Chua slams Pakatan govts over high rates for land conversion

SEPANG: Property prices in Selangor and Penang will keep escalating if Pakatan Rakyat continues to impose high land conversion premiums on housing developers in these states. MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said the state governments in Selangor and Penang had placed high premiums on land conversion. He added that people should not assume that this only affected developers because they would in turn transfer the cost to housebuyers. “Because of this, property prices will continue to increase. If this goes on, only the rich will be able to live in these states,” he said, adding that sand price in Selangor was the highest in the country. “In reality, Pakatan has done nothing for Selangor and Penang this past three-and-a-half years. If there has been any development, it is due to efforts by the previous state governments,” he said after a 1MCA Medical Foundation fund-raising dinner in Sungai Pelek here on Wednesday. Earlier in his speech, Dr Chua criticised the Selangor government for not handing out scholarships equally among the races. “Last year, 1,500 scholarships were given out under Yayasan Selangor. Out of these, only two recipients were Chinese and three were Indians. “This year, 240 student loans were given out. However, only two Chinese and 11 Indian students were offered the loans,” he said. He said in comparison, 1,648 of the 4,000 scholarship recipients this year under the Public Service Department were Chinese. - The Star