Bandar Malaysia: PM confirms Irwan as Arul's successor, Budiman Committee now terminated

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today has confirmed the appointment of Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah as the Chairman of both, TRX City Sdn Bhd and Bandar Malaysia.

Tan Sri Irwan, who is the Secretary General of the Treasury, will oversee the day to day operations of these two entities.

In a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, Datuk Seri Najib says that “(Irwan) will lead the team that is responsible for the projects and to seek income for the remaining property assets of 1MDB”.

The Prime Minister also reaffirmed that the Ministry of Finance will continue to own 100 percent of the ownership of Bandar Malaysia.

In a related matter, Datuk Seri Najib reflected that the function of the Budiman Committee is no longer required.

“The Budiman Committee, which was established in 2015, to oversee the rationalization of 1MDB’s assets, will now cease to operate” he said.

Meanwhile, Tan Sri Irwan has expressed gratitude at this appointment. “I thank the Prime Minister for his confidence in me” he said.

He reinforced the fact that TRX City Sdn Bhd will be conducting a request for proposal (RFP) to seek interested parties for the role of Master Developer on the Bandar Malaysia project.

On May 11, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Ghani issued a statement confirming that Arul Kanda has been removed as the Chairman of Bandar Malaysia.

In the same statement, Datuk Seri Johari said that the Budiman Committee has achieved its objectives, including the disposal of 1MDB’s power assets to the CGN Group of China, reactivated the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), and pursued the arbitration of Abu Dhabi’s IPIC with 1MDB on the $3.5 billion payment dispute, among others.

As of 4 pm today, a check on 1MDB’s website shows that no press release has been issued by them regarding any of the above matters.