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Panel to probe land scam cases
29/03/2008 New Straits Times By
Sharanjit Singh and Audrey Dermawan
GEORGE TOWN: The state government is not satisfied with the outcome of
Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) investigations into alleged land scam cases in
Penang.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state government's special land
investigative committee would conduct its own probe, which is expected to
begin next week.
Its task would be to find out who is responsible and ensure adequate
punishment is meted out. It would also be required to draw up guidelines to
ensure land scams do not recur again in Penang.
Lim said this after meeting state ACA director Noraziah Abdul Manaf to
discuss the matter yesterday.
Also present at the meeting, held at the chief minister's office in Komtar
here, were Deputy Chief Minister I Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin and State
Secretary Datuk Jamaludin Hasan.
Lim said the land scam cases dated back to 2003 and Noraziah told him she
had just been transferred here in January.
Asked what recommendations the ACA had made, Lim said it was inappropriate
to reveal them as the investigations were confidential.
The alleged land scam issue generated much interest here after Lim revealed
that the state government was worried about suffering huge losses as it had
allegedly uncovered several discrepancies involving land deals.
However, he has not revealed details about the discrepancies or who's
involved.
Meanwhile, the previous Gerakan-led administration said its own task force
would also investigate the alleged land fraud cases.
Mark Ooi Swee Hing, political secretary to former chief minister Tan Sri Dr
Koh Tsu Koon, said the task force had been in the process of getting more
information and exploring avenues to resolve the matter when parliament and
the state legislative assemblies were dissolved on Feb 13.
In a statement issued yesterday, Ooi said it was at the insistence and
directive of Koh that the task force, comprising three state executive
councillors, senior government officers and the Anti-Corruption Agency, was
set up last year to investigate a particular case involving cemetery land.
He added that Koh was not happy with the first investigation and ordered
another probe.
He said the previous state government was aware of fraud in several cases of
private land transactions. They involved the falsification of signatures and
documents.
In a separate statement, DAP national chairman Karpal Singh said the ACA
investigations should not be limited to land deals alone.
He said the ACA should also investigate allegations of abuse of power and
corrupt practices by Penang Island Municipal Council officials. |
