Penang gov’t to lodge report over cheap Perda land

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government will lodge a report with anti-graft authorities over a federal agency’s loss-making land deal tomorrow, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said.

He said following a state executive council meeting today, its members unanimously agreed to report the matter for the sake of public interest.

Lim said executive councillor Dr Afif Bahardin would lodge the report on behalf of the council at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office in George Town tomorrow.

“Out of public interest, we want the authorities to investigate this matter thoroughly,” he said in a press conference today.

Last week, Lim revealed a plot of land in Nibong Tebal measuring some three football fields was sold by Perda to private developer SYT Prestige Sdn Bhd for RM1.42 million last year.

Perda, an acronym for the Penang Regional Development Authority, is an agency entrusted by the Prime Minister’s Department to carry out development projects.

Lim had said the land was sold cheap, as an Inland Revenue Board land valuation gave it a RM16.6 million price tag.

The land was originally acquired by the government in 1986 at RM1.7 million to build affordable homes.

In its defence, Perda chairman Shabudin Yahaya said the land was sold cheap due to soil erosion problems, a claim Lim rubbished, saying the land could have been restored at about RM5 million or less.

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