Headline Mohamed Hazlan`s hands likely to be full at Prasarana MediaTitle The Edge Date 10 Sep 2018 Color Full Color Section Corporate Circulation 25,785 Page No 60 Readership 77,355 Language English ArticleSize 616 cm² Journalist JOSE BARROCK AdValue RM 10,688 Frequency Weekly PR Value RM 32,063

Mohamed Hazlan's hands likely to be full at Prasarana

BY JOSE BARROCK

n a maiden address via email to the staff of Prasarana Ma- laysia Bhd, new president and CEO Datuk Mohamed Hazlan Mohamed Hussain said, "Im- proved passenger and operational quality as well as sound financial management of infrastructure will be the pillars of Prasarana's excellence." Prasarana — the asset owner and operator of 's two light rail transit (LRT) networks ( Line and Ampang- Line), KL Monorail, Sunway-BRT and bus services in , Penang,Kuantan and Kamunting, Artist's impression of LRT3... MACC is understood to be looking at the increase in the project cost and the operator of mass rapid transit (MRT) services in the Klang SAM FONG/THE EDGE Valley — has been in the spotlight due to the number of problems to pay salaries for September and for a variety of reasons, none of faced by the company. the coming months. them flattering. To put things into perspective, Prasarana's administrative ex- In his email, Mohamed Hazlan for its financial year ended De- penses for FY2017 totalled RM119.16 touched on how he has returned cember 2017, Prasarana suffered million,down 8.49% from RM130.22 to Prasarana when there are huge an after-tax loss of RM2.47 billion million in FY2016. financial challenges and there is on the back of RM846.35 million Its depreciation of property, a need to take drastic action or in revenue. In FY2016, it suffered plant and equipment for FY2017 implement changes to make it a an after-tax loss of RM2.ll billion was RM767.13 million, a 20.2% in- relevant institution to the country from RM570.65 million in revenue. crease from RM638.2 million in and people. Its finance cost was a whopping FY2016. To recap, Mohamed Hazlan RM1.06 billion, up 64.54% from The Edge understands that at- was chief operating officer RM643.63 million in FY2016.This tempts are being made to reduce (COO) of RapidKL (Rangkaian indicates that Prasarana has cash costs at LRT3 and MRT2. While Pengangkutan Intergrasi Deras flow problems. some headway is understood to Kuala Lumpur, a public bus trans- Mohamed Hazlan said there is a need It was also shocking that have been made at LRT3,MRT2's port system built by Prasarana to take drastic action or implement in FY2017, Prasarana paid out costs are still being scrutinised. and operated by its subsidiaries, changes to make Prasarana a relevant RM614.46 million in staff costs, up Looking to monetise some of covering Kuala Lumpur and the institution to the country and people from RM524.53 million in FY2016. its land bank, Prapsarana teamed Klang Valley) and group director Based on Mohamed Hazlan's email, up with Crest Builder Holdings of the bus and commercial divi- in which he said the company Bhd,Naza TTDI Sdn Bhd,Bina Puri sions between August 2009 and aclitus: "The only thing that is has 10,000 employees, the aver- Holdings Bhd and TRC Synergy March 2012. constant is change." age remuneration per employee Bhd to build transit-oriented de- The email also talked about an And things have to change at is RM61,446 per year or RM5,120.5 velopments. impending restructuring, the ap- Prasarana — drastically. per month. Crest Builder has built Latituds, pointments of Ang Yoke Yee as COO Checks reveal that a bus driv- a 43-storey mixed-use tower with of strategy and transformation Weak financials er's pay ranges from RM1,200 to a gross development value of more and Muhammad Nizam Alias as Market sources say Prasarana is RM1,300 per month, with a daily than RMl billion in the Dang Wan- COO of operations, and the need likely to be transferred from the allowance of RM30 and overtime gi LRT station area, with Prasarana for all 10,000 Prasarana employ- Ministry of Finance (Prasarana's of RM8 per hour, which makes the taking a 21.2% share of the GDV. ees to be responsible in carrying sole shareholder is the Minister RM5,120.50 figure seem high. However, the launch of the pro- out their tasks. of Finance Inc) to the Ministry of Nevertheless, the Ministry of ject has been postponed to later Mohamed Hazlan summed up Transport, and the Ministry of Fi- Finance has approved the issu- this year because of the soft prop- by quoting Greek philosopher Her- nance is not opposed to the move ance of bonds to enable Prasarana erty market. Headline Mohamed Hazlan`s hands likely to be full at Prasarana MediaTitle The Edge Date 10 Sep 2018 Color Full Color Section Corporate Circulation 25,785 Page No 60 Readership 77,355 Language English ArticleSize 616 cm² Journalist JOSE BARROCK AdValue RM 10,688 Frequency Weekly PR Value RM 32,063

Prasarana and Crest Builder are Malaysian Anti-Corruption Com- also looking at the redevelopment mission (MACC) has opened a file of the Kelana Jaya LRT station,with called "Issues at LRT3". the rail operator getting a 24.8% The Edge understands that share of the GDV. areas MACC is looking at include In Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Prasa- the increase in project cost from rana has teamed up with Naza TTDI the original estimate of RM9 bil- on a one-acre residential project on lion in 2015 to RM31.45 billion by a 30:70 profit-sharing basis. the middle of this year and the pro- At the LRT sta- curement strategy, where the pro- tion, TRC Synergy and Prasarana ject delivery partner MRCB George are looking to build a mixed-use Kent Sdn Bhd (a joint venture be- development comprising a hotel, tween Malaysian Resources Corp serviced apartments, a retail mall Bhd and George Kent (M) Bhd), and an office block with a GDV of was supposedly not involved in RMl billion. the tender process. Meanwhile Bina Puri, Prasarana Other areas are also being scru- andTitijaya Land Bhd are developing tinised by the MACC but details a residential and commercial project are scarce. on an 11.2-acre parcel adjacent to the In a nutshell,Mohamed Hazlan monorail depot in . will likely be very busy with the None of the plans have made many issues at Prasarana. El an impact on Prasarana's bottom line yet.

Lack of governance It is understood that Prokhas Sdn Bhd (previously known as Dana- harta), an in-house restructuring outfit controlled by the Ministry of Finance, will start working on Prasarana soon. It is also understood that the