Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng made this claim today and pointed out that the land was originally sold to provide affordable housing.
“We have only received a planning application for 27 units of shophouses.
“Where are the affordable homes promised?
“By right, the development of affordable homes should be the priority, but it appears they have submitted plans to build shophouses.
“Can we remind Perda that the land was acquired for public use, hence it is public land and for public interest,” he said at a press conference today.
Lim went on to pour scorn on Perda Chairman Shabudin Yahaya, saying many questions regarding the land sale had yet to be answered.
“Please do not hide; please don’t be the proverbial ‘katak dibawah tempurung ‘ (‘one who has no knowledge of the outside world’).”
Earlier reports had indicated that Perda would also build 27 shophouses on the site.
Perda Deputy Chairman Shaik Hussain Mydin told the NST that the landowner was planning to build 240 low-cost homes on the land.
He told the daily that the developer would submit plans for the homes after acquiring another 4.6ha land owned by Uda Holdings and the Penang government.
The “cheap” land issue came to light after Lim claimed that Perda sold a 3.4ha plot of land to SYT Prestige Sdn Bhd, a private developer, for only RM1.42 million last year.
This was despite an Inland Revenue Board land valuation giving it a RM16.6 million price tag.
The land was originally acquired by the government in 1986 at RM1.7 million to build affordable homes.
In defending the land sale, Shabudin said the land was sold cheap because of various issues, including serious soil erosion.
Shabudin also said a cost benefit analysis showed if they carried on with the project, Perda would incur losses of up to RM10 million.
Perda’s claim was, however, rubbished by Lim who said the land could have easily been restored for RM5 million or less.
A Penang Exco member lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday to investigate possible irregularities in the land sale.