Kedah MB questions LTH's land purchase from 1MDB

ALOR STAR: Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir has joined the growing chorus questioning Muslim pilgrim fund Lembaga Tabung Haji’s (LTH) purchase of land from beleaguered strategic sovereign fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
He asked why the Finance Ministry sold the land cheaply to 1MDB in the first place if the pilgrim fund was willing to pay so much.
“What is the reason for the Finance Ministry to sell the land to 1MDB so cheaply last time?” he asked on his Twitter account over the weekend.
LTH has been under fire after reportedly purchasing a 0.6ha plot of land at the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) for RM188.5million from 1MDB.
The backlash from the deal saw LTH chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim announcing that the land would be sold and a decision made within two weeks.

Mukhriz is among the latest to join a growing list of personalities questioning the financial performance of 1MDB which is said to be heavily in debt.
Chief among the critics is his father and former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has been increasingly harsh of how the fund is being managed under the administration of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
The comment by Mukhriz comes almost a month after a Kedah government backbencher had called for his resignation.
Bukit Lada assemblyman Datuk Ahmad Lebai Sudin said Mukhriz should step down if he did not state his support for Najib who chairs the Board of Advisers of 1MDB.
On Friday, Mahathir said that 1MDB seemed to have made a huge profit by selling the Tun Razak Exchange land for RM188.5million to Tabung Haji.
He pointed out that 1MDB had purchased the 28.3ha plot for RM194.1 million.
“Now Tabung Haji bought 0.6ha for RM188.5million; almost the same price as IMDB’s 28.3ha.
“1MDB made a huge profit. Actually this land was initially allocated to build a bumiputra trade centre, but 1MDB has sidelined this project,” Mahathir said in his blog chedet.
He slammed Tabung Haji, questioning the way it has managed its funds entrusted to it by the depositors.