MACC: DPP says no further action in Ijok land case

PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission (MACC) has completed investigations into the alleged dubious land sale in Ijok, Selangor, and referred the investigation to the deputy public prosecutor.

MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Seri Azam Baki said the DPP had decided that no further action be taken in the case.

“In the Ijok case, we passed the investigation papers to the DPP and the DPP has decided not to take any action,” he said.

It was reported that several Ijok settlers had raised dissatisfaction on the compensation (RM180,000 per settler) that was paid to them.

They claimed that the compensation paid was based on the value of the 880ha land in year 2000, but the land was sold to two companies according to the current market price.

They were also unhappy with the type and size of houses offered, which they claimed was not what they were initially promised by the state government.

The landowners and settlers had requested the state government’s intervention to ensure developers pay late penalty fees for the delay in building their homes.

The 880ha land was seized by the Selangor government, under then menteri besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, after both developers were reported to have not met certain conditions, which included failing to pay the land premium, failing to change the land’s status from agricultural land to residential land and failing to pay the premium to change the land status.

However, the land was returned to the developers under the administration of Khalid’s successor, Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.

The land was subsequently sold at RM1.18 billion.

Khalid later questioned the decision, claiming that when he was the MB, certain quarters had tried to “make him an offer” to resolve the Ijok land issue while a court case involving the land was ongoing.

However, he said he rejected those offers as his aim was to revive the stalled projects that had proven to be a burden to thousands of settlers’ families as well as housebuyers.