Passing the buck on controversial land sale to PM’s Department under BN rule.
Former Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor revealed that he was summoned 12 times by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over dubious land deals involving Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).
He said that he had informed MACC all that he knew over the issue.
“Firstly to all Yang Berhormat in the Dewan Rakyat, in regards to the land problems in 2013, I had returned the land to the Prime Minister’s Department. I have nothing to do with the approvals of land in the Federal Territory.
“Many said that I was not called by MACC. In reality, I have been called over 12 times (by MACC). I have given my statement on what I know,” he said at the Dewan Rakyat today.
Tengku Adnan (BN-Putrajaya) was responding to Tan Kok Wai’s (PH-Cheras) statement that the land deal controversy in areas within the capital here had caused great loss to the people.
“This is a huge scandal that has created a loss for the public and DBKL. Those responsible should be brought to court and (made to) face justice equivalent to the crimes they have committed,” said Tan, referring to Tengku Adnan.
Tan had been raising a supplementary question to Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad over the number of such land deals.
A special task force had been probing 97 dubious transactions of 675.27 acres of DBKL land worth RM5.63 billion.
Things turned heated when Tengku Adnan challenged Tan to repeat his accusation outside the August House that the former allowed the dubious deals to go through without an open tender.
Tengku Adnan said he would not hesitate to sue Tan if the latter repeats the allegation outside Parliament.
This elicited an angry response from RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong), who demanded Tengku Adnan to just state his supplementary question.
When loud protests erupted from the opposition bench, Deputy Speaker Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon was forced to mute the microphones of MPs to de-escalate the situation.
Meanwhile, Khalid disclosed that the ministry has managed to recover RM149 million from the developers for 15 of the 97 land transactions with a land area of 145.79 acres, after renegotiations.
In addition, 14 of the land deals involving 53.98 acres of land have been cancelled after an agreement with the developers.
“A total of 20 of the projects have been completed, so we (ministry) can’t do anything and will leave it to the MACC, while five others we have failed to reach an agreement, so the matter has been taken to court,” he said, adding that the ministry found no wrongdoing in the remaining 43 deals.
Khalid, however, noted the MACC was still conducting its own investigations into all 97 land deals.
On May 16, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng said he had lodged a report with MACC over 64 parcels of land sold by DBKL during Tengku Adnan’s tenure as minister from 2013 to 2018.
According to Lim, the 64 plots of land had a combined area of 424.29 acres and a total transaction value of RM4.28 billion.
He alleged that less than half of the land was sold for affordable housing developments while the rest was meant for expensive residential and commercial projects.
He also urged MACC to investigate Tengku Adnan who was Federal Territories Minister at the time as well as Chairman of Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan.
Related reports:
Oct 8, DBKL Gets Go-Ahead to Sell Lands Frozen for ‘Shady Dealings’
Jun 6, MACC Raids DBKL, Seizes Truckload of Documents
May 31, MACC Visits DBKL on Land Deals Under Previous Administration
May 16, MACC Report Lodged Against Tengku Adnan over RM4.28B Land Sale