Pahang govt ‘stole and sold’ Malay land

 

PETALING JAYA: Claims of profiteering by former Pahang government officials have surfaced with allegations that a piece of state land was divided and sold to the then state executive council members – including the former menteri besar and his deputy – at a “grossly undervalued” price several years ago.

The plot of about three acres, said to be the most valuable land in Kuantan, was supposed to be a Malay reserve land. However, it was later de-gazetted and one part was allegedly sold to at least one non-Malay at a higher price.

Among those named in this emerging scandal are former Pahang menteri besar Mohd Khalil Yaakob (now governor of Malacca); former Pahang deputy menteri besar Hasan Arifin; and former state executive councillors Omar Othman, Hamdan Jaafar, and Halim Ibrahim.

A report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was lodged last week by a Pakatan Rakyat-linked group. Dubbing iself “Pedas Leaks” – an anti-graft movement – it urged the MACC to probe these “dubious land transactions”.

Pang Jon Kong (picture, extreme left), who is a Pedas Leaks member as well as DAP Teruntum branch’s assistant executive secretary, said that his investigations led him to unearth this “shocking abuse of power by the Barisan Nasional-controlled Pahang government”.

Others who lodged the report together with Pang at the Pahang MACC office were PKR Pahang deputy chief Ram Ponnusamy, PAS Kuantan information chief Sulaiman Md Derus and Ustaz Syed Mohd Anis Syed.

The land in question – located at Taman Tok Sira, off Teluk Cempedak, Kuantan, just a few hundred metres away from the current menteri besar’s residence – was originally state land but was split into 14 pieces of housing land and alienated to government-linked company Pasdec Corporation Sdn Bhd in 1997. This transfer was approved by the state on April 2, 1997.

“That was the first time the government gave out the land and Pasdec paid about RM18,886 to get the title, but that was still all right. What happened next is worse,” Pang said.

‘A free gift’

Pang, who showed FMT several documents to substantiate his claims, said that Pasdec had then sold off the 14 pieces of land to several Pahang state executive council members in 2001, including the then menteri besar Khalil, and his deputy Hasan.

It was learnt that Khalil’s plot has since been transferred to Rahadian Mahmud Muhammad Khalil, believed to be his son.

In the case of Hasan, according to Pang, Pasdec had sold to him a plot of about 14,000 square feet (1,300.6 square metres) at a “low price” of RM76,499 on Dec 31, 2001.

Pang said this was despite the market price of the property being at RM213,000, as valued by the Valuation and Property Services Department.

This value was stated in the notice of assessment by the stamp office (of the Inland Revenue Board) dated Jan, 23, 2002.

Pang claimed that the price Hasan paid for the land was grossly undervalued and was akin to “a free gift”.

It amounted to a breach of trust to the people of Pahang, he said.

Just two years later, in September 2004, Hasan then sold the land to “Ti Lian Yeah” at RM397,683.02. “That’s more than five times the price Pasdec sold to Hasan,” Pang said.

He claimed that was also cheaper than the market price of the land in the area then, which was about RM800,000 at RM60 per square feet. However, Pang noted that the stamp office valued the land at the same amount (RM397,683.02).

‘Something is fishy’

Somewhere between then and now, the status of the land was believed to be removed as a Malay reserve land and converted into a 99-year leasehold by the state government, he said.

“It’s very confusing, because as far as I know, until today, the Survey Department shows that the land is still a Malay reserve. However, a senior officer from the Land Office confirmed to me that the land was de-gazetted of its Malay reserve status in 2000,” Pang said.

Pang said that an official print-out of the land made no mention of the Malay reserve status, though he personally saw a different status on the computer screen.

“The dealings of the Tok Sira land showed that something is fishy. We don’t know for sure because we were not given any documentary proof of the de-gazetting,” he said.

He also said that he learnt that Ti had applied for his land to be converted into a freehold from a 99-year leasehold in February 2007.

“Usually, it’s really hard for the state to approve it [conversion], but in this case we don’t know. We learnt that the buyers of the land are promised that it can be converted to a freehold grant, which would make the market price even higher,” he said.

Pang said that the “wrongs” committed in this case are manifold.

“First, you are ‘selling’ something to yourself. Then you changed a Malay reserve land to leasehold status. Did they replace that Malay reserve with another plot? We don’t know. Conflict of interest and duty is seen here. Clearly, it is an abuse of power, and someone is making a profit,” he said.

Pang added: “The people in power can get rich just overnight. Umno claims that it protects the Malays, but this case proves that it made use of them for its own benefit. It is running away with the assets of Pahang and the Malays.

“For Umno, principles are nothing. Benefits always come first. The land belong to the people. I am a son of Pahang and I have got a say in this.”

“We want the MACC to investigate and show us it is really an anti-corruption agency. Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob must give a proper explanation to the public.”

Vested interests

Meanwhile, Pahang PKR chief Fauzi Abdul Rahman, who was a former deputy minister and an Umno Kuantan MP then, told FMT that he was aware of the case and he opposed giving the land to Pasdec from the very beginning.

“Yes, it was sold to vested interests, including executive council members and senior civil servants, at a below market price. It’s true.”

“I was MP at that time. A prominent figure then brought this case to me and it was discussed… Residents were protesting then that the land was also a green lung.

“But it was sheer arrogance of the state to ignore all opposition to this. It said it had the prerogative to give to whoever it wants to give and it was given to Pasdec. This was despite me raising it up with Khalil, but he told me off.”

“Khalil said that it was a state matter; you take care of your MP matters. But he forgot that I was also Umno Pahang chief,” he said.

Fauzi added that while he was not offered any land then as he was opposed to it, he knew of a few “honourable excos” who had rejected the lots.

He claimed that this case was “just the tip of the iceberg” of the Pahang government’s excesses.

He called for an independent and neutral inquiry into the matter. “We need an auditing to investigate the wealth of Pahang and how it has been wasted. Greed is the problem.”

Meanwhile, an attempt to get an immediate reaction from the Pahang Land and Mines Department was unsuccessful.

A staff from the office of the department’s director, Azizan Ahmad, said that the office would need time to check and investigate the case and provide an adequate response.

When contacted, the State Housing, Basic Facilities and Transport Committee chairman, Mohd Soffi Abdul Razak, said that the issue did not come under his direct jurisdiction.

However, he said: “I got to get the details. I am not aware of this issue at the moment.”

“Let MACC look into this [matter] and see if there are elements of corruption or abuse of powers. Let the natural rule of law take its own course.”

“The investigations will uncover any inappropriate actions that may have been done. I would not want to hamper the investigations. I am sure they [MACC] would get to the root cause and obtain all the necessary documents,” Mohd Soffi added.

On March 19, the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, called for the protection of Malay reserve land.

“I don’t want any party to engage in irresponsible acts by attempting to transfer the Malay reserve land to individuals or companies which are not owned by the Malays,” he said when opening the State Legislative Assembly sitting.