GEORGE TOWN, Nov 21 – Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said on Friday that 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) president Arul Kanda Kandasamy is not the right person to answer all the claims of financial controversies surrounding the state-owned investment firm, including some shady land deals in Penang.
Lim said Arul Kanda was not appropriate for the role as he has to answer important questions related to a land deal in Penang because he still owed the state answers about land bought by the firm several years ago in Penang. Instead, he said there was someone higher than Arul Kanda that must be invited to Penang for the question-and-answer session.
Lim said the chairman of the board Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin can also be invited for the session. He said this in his winding up speech at the state legislative assembly here on Friday. Besides that, Lim also said that Penang had found that 1MDB owned land in the state measuring 23.47 acres under the name 1MDB RE (Ayer Itam) Sdn Bhd.
A quarter of the land measuring 15.09 acres in Bandar Ayer Itam, and another quarter measuring 3.87 acres at the northeast district had been transferred on March 6 last year. At the same time, there were also 11% of a piece of land are also in the northeast district while on a separate lot of the measuring of 4.51 acres was also been transferred as well.
“What is shocking is the 23.47 acres (9.5 ha) is only part of the three plots of land, that measure a total 116.89 acres (47.3 ha). The 1MDB firm only holds 20% ownership, not 100%. Without full ownership, no development can happen.The state through the Land and Minerals Office had sent a letter to Arul Kanda in July requesting further details about the land ownership and plans for the plots,” Lim said.
In additional, the letter also said a meeting between 1MDB and the state was necessary. Meanwhile, Lim said Arul Kanda was also be contacted again in July for further clarification but until Friday, there was no official answer was given by he except for a verbal promise that saw no follow-up.
“In the meantime, he had also called back to the office to say that he is willing to speak to the state, but we feel that it is better for his office to meet with the Land and Minerals Office first on the issue. But until now, we have still heard nothing,” he said in the Penang legislative assembly here on Friday.
