None of IOI properties are in the Puchong seat contested by Bee Yin.
Selangor DAP has dismissed possible political-business nexus and conflicts of interest concerns, raised by the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center), over the party’s candidate for the Puchong parliamentary seat.
C4 Center said earlier today that the candidate, Yeo Bee Yin, has been nominated for a parliamentary seat in an area where her in-laws possess vast business interests through the IOI Group.
However, Selangor DAP secretary and Kinrara assemblyman Ng Sze Han said that most of the properties or locations mentioned in the C4 Center statement as owned by the IOI Group are actually located in Kinrara, a state seat under the Subang parliamentary area.
This, he said, included Bandar Puteri Puchong, Puchong Jaya, IOI Boulevard Puchong, Sheraton Puchong and IOI Mall of Puchong.
“The Sierra 16 and IOI City Mall are within the Sepang parliamentary seat.
“As such, as of now, none of the IOI Property development exists in the Puchong parliamentary area.
“C4 Center’s statement therefore is not accurate,” he said in a statement.
Yeo has also dismissed the concerns raised by C4 Center, saying that the watchdog had wrongly listed the properties to be located in the Puchong constituency.
“C4 should check its facts. Find out the real locations in my constituency and don’t be misled by the name,” said Yeo.
“Those areas are not within the Puchong constituency.
“The Puchong constituency doesn’t include certain areas in Puchong.
“There are many other such parliamentary seats in Malaysia where the seat’s names do not reflect the actual areas.
“If they are only equating the name (Puchong) with my area, then maybe I am not in a position to answer these claims as they are inaccurate.
“I think the best thing is for them to find out the correct areas first and re-issue the statement after checking the facts.
“If they still say there is a conflict of interest, we will issue a statement then.”
Stating that the Puchong parliamentary seat encompassed the state seats of Seri Kembangan and Seri Serdang, Yeo said she was not certain if IOI Group had any land parcels in the area.
She also said that as an MP, she would have no power to decide on land matters as these were within the purview of state governments and local councils.
Yeo, the former energy, science, technology, environment and climate change minister under the Pakatan Harapan government in 2018, is married to IOI Properties Group Bhd chief executive officer Lee Yeow Seng, the son of IOI Group Bhd founder, the late Lee Shin Cheng.
C4 said the IOI Group was among Malaysia’s largest property developers and plantation cultivators to date, with projects covering massive land areas across the Puchong constituency.
It said that with the uncontrolled number of development projects in Puchong and across the Klang Valley, there was growing dissatisfaction that these will only serve the interests of property developers, have no utility for a majority of the population, raise costs of living in the surrounding areas, and contribute to environmental degradation.
“As someone with a personal stake in the success of IOI Group’s operations, Yeo’s impartiality and ability to make decisions prioritising her constituency and the lives of its residents is cast in doubt, regardless of her numerous achievements as a former minister,” said C4 Center.
C4 also noted that Yeo’s nomination to run in Puchong was a “glaring blind spot”, saying that at best, DAP was unaware of her business connections and that at worst the connection could become a leverage for the purposes of political funding.