From Forgotten Airport to Bandar Malaysia?

Just 5 km (3.1 miles) from central Kuala Lumpur, the old Sungai Besi Airport is almost forgotten. Its runway, terminal and tower are silent except for the occasional police, military and VIP landings.

On Feb. 20, 1956, the airport witnessed the arrival of Tunku Abdul Rahman from London bringing news of independence. Later that year, it was declared the nation’s first international airport.

When Sungai Besi began to make news again, it had nothing to do with aviation. The stories were about real estate, and in Kuala Lumpur, real estate means big business.

On May 28, 2011, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the old airport was to be awarded to the state-owned investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and turned into Bandar Malaysia, a next generation mixed-development area.

Bandar Malaysia was also slated to be the northern terminus of the RM48.1 billion ($11 billion USD) ambitious Kuala Lumpur-Singapore fast rail link project.

But the site languished as 1MDB struggled to pay its debts and was linked to a 2.6 billion ringgit- (U.S. $603 million-) deposit into the prime minister’s private bank accounts.

Najib has acknowledged the deposit but said he did nothing wrong. The fund itself has been subject to multiple investigations.

On the last day of 2015, 1MDB announced it was selling its 60 percent stake in the Bandar Malaysia project to Iskandar Waterfront Holdings and its partner, state-run China Railway Engineering Corp., for RM7.41 billion ($1.7 billion USD). Commenting on the the deal, part of a plan to reduce IMDB debt, Najib said that “1MDB’s major challenges are now behind it.

As of mid-January 2016, the site remains unbuilt, with billions of business dollars – and a piece of Malaysia’s history – at stake.