State blacklist forced us to sell land, say Umno duo

GEORGE TOWN: Two state Umno leaders, accused of profiting from a land sale, have claimed that they were forced to sell off the land because their company could not get development approval from the DAP-led Penang government.

In denying allegations that their company sold the 4ha land in Balik Pulau within four months for a profit of RM5mil, Bukit Gelugor Umno division head Datuk Omar Faudzar said:

“We were forced to sell the land as our company (Aseania Group of Companies) was blacklisted.

“Every development project must go through the state planning committee chairman Lim Guan Eng. For instance, when we submitted a plan to build semi-detached houses in Bandar Perda in 2011, we were told to pay RM516,000 premium and to build affordable housing,” he claimed in a press conference at the Barisan Nasional new office in Jalan Datuk Keramat here yesterday.

Omar admitted that the land in Kampung Terang was purchased at RM22 per sq ft in October 2010 and sold to a property developer at RM33 per sq ft on Jan 10 this year.

“The land transaction did not take four months as alleged by state PKR vice-chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Hussein. Besides, we were forced to sell the land as our company was blacklisted,” said Omar.

He claimed that three other companies — UDA Holdings Bhd (UDA), JKP Sdn Bhd and Penang Regional Development Authority — were also blacklisted.

“For the past eight years, we have contributed by building 2,033 low-cost and low medium-cost units in Balik Pulau priced between RM25,000 and RM55,000,” he said.

Also present at the press conference was state Umno deputy chairman Datuk Musa Sheikh Fadzir.

Musa, who was named as the other Umno leader, challenged Abdul Halim to speak up against the development of an international school on a 2.4ha site and Asian Women Leadership University (AWLU) on 40ha in Balik Pulau.

Both Umno leaders are shareholders of Maison Height Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Aseania which Abdul Halim claimed had sold the land for RM13.5mil to a third party developer in May within four months, raking in RM5mil.

He alleged that the two bought the land from 31 Balik Pulau residents for RM8.5mil in Jan this year. - The Star