Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad has clarified that he did suggest a mixed development project which included affordable homes be approved for a developer while he was the federal territories minister, as it was in line with the vision of the ministry at that time.
This came after he was accused of backing a developer's bid to obtain approval for the transfer of a plot of land in November 2019 despite the policy of the then-Pakatan Harapan government not to issue support letters.
The former federal territories minister was said to have left a handwritten note on the appeal letter by the developer, after the project approval was revoked in November 2018, one year after it received the green light from the Federal Territories Lands and Mines Office.
The developer then decided to write an appeal directly to Khalid in December 2018.
"I suggested that this application be approved because it was in line with the vision of the Federal Territories Ministry at that time, which is to produce one million affordable homes in Kuala Lumpur.
"This affordable housing was needed by the low- and middle-income groups in Kuala Lumpur because the price of ordinary houses was expensive and unaffordable by this group working in Kuala Lumpur," Khalid said in a statement yesterday.
The developer had applied for a plot in the city for a mixed development project, of which 54 percent of it was to build affordable houses, he added.
"After receiving the first letter from the developer, I instructed my political secretary Azli Yusof to refer this matter to the Land and Mines Office and also the Kuala Lumpur City Hall to find out the land use plan.
"Almost a year later, after I received the second letter, only then did I urge the federal territories land exco chaired by the chief secretary to the government to consider approving the application after getting a clear picture on the status from the land office and city hall," he explained.
No power over land exco
The Amanah lawmaker stressed that the land exco was not under his authority as then federal territories minister.
"I myself am not part of the land exco and the exco is not under my authority. It is therefore appropriate for me to provide views on this development proposal in writing.
"The land exco that will consider the application was also not under my jurisdiction as the federal territories minister as it was directly under the chief secretary to the government. And it is not possible for a minister to direct the chief secretary who reports to the prime minister.
"The regular application has to go through the usual process and adhere to conditions and costs imposed. I only supported this application for the sake of the project I wanted to implement," Khalid added. - Mkini
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