IPOH, Feb 22 — Perak will investigate the alleged mismanagement of 2,400 hectares of land given by the previous Barisan Nasional government to Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah (USAS) in Kuala Kangsar, said state executive councillor Abdul Aziz Bari.
The state Education, Science, Environment, Green Technology and Information Committee chairman said an audit firm will be hired soon to look into the allegations.
He said today that the plots of land were sanctioned to USAS in various parts of Perak since its formation in 1999 to enable the university to generate income and operate independently.
“However, despite all these years the land did not yield any money. If the land was managed well, then the university could have been operating independently,” he told reporters after a discussion with the new vice-chancellor and board of directors, who will be appointed in one month’s time.
Pointing out that the previous management has been told to leave, Aziz said that the state government has had to bear the cost of funding the institution.
“The state government has been giving the university RM16 million annually.
“By right, the land, which consists of oil palm, mining and timber land, should at least make RM10 million profit annually,” he said.
Aziz also blamed the previous government Barisan Nasional for failing to fulfil their promises in making USAS a public university.
“If the university had been changed to a public university as what was promised by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak during the Kuala Kangsar by-election in 2016, then the state government would not have to fund it,” he said.
