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Panel to probe land scam cases

29/03/2008 New Straits Times By Sharanjit Singh and Audrey Dermawan

GEORGE TOWN: The state government is not satisfied with the outcome of Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) investigations into alleged land scam cases in Penang.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state government's special land investigative committee would conduct its own probe, which is expected to begin next week.

Its task would be to find out who is responsible and ensure adequate punishment is meted out. It would also be required to draw up guidelines to ensure land scams do not recur again in Penang.

Lim said this after meeting state ACA director Noraziah Abdul Manaf to discuss the matter yesterday.

Also present at the meeting, held at the chief minister's office in Komtar here, were Deputy Chief Minister I Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin and State Secretary Datuk Jamaludin Hasan.

Lim said the land scam cases dated back to 2003 and Noraziah told him she had just been transferred here in January.

Asked what recommendations the ACA had made, Lim said it was inappropriate to reveal them as the investigations were confidential.

The alleged land scam issue generated much interest here after Lim revealed that the state government was worried about suffering huge losses as it had allegedly uncovered several discrepancies involving land deals.

However, he has not revealed details about the discrepancies or who's involved.

Meanwhile, the previous Gerakan-led administration said its own task force would also investigate the alleged land fraud cases.

Mark Ooi Swee Hing, political secretary to former chief minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, said the task force had been in the process of getting more information and exploring avenues to resolve the matter when parliament and the state legislative assemblies were dissolved on Feb 13.

In a statement issued yesterday, Ooi said it was at the insistence and directive of Koh that the task force, comprising three state executive councillors, senior government officers and the Anti-Corruption Agency, was set up last year to investigate a particular case involving cemetery land.

He added that Koh was not happy with the first investigation and ordered another probe.

He said the previous state government was aware of fraud in several cases of private land transactions. They involved the falsification of signatures and documents.

In a separate statement, DAP national chairman Karpal Singh said the ACA investigations should not be limited to land deals alone.

He said the ACA should also investigate allegations of abuse of power and corrupt practices by Penang Island Municipal Council officials.

 

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