ANOTHER 'CHICKEN-OUT' on the way: Tony dares Tee Yong to visit RM200mil BN land grab sites

Datuk Chua Tee Yong has proven himself to be obsessed with “land scandals” especially in Selangor.

The independent audit by the international reputable auditing firm, KPMG as well as the Selangor state government White Paper tabled at the latest state assembly sitting proving beyond doubt that the Government under the leadership of Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has collected back every single sen of the RM392 million debt oustanding from Talam Corporation.

These debts were incurred during the reign of Barisan Nasional (BN) and was never collected while BN was in power.

Despite the above, Datuk Chua is remarkably persistent in his jihad to find the elusive needle in the haystack to prove his RM1 billion non-existent land scandal in Selangor under Pakatan Rakyat.

Given his insatiable quest for “land scandals” in Selangor and the obvious need to lead the ineffective Selangor MCA leadership, I would like to offer the perfect opportunity to Datuk Chua to uncover the real land scandals in Selangor.

RM200mil Selangor BN land ROBBERY

I would like to invite Datuk Chua Tee Yong, the MCA “land scandals” and accounting expert, to jointly visit the 24 parcels of state land which which were given to Barisan Nasional component parties – UMNO, MCA, MIC and Gerakan – between 2000 and 2008. These pieces of land were transferred to BN parties for nominal sums despite being worth in excess of RM200 million.

Selangor Barisan Nasional component parties have been quick to defend the land-grab despite the obvious corruption, abuse of power and conflict of interests involved. Selangor UMNO Information Chief Abdul Shukor Idrus, who is also the state assemblyman for Kuang who argued that “what’s wrong with giving the land to UMNO” as reward for the “contributions by UMNO in fighting for indepedence and developing this country”.

MCA Selangor Secretary and ADUN for Kuala Kubu Baru, Datuk Wong Koon Mun agreed with his UMNO colleague, claiming that there’s nothing wrong with alienating land to MCA, by comparing the political party to “temples and schools” which were also given land on the cheap.

Wong even added that the sites served as de facto centres for community life, including as community hall and even as schools and kindergartens, in lieu of purpose-built buildings.

Another dye-in-the-wool HYPOCRITE??

The joint bi-partisan visits to the 24 sites will confirm if the land given to UMNO, MCA, MIC and Gerakan were indeed utilised for the “community” or were they a clear cut abuse of power to profit the party and its cronies.

During the site visit with DAP state assembly persons, Ng Suee Lim and Hannah Yeoh to a 87,188 square feet piece of land in Ara Damansara given to UMNO Bahagian Subang yesterday, we found no kindergarten or community hall for use by local residents. Instead we found a 200-unit condominium – Suria Damansara Condominium worth more than RM500 million when it was first launched in 2006.

The purpose of the site visits will be:

1. To confirm if these sites were indeed used for the community, or were they like the UMNO land above, sold or developed commercially for profit.

2. Where profit was made – 23 out of the 24 pieces of land were commercial land – to determine how much profit did UMNO, MCA, MIC and Gerakan made from these land, as a result of getting them dirt cheap from the BN state government.

It is critical for Datuk Chua to agree to the joint site visits to prove that there is no element of corruption and abuse of power by BN in the award of these land to themselves, and more important there was zero element of profit resulting from the above transactions.

And if the bi-partisan visits are able to prove that UMNO, MCA, MIC and Gerakan have profited hundreds of millions of ringgit from these “land scandals”, then as the shining light within MCA fighting for justice for Selangorians and integrity in Government, Datuk Chua must declare that all the unethically obtained profits must be returned to the Selangor state government for the benefit of her citizens.

If not, then it will be unfortunate that Datuk Chua will prove himself as another dye-in-the-wool hypocrite from MCA and Barisan Nasional, who seeks only to protect his own interest and that of his party, at the expense of the ordinary man-on-the-street.

Tony Pua is the DAP MP for PJ Utara