The Malaysian Insight

FORMER federal territories minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said he had nothing to do with the controversial sale of public land to private developers.

He said he had been called up by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission 12 times for questioning despite land being under the Prime Minister’s Office during the Najib Razak administration.  

“When I took over as minister in 2013, I had returned the land problems to the Prime Minister’s Office. I have nothing to do with the approval of lands in Wilayah Persekutuan. 

“I have been called up by the MACC more than 12 times and I have told them all I know,” Tengku Adnan, who is Putrajaya MP, told the Dewan Rakyat today.

However, current Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad said a majority of the dubious deals occurred under Tengku Adnan’s watch.

“It is fair to say, most of the transactions were during his time. About 70% of them,” Khalid told reporters later at the Parliament lobby. 

Other than the MACC probe, Khalid also said his ministry has started an internal probe with the help of representatives from the Attorney-General’s Chambers. 

Among the irregularities identified are selling of land below market value, direct negotiations and re-zoning of land use, Khalid said.

“Our committee’s investigation has brought to surface a lot of issues. It was not according to normal practice. That is part of the findings. 

“For example, selling (land) below the valuation that was given without any real justification. The sale of land which is not meant for development like open spaces and all that,” Khalid said.

To prevent future abuse, the minister said, all lands under his ministry will be gazetted into the Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2020 to avoid misappropriation. 

“This will all be highlighted when we gazette the KL 2020. We got a whole addendum of infringements done where they didn’t follow the master plan.”

Khalid said he could not reveal the full details on the scandal as it was under the jurisdiction of the MACC. 

The investigation into Tengku Adnan started when DAP lawmaker Lim Lip Eng (Kepong) lodged a report with the MACC on 64 dubious land transactions by Kuala Lumpur City Hall. – October 30, 2018.