Junz seeks clarification on cheap transfer of land to company

LIKAS assemblyman Junz Wong sought clarification on the transfer of 96.59 hectares of land in Kinarut township with Country Lease (CL) title by Sabah Urban Development Corporation Sdn Bhd (SUDC) to a company at a cheap rate that was well below documented transactions in the area.

Wong said the land title was issued to SUDC on September 21, 2015.

Ten months after the land was alienated to SUDC, he said the 93.59 hectares, or approximately 238 acres of land was transferred to a company for a sum of around RM13.2 million, which was equal to RM55,690 per acre of CL land.

He said this meant that the company paid RM1.20 per square foot (psf) for that piece of land.

“This is a deal of the century for this company to acquire 238 acres of land from SUDC at a price of RM1.20 psf.

“I cannot comprehend what happened.

“Documented transactions around the area is easily RM12 psf,” he said when debating the State Budget 2018 at the State Legislative Assembly hyesterday.

He said the land use was mixed development with special condition to complete the construction of a building before January 2017.

Wong said the memorandum of transfer dated May 23, 2016 was signed by SUDC, in which it was stated that the land might not be transferred before the fulfillment of the condition, namely to build the building.

However, he claimed that the Occupation Certificate (OC) for a single-storey detached house erected on the land has already been issued to the contractor even before the land was transferred.

In addition, Wong alleged that the company was related to the Sabah watergate issue.

He wanted to know the reason SUDC sold the land at such a cheap rate.

“I am worried because I do not know how many more land from state agencies are transferred in this manner.”