The DAP-led Penang state government has been urged to declassify the open tender documents involving the approval of land to build medical facilities and a hotel in Phase 2 of Taman Manggis, Jalan Zainal Abidin here.
Penang Gerakan Youth public complaints bureau chief Jason Loo said the state government must be sincere in declassifying the documents and not impose conditions on the public seeking to apply for government transaction records if they have nothing to hide.
He said he had to pay between RM50 and RM150, and had to sign a statutory declaration (SD) to purchase the open tender documents.
“Actually last month we applied for the documents and we were requested to sign the SD. But as I explained to the officer, I will not change my decision to not sign the SD. Once you sign the SD, you cannot disclose the document that you have obtained from the state government to any third party.
“I am also curious to know if other people who come to Komtar and buy documents are required to sign the SD. If they are not required to sign the SD then that would be strange,” he told reporters here yesterday.
Loo applied to purchase the open tender documents for the Taman Manggis land by paying RM150 at Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak here yesterday, but would have to wait for 14 days.
He hoped the state government would be transparent and allow the public to have the open tender documents so that they could judge the bungalow incident from a rational perspective.
“The biggest question is whether the sale of the bungalow was somehow related to the contracts awarded by the Penang state government to someone directly or indirectly involved,” he said.
The issue of the Taman Manggis land was exposed when Tasek Gelugor member of parliament Datuk Shabudin Yahaya brought it to the attention of the Dewan Rakyat last Thursday, asking the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate the sale of several plots of land in Penang, which had initially been allocated for building houses under the Peoples’ Housing Project.
Penang Puteri Umno lodged a report at the MACC yesterday over the sale of the Taman Manggis Phase 2 land.
Penang Puteri Umno chief Nurul Haida Mahamad claimed that the land was offered for sale to the Kuala Lumpur International Dental Centre in 2010, but the land ownership documents were issued in 2015, five years later.
“We received several documents related to the sale and purchase of the land, and we have submitted the documents to the MACC for investigation,” Nurul told reporters here yesterday. - Bernama
No comments