PETALING JAYA, Aug 24 — The government will not freeze or cancel any land transactions under the purview of Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YWP) despite an ongoing corruption investigation, Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad said today.

Khalid was responding to Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng, who stated that he would request to freeze any transactions relating to 12 parcels of land, totalling some 30 acres, as they had not gone through an open tender process.

“If the intention was to freeze all transactions made through such deals, then Lim should not concentrate on YWP only.

“It’s not fair as other companies got land through the same procedure too,” Khalid was quoted saying by The Star.

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Khalid clarified that investigations are still being carried on the alleged dubious sale of 64 land parcels covering 424 acres for RM4.28 billion by the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration.

“We formed our own committee, studied and made recommendations. In the recommendations, the majority of the projects are recommended to proceed.

“Regardless of our decision, the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) has said their investigation will continue and action will be taken if there is any illegal activity,” he said.

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YWP is the welfare arm of the ministry and is charged with providing welfare programmes to the needy in the federal territories.

Khalid said, however, this noble goal might have been taken advantage of by Umno when it was in power but hoped that in time, YWP will be recognised for its contribution to impoverished communities.

“In the past, YWP welfare activities were conducted through Umno division chiefs. It was made to look like Umno programmes.

“Since most constituencies in Kuala Lumpur were then under the Opposition, many of the programmes did not reach those constituencies or, even if it did, it was not through the MPs,” Khalid was quoted as saying.

The Amanah lawmaker said things were different now, pointing out that YWP donated 85 cows for slaughter on Hari Raya Haji, whose meat was handed to the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department to be distributed to poor areas.

“At the end of this year, the back-to-school programme will be conducted through the MPs. Perhaps, through these initiatives, the role of YWP as a welfare arm will be recognised,” he said.