MODUS OPERANDI FOR TURNING MALAY RESERVED LAND TO FREEHOLD STATUS

The report below that appeared in web edition of The Sun highlights the case of how a 28 hectare foreshore land reclaimed by the STATE (paid by the rakyat) to be made freehold for a private commercial project, making a mockery of the National Land Code. The same modus operandi has been going on, nobody cares, to fill UMNO/BN coffers and their leaders' pockets by converting Malay Reserve land to Freehold status and later converting it again to commercial/industrial status.Thus, a Malay Reserve land only priced at a few thousands Ringgit per acre can become inflated and fetching hundreds of Ringgits per square foot. The trick is to form a RM2 Sdn Bhd company with just one malay director to make it appear like a Bumiputra company and the rest is all by the stroke of the pen and a few phone calls. Whilst the naive UMNO members are shouting for Malay Rights and more privillages, UMNO leaders are laughing all the way to the banks. Period.



Beginilah caranya bagaimana Para pemimpin UMNO /BN mudah "buat duit" menjadi kaya raya semalaman dengan menjual tanah reserve Melayu yang boleh dikira tidak begitu bernilai dengan cara menubuhkan syarikat Sdn Bhd dengan modal berbayar RM2 dengan seorang Melayu boneka sebagai pengarah dan membeli tanah-tanah geran merah kemudian menukarnya kepada status pegangan bebas dan seterusnya menukarnya lagi kepada tanah industri atau komersial.

Ahli UMNO bawahan melaung-laungkan hak serta keistimewaan bangsa Melayu yang kononnya kian terhakis dan tergadai. Siapa yang menghakis serta mengadai kepentingan dan maruah orang Melayu jikalau tidak para pemimpin UMNO yang rakus. Pengikut biasa parti UMNO kononnya hidup makin terhimpit dan tersepit, tetapi para pemimpin mereka ketawa terbahak-bahak ke bank.

Poser over freehold status

Himanshu Bhatt
SUN2SURF


GEORGE TOWN (Oct 7, 2008) : Lawyers have questioned the former Penang government’s move to allow 28ha of foreshore land, reclaimed and alienated by the state, to be made freehold for a private commercial project.

At the heart of their contention is the National Land Code, which has a clause preventing state authorities from disposing alienated coastal state land as freehold.

Section 76 of the Code stipulates that a state authority cannot dispose of “any part of the foreshore or sea-bed for a period exceeding 99 years”.

PKR state assemblyman for Batu Uban, S Raveentharan, who is a practising lawyer, said the clause makes it clear that there was breach of parliamentary law in the conversion of the land’s status.

“The law must be followed. It must be strictly adhered to,” he said when contacted.

"Did they (the previous government) not blatantly breach an act of parliament? The answer is yes.” said Raveentharan who wants members of both the previous and current governtment to help rectify the matter.

Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) legal adviser Meenakshi Raman said the controversial conversion warrants public explanation from the government in light of what is stipulated in the Code.

She stressed that while the Code had basis, the state should explain what had transpired in the case of the land.

“There is a basis in the Land Code. But we need to understand what circumstances led to this particular land being converted. We need to know how it happened,” she said, adding that is an important public concern.

theSun had reported on Monday, that a letter had been sent to the chief minister’s office, questioning the basis for removing the original 99-year leasehold status of the land on the south-eastern foreshore of Penang.

The letter, signed by the Bayan Bay Marina Yacht Club liaison committee, also asked why the land was approved for transfer when it was originally earmarked for leisure, recreation and marina purposes.

The land was originally vested in the Penang state authority, then alienated to the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) as leasehold for 99 years and later sold to private hands for about RM54 million or RM18.25 per sq ft. The previous state government later changed the status to freehold.

The project -- called Queensbay by current developer CP Landmark Sdn Bhd -- is reportedly worth RM3 billion. Its masterplan includes bungalows, seafront villas, semi-detached houses, condominium, service apartments, shop offices, corporate towers, hotel and a mall.

Senior federal lawyer for the Land and Mines Department, Suriyati Hasimah Mohd Kasim, could not be contacted for clarification despite several calls to her office.

Meanwhile, when contacted, the club members called on chief minister Lim Guan Eng to form a panel to investigate the matter.

“The chief minister, as the head of the Penang state government, is duty bound to set up a panel to investigate all the recently reported irregularities involving the sale of state land,” a spokesperson said.

“Failure to do so can be interpreted as an act of condoning and, at best, betrayal of its commitment to uphold accountability, transparency and justice.”

Lim is away on an investment trip to the United Arab Emirates this week.

When contacted, PDC general manager Datuk Rosli Jaffar declined to comment, saying he will leave it to Lim.

CP Group executive chairman Datuk Tan Chew Piau could not be reached as he was on leave.