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Monday, September 18, 2017

Chew denies Pua's claims over 'below market rate' land deal



It is unlikely that former Petaling Jaya Utara MP Chew Mei Fun was unaware that a piece of land was sold to MCA Selangor below market price as she was part of the committee that approved the sale, claimed her successor Tony Pua today.
However, in an immediate reaction, Chew denied all the allegations made by Pua.
She said this after Pua earlier claimed that Chew would have been on the Jawatankuasa Kerja Tanah (JKT) tasked with approving such land deals.
Such was the procedure when Selangor was under the BN government, the DAP lawmaker added.
Chew, who was MP from 1999 to 2008, previously said she had not applied for the land in question, and asked the media to contact former state executive councillors, offering no further details.
In a press conference held at the DAP Damansara Service Centre today, Pua said: “Did Chew blindly approve the sale of this land? As the MP, she would have been on the committee to approve it.
“It is a conflict of interest as there was a MCA member on the committee, and the committee was endorsed by the BN-run state government then, and MCA had bought the land.
“Even if, and it is a big if, she did not know anything (about it), as a MCA party leader she should make a stand on whether it is proper for MCA to get land for RM1 per square foot.
“It is extremely irresponsible for her, as MCA party leader, to wash her hands of this matter. How can she blame the former excos?”
When contacted, Chew (photo), who is MCA vice-president, told Malaysiakinithat Pua had been misinformed.
"This shows he knows nothing about how land issues work.
"As an MP, I was not involved in any of the JKT meetings where land issues were discussed. Only assemblypersons, assistant district officers and the district officer attended to them.
"MPs have no authority in dealing with land issues, the Land Office does," she said.
Chew added that while she had known about MCA Selangor's application for the land in question, she was not privy to the details of the deal.
"I know nothing about the details and the procedure, I'm not the one who was on that (JKT) committee," she stressed.
'Breach of trust'
Pua and Damansara Utama assemblyperson Yeo Bee Yin previously exposed how MCA Selangor had obtained approval for the one-acre land, located in Kampung Cempaka in Petaling Jaya in 2007 before purchasing it at RM1 per square foot in 2008 for a total of RM52,000.
They estimated the market price of the land to be RM400 per square foot and a total of RM18 million.
The matter had come to light when MCA Selangor applied to the state government for the land in question to be re-zoned from being a water body to a commercial space in March.
The media was also shown an 8TV news clip of MCA Selangor vice-chairperson Tang Chong Sang defending Chew, saying she had no involvement in the land deal and that the deal had “followed ordinary protocol and completely above board."
Despite it being a legal transaction, Pua questioned if allowing a political party to purchase land at preferential prices was ethical.
“Even if it was above board, it was a breach of trust (by politicians to the people).
“Could anyone else have bought the land for RM1 per square foot?
“They (MCA Selangor) took the land from the people,” he said.
The DAP national publicity secretary concluded that MCA’s “lack of remorse” over the land deal revealed that the party had not learned from its past mistakes.

“After nine years as the opposition party (in Selangor), they have learned nothing about why the people have rejected MCA. The people want a party with integrity, not a party that protects the interests of those within the party.
“This is the reason why MCA will not win a single seat in the upcoming general election,” he said.
MCA won just seven parliamentary seats and 11 state seats in the 2013 general election, its worst ever performance. It did not win any seats in Selangor. - Mkini

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