GEORGE TOWN, April 6 — Claiming to have given the Penang Regional Development Authority (Perda) ample opportunity to explain why it sold a plot of land at a massive loss of millions of ringgit, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said today the state has decided to report the matter to local graftbusters.
Lim, who has been leading the allegations against Perda after his RM2.8 million house purchase entered the spotlight, told reporters that the report will be lodged by state executive councillor Dr Afif Bahardin at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) Penang office here.
“We have given Perda many chances to explain but they have failed to do so and today the state executive council decided that we will lodge a report against Perda over this land sale,” he said.
Lim has accused Perda of selling its 8.6-acre land in south Seberang Perai at a RM15.2 million loss to a private developer.
He claimed the land was sold at only RM1.42 million although it was valued at the time at RM16.6 million.
The DAP secretary-general also invited Perda chairman Datuk Shabudin Yahaya for “coffee” and to explain the sale of the land last Sunday but the latter did not show up.
Shabudin has responded to Lim’s accusations through a press conference by stating that Perda had to sell the land which was abandoned for 30 years.
He explained that the land was sold with the condition that low-cost housing would be built by the developer.
Lim yesterday revealed that SYT Prestige had applied for planning permission to build shophouses on the land, not housing units.
