Guan Eng is an accountant not a valuer, says DAP

PETALING JAYA: The DAP has defended Lim Guan Eng’s ignorance of the market price of his bungalow, saying the Penang Chief Minister has an accounting background and is not a valuer.

“Can you expect an accountant to value a piece of land according to its market price? No accountant will know the land or property value before it is properly evaluated by a registered valuer,” Penang DAP publicity secretary Ng Wei Aik (pic) said in a statement on Friday.

He said only a valuer appointed by a bank can assess the value of the land and its building if the purchaser intends to apply for a bank loan.

He added that the adjudication of stamp duty will also be done by the Inland Revenue Board after the sales and purchase agreement is signed.

Ng said that sub-sale of a property can still be done even without an evaluation being conducted before the signing of the sales and purchase agreement.

“It is not necessary for Lim Guan Eng to know the market price before anyone can sell him a property,” he said.

Ng also accused Barisan Nasional’s propaganda machine of trying to undermine Lim’s integrity and uprooting DAP’s power base in Penang.

“BN’s relentless attacks on Lim Guan Eng are akin to killing an ant with a sledgehammer. It is no more a simple anti-corruption issue.

“BN’s propaganda machinery is aiming to undermine Lim Guan Eng’s personal integrity as well as uproot DAP’s power base in Penang,” he said.

Ng also questioned why Umno kept on lodging reports to MACC over the issue when the commission had already initiated a probe on Lim.

The DAP secretary-general and his party have been on the defensive over allegations that he bought a RM2.8mil bungalow in Jalan Pinhorn from businesswoman Phang Li Koon at below market value.

He has denied all the allegations and took reporters on a tour of the house last Sunday.

He has claimed that the transaction was done on a “willing buyer-willing seller” basis and that he did not know the value of the property.

The bungalow is valued at RM275 per square foot whereas a nearby property half the size was recently valued at more than RM700 per square feet.