Thesun 2009-07-08 Page06 Ng Accepts Property Agent Offer

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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 [email protected]

SHAH ALAM: Sekinchan assemblyman 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 letter [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 located 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 assemblyman 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 timing of the revelations, Ng said he had been pursuing the matter for almost a year but “it is only now that I managed 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 Besar 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 during 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 collaborated 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 lavish 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 property.” On Mohd Khir’s claim that he took an RM3.5 million bank loan to buy the house, Ng said: “Based on my calculations, 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 September 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.

State govt to lodge police report on ‘High Chaparral’ land sale

M’sians willing to pay RM700 to Indonesian maids PETALING JAYA: Malaysians are willing to pay Indonesian 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 between 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 governments 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 pertaining to maids can be dealt with.”

by Himanshu Bhatt and Giam Say Khoon [email protected]

Abdul Samah briefs Jelaing on the new police station.

BERNAMAPIX

Police station for Chow Kit by Charles Ramendran [email protected]

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

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 controlled or eradicated,” he said. Abdul Samah said the station will also have two temporary detention 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.

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 attending the first anniversary celebrations 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 Negeri Pulau Pinang” (Penang Government 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 agreement 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 minister 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 government) 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 Hindraf 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 cooperative needed to form a joint venture with a private developer. “This is a fact that Lim did not mention as he keeps on telling only half truths. So I need to clarify to dispel the misperception that we gave land to private developer under my administration,” 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.