6 theSun | WEDNESDAY JULY 8 2009

news without borders

Ng accepts ‘property agent’ offer

SEKINCHAN REP SAYS HE HAS THREE BUYERS WILLING TO PAY RM8M UPFRONT
by Maria J. Dass
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
SHAH ALAM: Sekinchan assem-
blyman Ng Suee Lim is willing to
become a property agent and take up
an offer by former Selangor mentri
besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo
to “sell” his luxury home, dubbed
“Istana Khir”
“I hope to get my appointment let-
ter [as property agent for Mohd Khir]
and the keys to the house to make
it official,” Ng said when met at the
state secretariat yesterday. He added
that he had lined up three buyers
who were willing to pay more than
RM8 million upfront for the property
even without looking at the finishings
inside the house.
The Balinese-themed house is lo-
cated at the end of Jalan Suasa 7/1L,
just off the main road – Persiaran
Dato Menteri in Section 7 Shah Alam.
On Monday Mohd Khir dismissed
Ng’s claim that the house was worth
RM24 million, and said he had
secured a RM3.5 million loan from
HongKong Shanghai Bank to buy the
land and the house. Documents from
the Selangor Land and Mines Office
show that the land alone on which
the house is located is worth RM3.8
million.
The Sungai Panjang state assem-
blyman said if Ng was right about the
price then he was welcome to be his
agent, sell the property and take 50%
of the earnings.
When questioned about the tim-
ing of the revelations, Ng said he had
been pursuing the matter for almost
a year but “it is only now that I man-
aged to obtain documents to prove
that he owns the property”. He added
that the party will use this during
the Manek Urai state by-election
campaign to show the people there
the extravagance of Barisan Nasional
leaders.
“Tok Guru (Kelantan Mentri Be-
sar Datuk Nik Aziz Abdul Nik Mat)
has been mentri besar of Kelantan for
five terms and still lives in a modest
kampung house, but here you have
a mentri besar who helmed Selangor
for eight years and amassed so much
of wealth that he can build a palace,”
said Ng.
Mohd Khir’s ownership of the
property was disclosed in blogs dur-
ing his bid to head Umno’s youth
wing at the party elections and annual
general meeting in March, a move
which he claimed was engineered by
his political foes in Umno who col-
laborated with opposition leaders.
Asked if he stood by the claims
that the land and house cost RM24
million, Ng said: “I am confident of
this because the information comes
from people who have worked on
the property and those who
know the value of the lav-
ish fittings which include expensive
antiques, wood and carvings.
On Monday when reporters asked
to view the property to verify these
claims, Mohd Khir refused, saying
“What for? This is my private prop-
erty.”
On Mohd Khir’s claim that he took
an RM3.5 million bank loan to buy
the house, Ng said: “Based on my cal-
culations, he would have a monthly
loan repayment of RM16,709.54 every
month (calculated at 4% interest per
annum) .”
As state opposition leader and
assemblyman, the former mentri
besar earns only RM8,000, so how is
it possible for him to pay this amount
in addition to renting another house
and maintaining this property? he
asked, adding that he was ready to
face any lawsuit from the Umno
politician.
Property agents estimate
the price of land in that exclusive
neighbourhood is between RM110
and RM150 per sq ft.
Documents from the Selangor
Land and Mines Department show
that Mohd Khir had purchased two
lots in the area in July and Septem-
ber 2007, and paid RM2.9 million
and RM900,000 for 31,794sq feet and
20,427sq ft respectively, which is way
below market price.
The agents also said that the cost
of a house in the area depends on
the built-up area and the quality of
fittings in the house. With top quality
finishing, a home in that area can
cost up to RM500 per sq ft.
Using this as a benchmark, this
means that “Istana Khir” would cost
RM13 million even if only half of its
52,221 sq feet was built up with the
best quality fittings.

M’sians willing to State govt to lodge

pay RM700 to
Indonesian maids
PETALING JAYA: Malaysians are willing to pay Indo-
nesian maids up to RM700 per month provided the
cost of obtaining them can be reduced, a Malaysian
Trades Union Congress (MTUC) survey revealed.
“The rationale is that the savings from the agency
fees can be utilised to pay the maids directly and
also to look after their medical and other needs,”
said MTUC secretary-general G. Rajasegaran.
“Employers now have to pay agency fees of be-
tween RM7,500 and RM8,000, which is exorbitant,
and hence households can only afford to pay maids
between RM350 and RM450 to cover the cost.”
He said the government should standardise the
cost of obtaining Indonesian maids at RM3,000, to
enable them to be well paid and enjoy perks just
like workers in other sectors. Rajasegaran added
that both the Malaysian and Indonesian govern-
ments should also set up a joint agency to specially
deal with the maids to cut the cost.
“This agency can be housed in the embassy,
should be a one-stop outfit where all issues pertain-
ing to maids can be dealt with.”
Abdul Samah briefs Jelaing on the new police station.
Police station for Chow Kit
by Charles Ramendran
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: After being
closed down for more than five
years, the Chow Kit police beat
base on Lorong Haji Taib in the
middle of the area known for its
red light activities will reopen as a
station.
The beat base was vacated in
2004 after the owner sold the land.
Three shoplots were developed on
the land.
Yesterday, Deputy Home
Minister Jelaing Mersat and Kuala
Lumpur deputy police chief SAC I
Datuk Abdul Samah Mat visited the
three vacant shoplots, which will be
turned into the new police station.
Jelaing told reporter the fittings
and other logistics for the station
are being carried out and will
be completed by the end of the
month.
He said the station will be fully
operational by the middle of next
month, with 47 police personnel
headed by a chief inspector, who
BERNAMAPIX
will be the officer-in-charge of the
station (OCS).
He said although the station
had taken years to reopen, police
had maintained the security in the
area with regular crime prevention
operations and by stationing a
mobile police beat van on Lorong
Haji Taib.
“People come to this area often
for shopping. With the station we
hope the social and drug problems
in the area can be further control-
led or eradicated,” he said.
Abdul Samah said the station
will also have two temporary deten-
tion cells. A CID team will also be
stationed there for quick response
in case of emergencies and for
crime investigation purposes.
It is learnt that the shoplots will
be rented for RM22,500 a month.
Home Minister Datuk Seri
Hishammuddin Hussein, who
visited the area two weeks ago,
had said that finding a location or
building for the station was the
setback in setting it up and renting
a shoplot would be considered.
police report on ‘High
Chaparral’ land sale
by Himanshu Bhatt and
Giam Say Khoon
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
GEORGE TOWN: The Penang
government will lodge a police
report alleging the fraudulent sale
of the Kampung Buah Pala land
by the previous state executive
council.
Deputy Chief Minister (II)
Prof Dr P. Ramasamay said the
report would be lodged very soon
following “new found evidence”
questioning the legitimacy of the
transaction.
“This is a commercial crime
case. The evidence we are getting
shows some tentative grounds
that this is potentially another
land scam.”
Ramasamy, who is the deputy
chairman of a special committee
to look into the transaction of the
2.63ha site, said this after attend-
ing the first anniversary celebra-
tions of George Town’s World
Heritage Site listing by Unesco in
Town Hall here.
He said examination of state
documents showed there had
been two earlier bids for the land
which were both rejected by the
previous Barisan Nasional (BN)
executive council.
But then chief minister Tan Sri
Dr Koh Tsu Koon later became
interested in selling the land to
“Koperasi Pegawai Kerajaan Neg-
eri Pulau Pinang” (Penang Gov-
ernment Officers’ Co-operative)
on grounds that the organisation
was not motivated by profit.
The exco approved the sale in
August 2004 and July 2005. The
cooperative went into an agree-
ment with developer Nusmetro
Ventures (P) Sdn Bhd for the
construction of a condominium
project called “The Oasis”.
Ramasamy stressed there
were questions about why the
cooperative had been given a
50% discount over the price of
RM6.4 million it was originally
offered and which was already
far below market value. The land
is currently estimated to be worth
between RM30 to RM40 million.
He said the committee’s
priorities now were to “uncover
the pernicious nature of the land
transfer” and to address the plight
of the residents who have been
told to vacate by Aug 2.
On Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Najib Abdul Razak’s assertion that
the federal government would not
get involved, Chief Minister Lim
Guan Eng said the prime minis-
ter may not have been properly
briefed on the matter.
In KUALA LUMPUR, Koh
lamented that DAP should be the
one responsible for the pledges it
made in the last general election
to the Kampung Buah Pala or
High Chaparral voters who are
facing an eviction.
Koh, who is now Minister in
the Prime Minister Department,
said the DAP had made a very big
promise to the people in the 2008
general election and now that it is
in government, it should deliver
its promise.
“They cannot ask us (former
Barisan Nasional state govern-
ment) to deliver their broken
promises. It is on the basis of the
promises that many had given
them the support, especially the
Indian community and the Hin-
draf movement,” he said.
Senator Koh clarified that
the land was allocated to the
cooperative to swap for a land
owned by the cooperative for the
purpose of expanding the High
Court building.
“We did not give the land
cheap to a private developer. It
was given to the cooperative and
to develop the land, the coopera-
tive needed to form a joint venture
with a private developer.
“This is a fact that Lim did
not mention as he keeps on tell-
ing only half truths. So I need to
clarify to dispel the mispercep-
tion that we gave land to private
developer under my administra-
tion,” he said.
“Some villagers had agreed
to move out but before we could
settle it, the DAP came and
intervened by making all kinds
of promises. The people believed
and supported them, so they have
to deliver. That’s all,” he said.