KUALA LUMPUR – Keranji assemblyman Chong Zhemin of DAP will raise the issue of the sale of a piece of land previously identified as a location for a new international airport in Seri Iskandar, Tronoh in the next state Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting.
Chong, who is a Perak PAC member, said the matter will be brought up to initiate proceedings and facilitate an investigation to uncover the culprit.
He concurred with parliamentary PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh who earlier said that the state PAC should initiate proceedings to probe into this matter.
In a statement today, Chong said he found it “shocking and unbelievable” that former Perak exco and Perak State Development Corporation (PSDC) director Datuk Asmuni Awi revealed that the sale of the land was never discussed during the state exco meeting nor the PSDC board of directors meeting.
“How could the sale of PSDC land go through without the board’s approval? This raises the possibility that the sale of land may not have gone through proper procedure and authorisation.”
The sale of the land, he added, proved that there has been a collapse in the Perak government’s control mechanism to prevent unauthorised sale of land or transactions.
“After the piece of land has been identified as the site to build an airport in 2018, the Perak government should immediately gazette the land for airport construction usage and the Perak Land Office should also caveat the said piece of land to prevent the land from being sold or transferred,” he added.
Chong also urged Menteri Besar Datuk Saarani Mohamad to immediately instruct the local council to suspend the development order and all development on the land until the authorities have completed the investigation.
Wong proposes three witnesses to be called, including former MBs
Earlier, Wong said the Perak PAC has a responsibility to the state assembly and the people to ensure that every state government decision related to financial issues is monitored and accounted for.
“The Perak PAC will be considered negligent in carrying out its responsibilities if it chooses to remain silent on this issue which is so important to the people of Perak.
“The Perak PAC has the power to conduct an investigation into the issue based on provisions of Standing Order 70(1)(d) of the Perak assembly.
“It is certainly not uncommon for the PAC to use its authority under the Standing Orders as above,” he said in a statement today.
He added that the parliamentary PAC had used the same Standing Orders to conduct investigations on issues that are of interest to the people.
“I propose for the state PAC to call key witnesses like Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, two former menteri besar Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir and Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu.
“Further proceedings can be followed by calling the PSDC board members who were in service when the land in question was sold.”
Land allegedly sold without state permission
On Tuesday, Aulong assemblyman Nga Kor Ming revealed that the land proposed for the construction of the international airport in Seri Iskandar had been sold.
During the debate on the royal address at the state assembly sitting, Nga said the sale of the land, about 40km from Ipoh, was by an irresponsible party without state permission.
He said the act was committed by irresponsible individuals as a matter of serious misconduct and wanted those responsible for selling the land to be brought to justice.
On Thursday, Saarani said the land was sold to a private company during the administration of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
In a Bernama report, he said that the land was reserved by the PSDC for the purpose of building the airport during the BN administration.
“So, since the land was sold during the PH era (by the PH government), we don’t have land to build a new airport.
“It cannot be taken back as the private company has already obtained planning permission to carry out mixed development in the area (airport site),” he was quoted as saying.
There have been talks to build a bigger airport in Perak to boost tourism and other sectors.
This is because the current Sultan Azlan Shah Airport in Ipoh cannot be expanded due to the limited availability of land. – The Vibes, April 3, 2022
