Earlier this month, PCCC raised the issue of land sold to Umech Construction Sdn Bhd (Umech) for less than market value.

The land was originally owned by Penang Development Corporation (PDC).

PCCC found the directly negotiated deal to be unacceptable. It alleged that a property developer had taken control of Umech and offered to lease out parcels of the land at high rates.

“I don’t know why he (Chow) still wants to emphasise that they have evaluated the company in a professional and transparent manner.

“I hope they can make the evaluation report public and then once it is out, people will die laughing,” Tan was quoted as saying by Sin Chew Daily today.

He added that Umech was only playing the role of a “property agent” during the transaction process.

Tan also “predicted” that this would not be the last the public would hear about the deal as legal action would follow, from which there would be a series of “repercussions”.

He urged Chow to conduct an internal investigation into PDC and reshuffle its staff.

Chow had previously defended the sale, arguing that PDC initially wanted to enter into a joint venture to develop an industrial park but no company was interested in the project.

He said Umech later wanted to develop the land when the idea was floated by a Penang delegation at the 2020 Dubai Expo.

He added that as a result of the discussions, the company managed to convince PDC that it had found a Dubai-based backer.

The 226ha deal was called off by PDC yesterday, citing a non-disclosure in the change of a controlling stakeholder in Umech Land to a developer. However, it defended its earlier decision to sell the land to Umech.

It was also reported on Sept 27, Sunway Bhd announced that Umech Land inked a joint development agreement with PDC to co-develop 226ha of land in Batu Kawan into an industrial park with a gross development value of around RM3.5 billion.