South Kelantan Development Authority (Kesedar) chairman Zawawi Othman said the PAS secretary-general’s claim was slanderous as these particular land grants fall under the state government and the Kelantan land and mines office.

“The land issues in Sungai Terah, Limau Kasturi, Bertam and several other areas have nothing to do with Kesedar. All we do is offer support.

“These involve land grants that settlers applied for to the land office. Kesedar has no authority to approve the issuance of these land grants. We are simply the agency responsible for developing the area,” he said.

Zawawi added that Kesedar only had authority to issue land grants for lots of land it had purchased at a premium from the state government.

The Pasir Puteh Umno chief said he would consider taking legal action against Takiyuddin if he did not retract his claim before polling day for the Nenggiri by-election on Aug 17.

In a ceramah on Saturday, Takiyuddin claimed that thousands of these land grants were supposed to be given to settlers but had yet to be processed by Kesedar.