KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 – A back-bencher today called for an investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission into the alleged sale of several lots of land in Penang claimed to have been originally set aside for construction of houses under the Hardcore Poor Housing Project.
Datuk Shabudin Yahaya (BN-Tasek Gelugor) claimed that the land was sold by tender for the construction of a private hospital and a hotel. He claimed that a source had alleged that Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was directly or indirectly involved in the sale of the land.
“Lots 305, 306, 313, 314 were sold when the land was proposed for the PPRT (Hardcore Poor Housing Project) … did this sale have the approval of the Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Ministry … can the minister reply?” he said when speaking during the debate on the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat.
He said what’s more saddening is that it also involves the issue of real estate ownership by YAB Bagan (Lim) in October 2015 that can be linked to the issue of this land sale. Shabudin also wanted the Department of Valuation and Property Services to disclose whether a valuation had been done.
He also asked the MACC to report on the status of the case of Lim’s alleged purchase of a house at a cost of RM2.8 million in Jalan Pinhorn, Penang, when the current value of the property was said to be more than RM3 million. He claimed that the house had been rented by Lim for RM5,000 a month after he refused to stay at his official residence which he said was termite-infested.
“… is it right for a house costing more than RM3 million to be rented out for RM5,000 a month? The house was rented from seven years ago, and in October 2015, it was sold to YAB Bagan at a such a low price … only RM2.8 million … it is in a prime area and the house had been renovated,” he said. Meanwhile, Barisan Nasional Back-Benchers Club chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad suggested that Shabudin and NGOs make a police report.
