IPOH, April 6 — Perak Public Accounts Committee (PAC) members urged its chairman Datuk Mohd Tarmizi Idris to hold a meeting to investigate the sale of a piece of land proposed for the development of an international airport in Seri Iskandar, Tronoh.
Perak PAC committee member Tan Kar Ying said it was the responsibility of the committee to check and balance the issue as the purpose of the airport construction was also a matter of public interest.
“The committee must call former mentri besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu and current mentri besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, former State Development Corporation (PKNP) board members, current PKNP board members and as well as stakeholders, such as the company that bought the land, the Land and Mines Office, Perak Tengah District and Land Office, and Perak Tengah District Council for the investigation,” he said during a press conference at Banguan Perak Darul Ridzuan.
Tan said that the investigation should be done to identify under which administration the land was sold.
“We also need to know the process of approving the sale between PKNP and the private company, the area and location of the land, sale price and payment process and a few more things in order to find out whether there are elements of misconduct in the sale,” he added.
Tan also pointed out that the Perak PAC meeting had only been held once since its establishment on August 25, 2021 in the Perak state assembly.
Meanwhile, another Perak PAC committee member Chong Zhemin said that Saarani should immediately suspend the planning approval and stop any sort of development on the said land.
“Right now, we don’t know what the whole case is. There were lot claims that the land was sold during the Barisan Nasional administration and as well as Pakatan Harapan administration.
“So any development on the land should be halted immediately until we have an answer,” he said.
Meanwhile, Perak PAC chairman Tarmizi, when contacted today, said that there was no reason for the committee members to hold a press conference urging him to hold a meeting.
The Umno assemblyman for Kenering said that he had already agreed to call a meeting soon.
Dewan Rakyat Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Wong Kah Woh also urged the Perak PAC to investigate the sale of the land recently.
Last week, Perak DAP chairman and Aulong assemblyman Nga Kor Ming had said that the proposed land for the construction of the international airport in Seri Iskandar had been sold without the permission of the state government between 2018 and 2019, during the Perak state assembly sitting.
Perak Infrastructure, Energy, Water and Public Transport Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Zolkafly Harun, in his winding-up speech at the state assembly on March 30, said that the plan to build the airport, which involves seven plots of about 478 hectares, had been approved by a state executive councillor meeting on February 28, 2018.
However, Mohd Zolkafly added that 188.13 hectares from that allocated land, which was owned by PKNP, was sold to a third party.
On March 30, Saarani confirmed that a plot of land, which was previously identified as the location for a new international airport in Seri Iskandar, had been sold to a private company.
He said the sale was conducted by the previous state government during the PH administration.
The next day, Saarani said that the Perak government would leave it to the authorities to investigate the issue of the sale of land.
He said there would be no cover-up by the state government, and he encouraged aggrieved parties to lodge a report on the issue.
Yesterday, four former state executive councillors, namely Howard Lee Chuan How (DAP), Datuk Asmuni Awi (Amanah), Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin (Amanah), and Tan (PKR), lodged a report on the land issue with the Perak Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Nizar stressed that the sale of the airport land from PKNP to a third party was not discussed during any board meeting which he attended during his time as a state executive councillor.
Similarly, he said the sale of the land was not raised during any state executive councillor meetings.
