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| Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan | Lim Guan Eng |
A day after Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng came out with a statement blasting the former Barisan Nasional state government for complicity in the disputed land deal, Penang Gerakan Chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan today challenged Lim to declassify minutes of the Pakatan Rakyat state executive council meetings on the matter.
Teng said Lim’s administration had abetted in the transfer of the village land by not taking any action even though it had called the transaction a “fraud”.
“I challenge him to declassify all exco minutes after (Pakatan took power in) 2008. Let everybody know. What is there to hide?” Teng said today.
“Why declassify only the minutes of previous state government? Why can’t he declassify decisions they (Pakatan Rakyat state government) had made?”
On Wednesday, Lim challenged Teng, a former Barisan Nasional state executive councillor, to show proof of his claim that the Pakatan Rakyat state administration had finalised the deal and accused the previous BN state government of selling the Kampung Buah Pala land at cheap rates and without consulting the residents.
Teng noted that the villagers had met Lim in his office soon after he took power in 2008 to brief him about the situation, but the title was still issued later on March 27.
“He should have taken steps … If he felt that whole deal was illegal and fraudulent, he should have done something,” Teng said.
“Instead he abetted and allowed the deal to go through.”
Teng also said Lim should have stopped the village’s demolition last week as the matter of compensation had not been settled.
Teng was speaking at a press conference at the Gerakan headquarters here where he urged the state government to allocate at least 8ha of Batu Kawan land for the new Chung Ling College project.
He said Lim had in June 2008 announced that the state would allocate eight pieces of land for Chinese and Tamil schools as well as for religious purposes.
He noted that Penang Development Corporation was developing Bandar Cassia in Batu Kawan on 2,560 ha and could alienate the land for the college .-The Sun
Guan Eng: Only federal government can declare Buah Pala heritage site
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 – Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng continued his offensive over the Kampung Buah Pala controversy today by pointing out that only the federal government had the power to declare the village a heritage site.
In a statement today. He said that the federal government had the sole right under the National Heritage Act 2005 to designate any site a heritage.
“The State Legal Advisor Datuk Faiza binti Zulkifli and the Penang Town and Country Planning Department have stressed that the Penang state government has no powers to accord any site such status.
“Unlike other states such as Malacca, Penang has no heritage laws. Accordingly, to declare any site a heritage site, the National Heritage Act holds sway.”
He said that only the Heritage Commissioner under the Minister of Information, Communications, and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim, could designate any site to be a heritage site under Section 24.
Section 30 requires the consent from the relevant state government before any designation can be made.
“Clearly BN or Gerakan and its allies were barking up the wrong tree when they tried to blame the state government for refusing to designate certain sites such as Kampung Buah Pala as a heritage area,” said Lim.
Yesterday, Lim challenged former Barisan Nasional (BN) state executive councillor Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan to show proof of his claim that the Pakatan Rakyat state administration had finalised the deal to acquire Kampung Buah Pala.
He also accused the previous BN state government of selling the Kampung Buah Pala land cheaply and without consulting the residents.
Lim and Teng have been trading barbs over which party is responsible for the land transaction which resulted in a standoff between residents and the state over the issue of compensation.
In his statement today, Lim said “there was nothing for me to sign as the previous BN administration led by Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon had signed away all the rights of the Kampung Buah Pala residents.”
“BN, Gerakan and its allies have spread lies claiming that I have signed documents, finalised the deal and transferred the land to the cooperative. Until today I have not signed a single document in favour of the developer or the cooperative. The deal was finalised by the previous BN administration.”
He added that his government was powerless to legally stop the transfer of the land as this was a consequential administrative action following the approvals given by the previous BN administration.
The only recourse left was to improve on the offer of a RM75,000 flat unit offered to the residents by BN on the basis that they were illegal squatters, he said.
Lim said the PR government had succeeded in compelling the developer to offer a double-storey house worth RM600,000 on the basis that they had a right to a 99-year legally-binding lease to own land in Kampung Buah Pala.-MalaysianInsider
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