KUALA LUMPUR: The sale of the Malaysian consulate building in Hong Kong, being conducted at present via international open tender at a reserve price of RM1.6 billion, is expected to receive a bid that may be higher, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.
“The people are waiting for an explanation from former prime minister Najib Razak on the decision by his administration to sell the land and building through direct negotiations and not open tender,” Lim said in a statement here today.
He said Najib was still trying to pin the blame for the sale of the property on the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government even though it was his administration that made the decision to sell the asset through direct negotiations.
Lim said the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government’s action would have resulted in a loss because of the direct negotiations, with the price offered before the May 9 general election last year being only RM1.1 billion.
“When PH decided to have an open tender, the offer price received was as high as RM1.6 billion.
“Malaysians would have lost at least RM500 million between the direct negotiations and open tender if the BN government had not been replaced by PH.
“Najib refused to answer my question in Parliament but in turn demanded that I reply to unsubstantiated allegations related to previous issues,” he said.
Lim was referring to the undersea tunnel project by the Penang government which he said was not a problem as it was done through an open tender.
He said PAS information chief Nasaruddin Hassan Tantawi, who had raised similar questions about the tunnel, had apologised and withdrawn his allegations against him in 2016. - FMT
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