Lajim explains Wisma Pertanian deal
Published on: Monday, April 20, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: There was no power abuse or misappropriation in approving a deal that led to the construction of Wisma Pertanian for the Agriculture and Fishery Ministry at the time, said Opposition leader Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin.Lajim, who was the Minister-in-charge at the time, claimed that all transactions and dealings including sealed agreements were done transparently and adhered to all required official procedures."I know the issue in regard to erecting the Wisma Pertanian building that was highlighted in the recent State Legislative Assembly sitting, but I feel I should reiterate that there was no abuse of power or misappropriation in approving the project under the ministry.
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"A special committee was set up at the ministry level to oversee the whole deal and transaction in realising the project which adopted a land swap method whereby the State government did not use cash or a single sen to erect the building," he said.Lajim, who is also Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sabah Chairman, told reporters here that the Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman had questioned why there were a lot of lands used in the 'land swap' deal in order to realise the project."At that time, the value and price of land was about RM5,000 or RM6,000 per acre when the cost to build the building was over RM60 million."To me, all had been done in a transparent manner and the is nothing to worry about.
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"Furthermore, the lands had been valued by the Land and Survey Department and the assessment had been accepted by the ministry. A draft of the agreement was made and submitted to the State Attorney-General to be scrutinised and to check where there was any matter in the draft that would incur losses to the government," he said.At the end, Lajim said the agreement was approved by the State A-G office and subsequently tabled in the State Cabinet to be looked into.
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When the State Cabinet had approved the agreement, he said then it was signed by the parties involved including the developer to construct the Wisma Pertanian building.Lajim said he accepted all comments and remarks by Musa, who is also State Barisan Nasional Chairman, over the issue during the recent sitting.However, he said it was imperative that he explain the real situation and what had transpired that led to the construction of the building so that the people would not have any wrong ideas.On the signing of the Cooperation and Support Corruption Prevention pledge and 'Aku Janji' initiated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Lajim said all the elected representatives of the Opposition fully support the pledge as it involves integrity."What we hope when we signed the anti-graft pledge is that the implementation, efforts and aspiration to combat corruption would be carried out including taking action on anyone irrespective of position in the government and political parties."Also, the ruling government has the power to prosecute and we hope that enforcement on this pledge would be materialised. This is our stand and I believe fully supported by the PKR and Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sabah and State Reform Party (Star) elected representatives," he said.On the Bersih move to organise a peaceful rally on May 1, Lajim said PKR Sabah supports the effort of the movement to be held at Padang Merdeka next month to protest against the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), fake IC and Malaysia Agreement 1963.He called on all the members of PKR and DAP Sabah to come join the rally.Lajim also announced that PKR Sabah will be organising a state-level Kaamaatan Festival at Keningau on May 24, to be attended by Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali.He invited public and local communities regardless of political affiliation to attend the celebration so as to foster stronger unity among the people in Sabah.Meanwhile, PKR Sabah Deputy Chairman Christina Liew said there is a need for the State government to seriously look into getting back jurisdiction over education matters in Sabah from the Federal government.Just after the formation of Malaysia, Liew said education matters in the State were under the jurisdiction of the Sabah government as well as health matters."It is imperative for the State government to not only look into a plan to get control of our own health department but also take back the power to manage our own education matters from the Federal.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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