Selangor BN, settlers to lodge report with MACC over Ijok land issue

SEPANG: Selangor Barisan Nasional will lodge a report on the land issue in Ijok to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) within a week.

Selangor Barian information chief Datuk Dr Mohamed Satim Diman said several settlers would also lodge a report with the MACC as the compensation that they received was allegedly not in line with the latest market prices.

He questioned the action of the Selangor state government in returning the land concerned to two companies which later sold it to third parties for the market price of RM1.18bil, whereas the compensation received by the settlers only amounted to about RM420mil.

"It's puzzling that the compensation paid to the settlers was based on the old price in the year 2000. If they (the companies concerned) could sell (the land) according to the market price, why was the compensation paid to the settlers not according to the market price?

"So it has become a question mark as to what happened to the balance of the proceeds of the land sale which was almost RM800mil?" Mohd Satim told reporters after an event at Ladang Fermanagh, Sungai Pelek, here on Sunday.

Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali was earlier reported to have announced a compensation payment of RM180,000 in cash and a house worth RM250,000 each to the 980 settlers, involving a total value of RM421.4mil.

Barisan Strategic Communications directors Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan had on Feb 14 urged Azmin to clarify the swift action of the state government in handing over the land in Ijok to the two companies concerned in 2016.

He questioned Azmin's justification in not waiting for the case to be heard in the Federal Court as the decisions of the High Court and the Court of Appeal in 2013 and 2014 on the re-acquisition of the land from the two companies concerned had been in favour of the state government.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Satim said the housing issue involved about 100 families in Ladang Fermanagh, Sungai Merbau and Sungai Rawang in the state constituency of Tanjung Sepat and would be included in the local manifesto of Selangor Barisan.

"This is private land and the residents here cannot afford to buy houses according to the market price. If the state government wants to help them, buy this land for the development of affordable homes," he said.

He said the issue had been prolonged over the past 25 years and could not be resolved because of the problem of the land ownership involved. - Bernama