The mayor said three of the land buyers were likely to file lawsuits against DBKL over breach of contract. — Picture by Firdaus Latif

KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has cancelled the sale of 18 plots of land that were made at the last minute before the 14th general election (GE14).

Mayor Tan Sri Mohd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz said the transaction value for the sale of these land were valued at RM1.4 billion, The Star reported today.

“These were last-minute deals signed through direct negotiations before the general election.

“We terminated these contracts because DBKL will lose out in the end,” he was quoted saying.

He said most of the buyers were refunded their downpayments for the land, while others had wanted to immediately pay off the full purchase price for the lands, but DBKL stuck to its decision.

The mayor said three of the land buyers were likely to file lawsuits against DBKL over breach of contract, noting that the city council has engaged the services of a law firm.

In giving an example of how DBKL might lose out if the sale of the parcels of land went through, the mayor said it would still benefit DBKL to refund a 10 per cent downpayment of RM40 million and a pay a compensation of RM40 million for an aborted sale of 12.9 hectares of land to a textile retailer in Cheras

“It is still profitable to pay the RM80 million as the land is valued at more than RM600 million,” he was quoted saying.

The paper also reported Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng as saying that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has cleared the sale of 48 out of 64 land parcels that were being probed for alleged corruption.

The deals were said to involve DBKL land sold to Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan during the 2013-2018 period.

Lim reportedly said the 48 land deals were cleared as the buyers had paid the purchase price to DBKL and the land titles had been transferred and with development orders already granted by DBKL.

Lim said MACC investigations for the remaining 16 plots of land were still pending, with buyers of 10 plots measuring 47.7 hectares yet to pay the full purchase price of RM1.6 billion.

“I will discuss further with MACC and once I have their clearance, I will announce the location and buyers of the 48 plots of land,” he was quoted saying.