Land saga: Ex-deputy MB denies charge

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Pahang deputy menteri besar Hasan Arifin has denied the allegation that former state officials, including himself, abused Malay reserve land for personal gain.

He also threatened legal action against Pedas Leaks, the group behind the exposé of the scandal and the lodging of a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over the matter earlier this month.

In a letter sent to Pahang PKR deputy chief Ram Ponnusamy, Kuantan PAS information chief Sulaiman Md Derus, Kuantan PAS vice-chairman Ustaz Syed Mohd Anis Syed and Teruntum DAP branch assistant executive secretary Pang Jon Kong, Hasan explained that there was no wrongdoing on his part.

Scanned copies of the letter, dated March 22, were shown to FMT yesterday.

Hasan also addressed copies of the letter to Pahang MACC director Moh Samsudin Yusof, Pahang Land and Mines office director Azizan Ahmad and District and Land Office Kuantan officer Norhayati Ahmad.

A FMT report published last week said the government of former menteri besar Mohd Khalil Yaakob de-gazetted the most valuable piece of Malay reserve land (MRL) in Kuantan, divided it and sold the lots to members of the administration at “grossly undervalued” prices.

At least one of the lots was sold to a non-Malay in what was described by Pedas Lekas as a “dubious land transaction.”

Pedas Leaks said those who benefited from the exercise included Khalil (now the governor of Malacca), Hasan and former state executive councillors Omar Othman, Hamdan Jaafar and Halim Ibrahim.

‘It was not MRL land’

In his letter, Hasan claimed that the land was not a MRL when it was sold to him.

“I bought that particular piece of land from (government-linked company) Pasdec Corporation Sdn Bhd) as a freehold land (tanah geran bebas) with a 99-year lease and restrictions (sekatan kepentingan). The price paid was reasonable as practised by the government to give housing lots to government officers…,” wrote Hasan.

He said that the land was mortgaged to the bank “…because I was facing financial issues. I had to sell this plot of land for my own good as well as for business.”

He said that when he relinquished his post as deputy menteri besar and started doing business, he was also “forced” to sell a bungalow in Tok Sira, a single-storey terrace house in Kampung Jawa, land in Rompin, “3 LOT 10 LKPP” (Lembaga Kemajuan Perusahaan Pertanian) and land in Pekan.

“How did you get the information that this was a Malay reserve land? What is the gazette number of this reserve?”

“The land laws in Malaysia are good and detailed. It’s impossible that when approving land to Pasdec, the land office mis-looked that this was a MRL and approved it as a freehold,” he added.

Hasan said that as far as he knew, the entire Tok Sira area was not MRL and various races stayed in the area.

“There are restrictions on the land (sekatan kepentingannya). If this was really a Malay reserve, how could the menteri besar approve this transfer?” he asked.

‘This is malicious’

Hasan said it was every Malaysian’s right to report cases to the MACC but warned that “reporting to the media without accurate facts is malicious and degrades one’s dignity”.

On the allegation that he had sold the land at a higher price to a Chinese individual, he said that the prices in 2001 and 2004 were different.

“Of course, 2001 would be different. And even today, the price would be different.”

“I am disappointed and sad that for 22 years of being a wakil rakyat, I never received an inch of land from the government. This is the only land I got from Pasdec,” he said.

Hasan stressed that he was also not in the Pasdec directors’ committee or in the Pahang State Development Corporation (PKNP) then.

The former deputy menteri besar issued a two-week ultimatum to those who made the allegation to retract the article which appeared in the Pahang Daily blog and apologise.

“If you refuse, then court action would be taken against you sir,” he said.

The land in question – located in Taman Tok Sira a few hundred metres away from the menteri besar’s residence – was originally state land but was split into 14 pieces of housing land and alienated to Pasdec in 1997. This transfer was approved by the state government on April 2, 1997.

According to documents produced by Pedas Leaks, Pasdec subsequently sold off the 14 lots to the administration officials.

In the case of Hasan, he acquired 14,000 sq ft for RM76,499 on Dec 31, 2001 when the market price was RM213,000 as valued by the Valuation and Property Services Department. In September 2004, he sold the land to one Ti Lian Yeah for RM397,683.02.