Johor MB rejects DAP claims on land scam

JOHOR BARU: Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin has denied claims by DAP lawmakers that the alleged land scam being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) involved low-cost houses and affordable housing units.
He said in a statement today that the accusations from DAP was baseless.
"No Bumi lots of low-cost house units nor affordable housing units are being converted to public units," he said.
However, he said, it is a state policy for some developers to release their Bumi lots (not in the low-cost and affordable housing categories) to public lots after some conditions are met.
"These conditions include the units still not being sold after a certain period, and the developers need to pay 7.5% of the unit prices to the state government as 'contribution' in the conversion process," Khaled said.
The state government has collected such contributions from developers totalling RM600 million since 2013.
"The contribution is then channelled to GLCs such as PIJ Holding and Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ) to carry out affordable housing projects and business centre for Bumiputra lower income groups," he added.
Earlier, he also stressed the state government will fully cooperate with MACC in investigating the alleged land scam case.
On Feb 24, six men, including a special officer and son of Johor state executive councillor Datuk Abd Latif Bandi, were arrested by the MACC for alleged involvement in a corruption and a property scam in the state.
On March 1, Abd Latif took indefinite leave as the Johor housing and local government committee chairman, pending investigations into the case.