamara Development is a collaboration between the government and loggers.
It also appeared the project was built purposely for the Government to use tax-payers money to purchase the houses.
It’s even more intriguing the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, who is the government’s front-man in the project, does not even know about the letter that was address to his minister this week.
This is not how a Government facilitates a project that promises so much for the nation.
What the people expect is a transparent process so that they know the benefits the country is going to derive from this so-called investment.
The Government’s silence over this issue was quite unbelievable.
This is a serious matter that the Government needs to clarify to the people of this country.
