Sg Yu land scandal: BN wants investigation reopened

PUTRAJAYA: The Selangor Barisan Nasional (BN) will lodge a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to enable the Selangor Parti Keadilan Rakyat's (PKR) government to be re-investigated over abuses and misappropriations in the land distribution scandal in Kampung Sungai Yu, Kuala Selangor.
Selangor BN chairman Tan Sri Noh Omar said the process of granting ownership of the village land to 175 applicants which was admitted to be not in compliance with the requirement of the Special Select Committee on Selangor's Capacity, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) was a solid foundation to enable the re-investigation of the scandal.
He said the statement of Selcat chairman Hannah Yeoh urging Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali to cancel the land granting process to listed applicants immediately for failing to comply with requirement needed to be specifically addressed by the commission as there could exist unhealthy elements resulting in the call being made.
"With the Selcat Chairman's acknowledgment, the BN will bring this issue back to the attention of the MACC to enable the investigation on the case to be reopened as the statement clearly shows the state government in discharging its duties had committed misappropriations and abuses of power.
"We want the MACC to investigate the abuse of power by the Selection Committee which is mandated by the state government when distributing land lots to several family members, a violation of the condition of one family one lot, as stipulated," he told a press conference here today.
The issue of Kampung Sg Yu's land that Permatang State Assemblyman Datuk Sulaiman Razak had raised since 2016 became a hot topic in Selangor again when the land distribution scandal which was alleged as not transparent, the occurrence of abuse of power, malpractices, and cronyism caught Selcat's attention.
Sulaiman raised the land malpractice scandal after he questioned the credibility of the State Poverty, Caring Government and Plantation Workers Committee chairman V Ganabatirau, for giving written answers containing false information on the issue of submission of land approval letters and Form 5A of Kampung Sungai Yu.
Following the disclosure and questions frequently asked by BN assemblymen in the State Assembly sittings, Selcat on Friday resolved to make a recommendation for the Mentri Besar to approve several suggestions made, including restructuring the membership of the Selection Committee (List of Selection Committee) including appointing five Assemblymen as members of the committee concerned.
In addition, Selcat also wanted giving of the land to be suspended until the new Selection Committee was re-appointed and would be tasked to review and verify the qualifications of all applicants and not allowing the family members of the Selection Committee to be the beneficiaries of the Kampung Sungai Yu land.
Selcat also viewed seriously the mistakes and negligence committed by the Kuala Selangor Land and District Office in the process of verifying and revising the personal details of the applicants and wanted it to take seriously the issue in order to prevent it from recurring.
Commenting further, Noh said that, if in the past MACC could not have detailed information or saw the case as not serious, Selcat's admission should be the basis of re-opening the scandal's investigation.
"Now the information is available with Selcat ... MACC just needs to get the information and reopen the investigation starting from the district office, the selection committee to the highest level in the Selangor PKR government administration," he said. — Bernama