Lim: Why no action over Perda land sale?

GEORGE TOWN: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has been asked why no action was taken against the Penang Regional Development Authority (Perda) for selling land below market price.

Chief Minsiter Lim Guan Eng posed the question after the auditor-general (AG) cited the case in its annual report released on Monday.

He said the Finance Ministry valuation for the land at Tok Keramat was over RM16.6 million but it was sold at RM1.42 million.

Lim, who had exposed the sale in March this year, pointed out there was no open tender nor current market valuation for the sale as noted by the AG.

“The AG Report stated that the justification for the sale of land at a lower price was not supported by a technical report,” he said in a statement yesterday

He added an MACC report has been lodged by Penang Health, Agriculture and Agrobased Industries, Rural and Regional Development Committee chairman Dr Afif Bahardin.

Lim also pointed out the AG report revealed another sale of 5.8 acres of land in Sungai Baong below market valuation by Perda.

He called upon Perda to account for what happened and for MACC to conduct a thorough investigation.

In the AG Report, Perda listed several reasons to sell the land in Tok Keramat at below the market price, including having no plans to develop the land, unstable soil conditions, expiry of the planning permission, all risks borne by the buyer and proceeds to go to buying more land.

For the land in Sungai Baong, Perda also listed several reasons, including that the land was zoned for industrial use and only for the furniture industry, making it difficult for Perda to find a suitable buyer and that proceeds would go to buying more land.