Tanjung Karang Umno division leaders have been accused of abusing their position to purchase land from the previous Umno state administration at an excessively cheap rate.
Selangor state assemblyperson Ng Suee Lim ( left ) produced documents at a press conference today, detailing the sale of 0.437ha of land to the Umno division at a mere one ringgit per square foot in November 2001.
"The original price of the land was more than one million ringgit, but it was eventually sold for only RM47,039.
"Such a price is normally only available for traditional settlements, not for commercial land," Ng said.
According to the documents, the original price was more than RM24 per square foot.
The Sekinchan assemblyperson challenged Agriculture Minister Noh Omar to either return the land or to compensate the state government for the loss in earnings.
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He explained that the Umno division wrote to the state administration to appeal for a reduction on the land premiums in May 2002.
"Normally the reduction given is about 20%, or at most a discount of 50 percent may be given under exceptional circumstances.
"However in this case, the premiums were reduced at a rate of more than 90 percent," he said.
Ng added that he has heard an unconfirmed rumour that the land is to be developed into a 12-storey hotel building.
Currently, the land only contains a single community hall.
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