No deposit paid for sale of the Malaysian Consulate building in Hong Kong

GEORGE TOWN: There has been no deposit paid on the sale of the Malaysian Consulate building in Hong Kong.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng (pic) said since it is an open tender, the government was still waiting for higher offers than the current RM1.68bil offer.

"We did not collect the deposit, as we are still looking for higher offers," Lim said here on Monday (April 8).

He said the RM1.68bil would result in more than RM500mil in higher returns, compared with the earlier tender for RM1.1bil by the previous government.

On the wording of the offer letter which was questioned by MCA president and Ayer Itam MP Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, Lim said what was more important was the money rather than the language.

Wee said on Friday (April 5) that Lim should show proof that a deposit had been paid to the government over the RM1.68bil offer for the building in Hong Kong.

Dr Wee questioned the authenticity of the unnamed offer letter, expressing an interest in purchasing the building, as it was riddled with grammatical errors.

On the DAP candidate for Sandakan, Lim said the party was still looking for the right person and an announcement would be made soon.