KUALA LUMPUR (May 16): Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng has lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today to investigate 64 parcels of land sold by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) under the purview of the former Federal Territories minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor from 2013 to 2018.

According to Lim, the 64 lands have a combined area of 424.29 acres and a total transaction value of RM4.28 billion.

Less than half of the lands were sold for Federal Territories Affordable Housing (RUMAWIP) development while the rest were meant for expensive residential and commercial products priced at market value, he alleged.

“All of the lands were sold without open tender and most of them were transacted at below the market price at that time and without having gone through a valuation report,” he told reporters at the entrance of the MACC office along Jalan Cochrane here today.

On top of that, some of the developers who bought the lands have failed to pay the development charges and the premium on the conversion of land use, yet their projects on the lands were able to commence construction works, he continued.

“So, we want to know why the projects are allowed to be undertaken despite the development charges and premium not being paid. In addition, why the developers can collect the 10% down payment from buyers although they did not pay the fees?” he asked.

“We have met MACC officers just now and we have asked them to raid the offices of those who are involved in the land sale, including developers and Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YWP) before the evidence is destroyed. Some of the lands were transferred to Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan before being sold to developers,” he said.

He also said that Tengku Adnan should be the first individual investigated by the commission due to his capacity as the minister of Federal Territories at that time and also the chairman of YWP.

As of today, some of the developments on the 64 plots of land have been completed while the rest are either under construction or have yet to commence construction, Lim claimed.

Lim emphasised that he is not trying to call a stop on the projects on the affected parcels that already started construction, but is only seeking to halt the projects that have yet to commence work.

“For RUMAWIP that are already completed [or still under construction], they can still proceed. Those are public housing for the benefit of the people, even though the whole procedure and transaction was wrong. So, let them proceed and complete and let the buyers get their houses.

“What we are talking about is to go after the developers and person involved in this case. And we also want MACC and DBKL to stop those projects that have not started construction, such as the Taman Rimba Kiara project,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh lodged a separate MACC report against YWP over the land sale in Taman Rimba Kiara, Taman Tun Dr Ismail to stop the proposed project on the site.

Jointly undertaken by Malton Bhd and YWP, the project involves eight blocks of high-end serviced apartments and one block of affordable housing.

“We are not against the provision of public housing to the people. But I think it is for far too long a vehicle like YWP uses housing as an excuse for them to do deals like this.

“We should seek to recover whatever we can, so I hope that MACC will act immediately,” she said.

She added that the land in Taman Rimba Kiara was acquired by YWP under Tengku Adnan’s purview and then sold to the developer in the name of providing housing for the longhouse residents.

“We have done a separate survey just to reveal the cost for building houses for the long house residents and it shows that it will only cost about RM15 million to build for them.

“There is no need for [YWP] to pay RM60 million to acquire from the government the land and then do a third party transaction and sell it out to the developer. They are just using housing as an excuse to do this kind of transaction, so I’m lodging a separate complaint just on Taman Rimba Kiara,” she elaborated.

Meanwhile, Protect Taman Desa Coalition also lodged a report with MACC Putrajaya seeking a full and thorough investigation of Tengku Adnan’s role in the transfer of land belonging to DBKL in Taman Desa and Kuala Lumpur to YWP and private developers.

Following discussions with DBKL over complaints of overdevelopment in Taman Desa, the residents decides to file the report when it was discovered that two parcels of land — one gazetted and designated for a community centre, and another for a public library and park — have been transferred to private developers for development of RUMAWIP and upmarket condominiums respectively, said the coalition in a statement.

Controversial land deals by Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur