'BN sold land at RM3 million below highest bid'

The Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) has released a list of land and properties sold or acquired under its jurisdiction since 1990 in response to accusations by the state BN that it had often acted as a broker.

The list was released by state executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow, who went on to say that MPPP, which was led by Gerakan prior to 2008, had disposed of 4.9 acres of land at a price lower than the highest bid.

A company bought the land offered for RM18 million or RM3 million short of the highest bid (RM21 million), Chow (right), who oversees the state local government and traffic management committee, told a press conference in Komtar yesterday.

He said MPPP has been accused ofselling a number of plots of state land after Pakatan Rakyat took over the government in 2008, but in actual fact, it has purchased more than it sold.

Chow said several properties belonging to MPPP were being "unlocked as they had been mismanaged" by the previous administration under the BN.

"These properties were occupied by squatters, are unused or the sizes are too small. We sold them to accumulate funds to buy more land for the rakyat's benefit," said Chow, who is state DAP chief.

Proceeds from sale for upgrading

Chow then detailed MPPP's record of land acquired or sold, saying that up to now, the MPPP owns 818 plots of land totalling 1,035.5 acres that have an estimated market value of RM3.1 billion.

He said from 1990 to 2012, MPPP acquired several parcels at six locations in Penang, or 177.3 acres at a cost of RM44 million.

From 1990 to 2012, MPPP disposed of 16 lots at nine locations, including two plots with strata titles totalling 9.41 acres, and obtained RM29.4 million in proceeds.

"For future planning, MPPP wants to use funds from the sale of its land to acquire new plots to enable it to upgrade the state's infrastructure, including widening the very congested Jalan Masjid Negeri," said Chow, who is also the Tanjong MP.

The plots to be repossessed at a total cost of RM40.2 million include those in Balik Pulau (to be developed into a recreational park), Telok Kumbar, Kompleks Bayu Senja in Batu Ferringhi, and along Jalan Masjid Negeri (Greenlane).

Sale to Bagan voter clarified

Chow also said that any application to dispose of state land must have the permission of the state government, as stipulated under Section 101 (r) of the Local Lovernment Act, and any sale must be done via an open tender.

He also responded to the allegation that MPPP had sold two plotsof land along Taman Free School and Lengkok Ariffin to a voter in Bagan, the parliamentary constituency of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. 

The BN said the voter was a "crony" of Lim or the DAP but Chow said the sale to the same buyer took place as the plots were opened for tender during the same period.

"But does the BN mean to say that from now on, voters in Bagan, Tanjong or Komtar cannot take part in the open tender process because they are all our cronies?" Chow shot back.

Lim's political secretary Ng Wei Aik is the state assemblyperson for Komtar