DAP Penang

CM: Don’t politicise land conversion issue

By admin on November 27th, 2009

PENANG Gerakan liaison chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan should put on his reading glasses to look into land matters properly instead of simply politicising such issues.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said Dr Teng was going around by saying that a 99-year leasehold means the land was merely rented and that one cannot be the land owner.

Lim said he did not understand how Dr Teng could make such statements.

“So when you buy a house with a 99-year lease, are you not the land owner or house owner?” he asked.

“He must take a look at the National Land Code which states that the land is yours for 99 years. No one is going to say that they are not the land owner,” he added.

The bickering came about due to allegations that Lim had apparently lied in a written answer to Pulau Betong assemblyman Muhamad Farid Saad during an assembly sitting in August over the conversion of a 1.4ha plot on Lebuh Farquhar from leasehold to freehold.

Lim had said Muhamad Farid specifically asked about conversion of state land, and at that time, the land owned by the PDC Heritage Hotel Sdn Bhd (PHH) was not government land but private property.

He urged Dr Teng not to try to change the land laws, and that if he wanted to politicise the matter, he should base it on facts and not distortion.

“There is a difference between leasehold and renting. The state can rent land to individuals for 10, 20 or 30 years.

“Please don’t distort the facts, if the land title says ownership record, it means the land still belongs to you.

“And the land title of PHH states ownership record,” he added.

Earlier, Dr Teng had accused Lim of twisting the facts over the matter.

The Star – Friday November 27, 2009
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2009/11/27/north/5184796&sec=North