MP: Probe DBKL selling Taman Desa land at below market price

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 6): An opposition MP is asking why Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) sold a 7.5-acre prime land in Taman Desa at below the market price.

Seputeh DAP parliamentarian Teresa Kok also claimed that the land could have been sold at a price of at least five times higher, the news portal malaysiakini reported today.

Kok said the Auditor-General’s Report 2016 had revealed that DBKL had sold 3ha of land to Garuda Searah Sdn Bhd (developer for Residensi Desa Satumas) for RM24.07 million.

"This means the land was sold at RM74 psf, but the market price of Taman Desa has reached approximately RM400psf," she said.

"DBKL sold the land to the private developer at far below the market rate. What can the residents of Taman Desa gain from it?

"We want Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and DBKL to explain why the land was sold at such a cheap figure," Kok said.

She also added the audit report showed that land valuation was not conducted and DBKL had not called for open tender for the land deal, malaysiakini reported.

The report stated that there was "no evidence to show land valuation had been conducted on the deal for the project Residensi Desa Sutamas, which led to the bidding price by Kuala Lumpur City Hall to fall below the market price at RM24.07 million".

Residensi Desa Satumas is a Rumawip affordable housing development.

Kok was speaking to the media after accompanying Taman Desa resident Edmund Teoh to lodge a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission today over the issue.

"We want Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and DBKL to explain why the land was sold at such a cheap figure.

"MACC should carry out a thorough investigation, based on what is stated in the Auditor-General's Report," she said.

Meanwhile, the FMT newsportal reported that DBKL mayor Mohd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz said the project went through a bidding process.

“This is based on the highest bidder with the best offer, including the units of Rumawip under a subsidised price.”

Mohd Amin also said that the developer had to incur the cost of construction vis-a-vis the controlled price of building materials.

Also commenting on the sale was Barisan Nasional strategic communications deputy director Eric See-to. He has called Kok’s claims as "malicious and misleading".

See-to said the land was sold at below market value to accommodate affordable housing, and asked if Kok was just unhappy that low-income residents would be staying in her "upmarket" constituency, malaysiakini reported.