PETALING JAYA: The National Patriot Association (Patriot) has urged the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to take immediate action on the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) land swap/privatisation project.
Patriot president Brig-Gen (Rtd) Datuk Mohamed Arshad Raji said the bank accounts of the suspected persons in the matter should be frozen and they should be barred from leaving the country.
“If military brasses were involved, even if they have retired, actions should be taken against them,“ he said in a statement today.
Mohamed Arshad said this would send a strong message to serving personnel and youths to take a stand against corruption.
“No corruption case must be allowed to taint the honourable service of those men and women in uniform, military and police, who have sacrificed and served the king and country with pride and honour,“ he said.
In April 2018, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz wrote an open letter claiming that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak had recommended the privatisation of over 40,000ha of Armed Forces land to a three-person company in 2018.
Current Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu initiated a probe into the alleged land sale and announced yesterday that Mindef is set to file reports with the police and the MACC.
He said the committee’s findings tabled on Jan 28 revealed that there were 16 land swap projects involving 1286ha (2,923 acres) of Mindef’s land worth RM4.756 billion, and involved development costs of RM4.886 billion.
“The investigation committee also found that the estimated loss or leakage of government funds during the implementation of the land swap projects was over RM500 million. The ministry was informed that a majority of the land swap projects were not carefully planned and complete due diligence over the selection of the developing firm was not implemented,“ he said.
Mohamad Sabu added that there was also political interference in the selection of locations proposed for the land swap deals.
