GEORGETOWN, Dec 7 — They were young Bumiputera entrepreneurs who dreamed of building a grand furniture empire. They grew hopeful when Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara), a federal government agency charged with giving Bumiputera start-ups a leg up in business, mooted the idea for a joint-venture over ten years ago.
The deal was simple; Mara would build a common manufacturing facility and in return they would supply the dining set pieces.
The eight Bumiputera firms readily agreed but Mara failed to deliver the facility within the three-year deadline, which ended on January 1, 1998.
Their hopes have since splintered. Now they just want to recover their monetary losses, which they value at about RM381 million in total.
The Penang High Court here today heard in chambers the breach of contract suit jointly filed by the eight Bumiputera companies, Indera Perabut, Medan Data, Adi Wood, Almawood Industries, Ikrar Teguh, Phoenix Calibre, Perabot Wilayah Uata and CT Max.
The owners of the eight companies claim they had poured their savings into the project and suffered a huge blow when production failed to take off.
Mara had initially sued them for failing to settle the loans. But they filed a counter-suit in 2003, blaming their failure on Mara which did not complete the shared manufacturing facility on time.
They want the court to order Mara to pay up.
High Court judge Datuk Zakaria Sam will give his decision on January 8, said the lawyer for the eight entrepreneurs, Shuhaimi Mat Hashim.
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