KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has raked in RM149 million from the reacquisition of 104 hectares of land that were previously sold off by Barisan Nasional (BN).

The Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad said 23 contractors took part in the renegotiation process of the land deals, which were part of the 97 dubious land transactions that were probed by a special task force formed on July 31.

The task force includes the Federal Territories Ministry, Attorney General’s Office, DBKL and the companies involved, and have so far met three times for negotiations.

“Out of the 23 projects, 16 had agreed to pay back the additional amount as compared to the previous deal made, three had requested for reevaluation of the land, three were not able to reach an agreement, while another will be taking the matter to court.

“There are those who refused to negotiate with us, and although by law, they would win if they bring this to court, this would be an unjust attitude towards the people.

“We hope they will reconsider negotiating with us; otherwise, their future won’t be so bright with DBKL,” he told the media at a press conference, here.

Khalid said the projects involved in the negotiations were land transactions in the following constituencies: Bandar Tun Razak, Batu, Bukit Bintang, Cheras, Kepong, Segambut, Seputeh, Setiawangsa, and Titiwangsa.

He said the government was also able to regain five hectares of land, valued at RM113.8 million, along with RM6 million in CSR contributions.

“The amount has not stopped at RM149 million, as three more parcels are still open for negotiations,” he said, referring to two plots of land in Titiwangsa and one in Segambut, which will be revalued under the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH).

Out of the 97 land deals, Khalid said 43 were approved to proceed as the terms of the contract were deemed satisfactory and fair.

He said DBKL will also obtain some 21.85 hectares of land surrendered by the contractors, whom the local council will reimburse a total of RM18.1 million.

“We are in no rush to sell or develop the (21.85 hectares) land. We will do a study and see whether it will be suitable for PPR and public housing.

“With the RM149 million that we have acquired, we can subsidise some of the projects for PPR and public housing,” he said.

While investigations on the land deals are being carried out by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC), Khalid said the special task force was tasked to look into the commercial aspect of the transactions.

“The terms of the task force were not to check for elements for corruption behind the deals, but to verify as to whether the transactions did not incur losses for DBKL.

“It was purely commercial analysis and assessment… we don’t have rightful power to look into the bank accounts of the companies,” he said.