The MACC is prepared to take necessary action if ongoing police investigations on the Felda Jalan Semarak land scandal revealed any elements of corruption or abuse of power.
MACC chief commissioner Dzulkifli Ahmad told reporters that it has so far left the case, involving an allegedly dubious land deal, to be investigated by the police.
"Felda has lodged a police report and police are investigating. So we leave the matter to the police.
"If along the way it is found that there are elements of corruption, we will take necessary actions," Dzulkifli told a press conference at Wisma MCA in Kuala Lumpur, after witnessing MACC's anti-corruption pledge signing ceremony, with representatives from Chinese new villages around the country.
Dzulkifli said this when asked whether the MACC would be summoning former Felda chairperson Mohd Isa Samad in connection with the case.
A report last month stated that Felda was at risk of losing four plots of land in Jalan Semarak, which is valued at around RM270 million, after ownership was transferred to the master developer of the KL Vertical City (KLVC) project via “dubious transactions” in 2015.
In a press conference held soon after the report was released, current Felda chairperson Shahrir Abdul Samad said a police report had been lodged against the master developer in a bid to reclaim ownership of the land.
Commenting further, Dzulkifli said that MACC has yet to receive any specific report with regards to the deal.
"But if in the course of the (police) investigation it is discovered that there were elements of graft or abuse of power, which is under our jurisdiction, we will have no problems taking action," he said.
Dzulkifli, meanwhile, declined to comment when asked whether he had been called by the police in the course of investigations into his alleged extramarital affair.
"I don't want to comment (on the issue)," he said.
On Dec 6, inspector-general of police Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the probe against Dzulkifli under Section 498 of Penal Code, for enticing a married woman, was expected to be completed soon.
Nevertheless, Fuzi declined to comment at the time on whether Dzulkifli had been summoned to give his statement.
Hunt for lawyer still on
On another matter, Dzulkifli also confirmed that the MACC is still looking for lawyer Michael Persius Ubu to assist in their investigation into the purchase of an oil palm plantation in Tongod, Sabah, worth about RM155 million.
"We do not know where the lawyer is. We have not been contacted by him.
"We are still detecting whether he is still in the country or currently overseas," said Dzulkifli, when asked whether there would be more arrests involving Parti Warisan Sabah leaders, following the arrest of its vice-president Peter Anthony yesterday.
Prior to Anthony’s appearance at the Sabah MACC office in Kota Kinabalu, and his subsequent arrest, the commission had circulated a notice stating that the Warisan leader had 48 hours to turn himself in for questioning.
'No corruption in new village administrations'
At today’s ceremony, Minister in the Prime Minister Department Wee Ka Siong, who is in charge of overseeing administration of 613 new villages nationwide, said the signing and recitation of MACC's anti-corruption pledge is a sign of the community's commitment towards eradicating graft.
"I hope that all of you gathered here today, representing the government's frontline to interact with people in the new villages, would carry out your duties with dedication and integrity," he said.
Among others, Wee said, certain measures to curtail graft have been introduced, such as forbidding more than two members of a family from sitting in one village committee, and to reject applications for house renovation allocations from village chiefs or their family members.
A total of 700 new villages chiefs and committee members recited the MACC anti-corruption pledge today, and Dzulkifli earlier said that the ceremony was 861st held with various government agencies, state agencies and GLCs.- Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.