ISKANDAR PUTERI, Dec 9 — State Housing and Rural Development Committee chairman Dzulkefly Ahmad today said that alleged misappropriation of funds from the Tabung Amanah Bayaran Sumbangan Kuota Bumiputera (Bumiputera quota contribution payment trust fund) was for the purpose of a study-cum-working trip to England in 2016.
He said the eight-day trip two years ago had involved 17 individuals, with majority of them being state government officials, at a cost of RM822,640.
“Yang Berhormat Pulai Sebatang (Taqiuddin Cheman) raised the issue about the Bumiputera quota contribution payment trust fund being used for a visit to England involving an expenditure of more than RM800,000.
“For his information, the trip was a working trip to Manchester and London to explore green construction technology, housing development policies and international zone housing management on April 25 to May 2 in 2016,” said Dzulkefly, who is also the Kota Iskandar assemblyman.
He said this when delivering his winding-up speech at the Johor state assembly in the Sultan Ismail Building in Kota Iskandar here today.
On Monday, Pakatan Harapan (PH) Senggarang assemblyman Khairuddin A. Rahim lodged a report with the Johor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over an alleged misappropriation of RM822,640 in funds by the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration.
Last week, it was reported that PH-led Johor state government had alleged shortages of nearly RM1 million in funds by the previous BN administration.
A state government source told Malay Mail that financial discrepancies in the trust fund were found following an audit on November 19.
In Johor, for any unsold Bumiputera residential or commercial units, developers can appeal to the state government for a release consent that will convert a property to allow sale to non-Bumiputeras.
A total of 7.5 per cent of the sale price needs to be paid to the state government as a fee for each released unit which is then put into the trust fund,
Since 2017, the Johor state government has collected some RM600 million from developers who applied for a conversion of Bumiputera status properties. The revenue was used to build more than 6,000 Johor affordable homes.
