PAROI, Aug 1 — Muslims who invested in Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) will stand to be the biggest losers if the pilgrims fund goes ahead with plans to sell its land in the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Najib insisted that LTH made a worthy investment when it bought the plot from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, pointing out that TRX is in a strategic area surrounded by amenities like the Mass Rapid Transport (MRT).
“The Tabung Haji investment in TRX, it has the biggest MRT station. Any place with a MRT station the value of the place will go up.
“Once it is fully finished, LTH will be able to rake in the profits. When the buy was supposed to benefit the Bumiputeras, false rumours were spread and a negative perception was created.
“In the end, outsiders will buy the land as a negative perception has been created and the LTH depositors are the ones who are at a loss,” Najib said during his speech while officiating the Seremban Umno division meeting.
The Umno president then went on to claim that there were even some in the opposition who have disagreed with plans to sell that land, believing that the investment has its potential.
LTH purchased the land deal from 1MDB for RM188.5 million in April but was subjected to much scrutiny from various parties for allegedly using public funds to bail out the state investor.
The pilgrimage fund made a decision to immediately sell off the land soon after but Najib insisted today that LTH was making a mistake by doing so.
He instead said the negative perception towards TRX and the land deal was created by people with bad intentions, who wanted to “create negative perception on the deal”.
LTH has yet to sell off the land despite promising to do so by end of May.
