Mat Sabu claims no knowledge of sale of mosque land in Penang

KUALA LUMPUR: Pas deputy president Mohamad Sabu said he will get DAP-led Penang government to explain about the land sale in Bayan Mutiara allegedly reserved for mosque and school construction.

Speaking to The Mole Mohamad or better known as Mat Sabu said: “I do not have full details regarding the matter but I will try to get clarification from the Penang Government when I'm in Penang.”

“I will try to meet Penang leaders about this,” he added.

Mat Sabu admitted that he did not have much knowledge about the controversial land sale thus reserving his comments about it.

“I don’t want to give comment based on people’s speculations. It’s better for me to have full understanding about an issue before speaking out.”

Last week Penang Umno Youth leader Shaik Hussein Mydin claimed that the Penang Government had sold off the land that included a proposed site for a mosque and school to developer Ivory Properties Group Bhd.

Shaik Hussein said in a news report that the sale contradicted the Penang Development Corporation's (PDC) initial plan to build those amenities as it was approved by the Pulau Pinang Municipal Council (MPPP - Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang) on Oct 30, 2006.

The Umno Youth had since urged Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to return the land to the Penang Islamic Religious Council (MAIPP).

Pas Penang commissioner Salleh Man when contacted said it is better for the Penang State Exco to respond to the Bayan Mutiara land sale.

However, Salleh believed that the issue was deliberately made up by rival party Barisan Nasional (BN) to tarnish the image of Pakatan Rakyat-led states.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat MP for Balik Pulau Yusmadi Yusoff shared similar view, saying that the land-sale issue was nothing more than a BN and Umno propaganda.

“I can safely say that they have nothing to talk about be it on social, economy or politics in Pakatan states so they use propaganda like this to mislead the public,” Yusmadi said.

Like Mat Sabu, Yusmadi admitted he had almost zero information on the Bayan Mutiara issue but he believed the Penang Government had taken into consideration all aspects in its decision-making.

Lim’s press secretary Cheong Yin Fan told The Mole that there will be no further comment from the Chief Minister regarding the issue.

“He (Lim) had already made the statement about it yesterday and let this matter be decided in court,” Cheong said.

In a news report on Wednesday Lim said that he will take legal action against Shaik Hussein for lying and Malay daily Utusan Malaysia for publishing such lies wth regards to the accusations.

This latest allegation adds to a list of controversies surrounding the Bayan Mutiara land sale.

Prior to this BN's Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, the MP for Kota Belud, had asked Lim's clarification regarding the sale of 41.6 hectares of land worth of RM1.2 billion by PDC to the developer.

Blogger SatD in his post had came up with a series of questions regarding the sale of the land by PDC as well as the conversion of the land from leasehold to freehold status.

The blogger also published a letter from a reader in a newspaper which pointed that the conversion is clearly against a provision in the National Land Code.

Source: MOLE