WhatsApp bids allegedly held for govt land, says Lim Lip Eng

PETALING JAYA (July 28): Government land have been sold through bids held on the messaging platform WhatsApp among cronies of the previous Barisan Nasional regime, claimed Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng.

In an interview with The Edge Malaysia weekly, the lawmaker alleged that powerful people in the past administration would hold these bids among their associates after homing in on government land that are sought-after by developers.

Instead of holding negotiations with these developers, these corrupt individuals would then hold a bid among their cronies.

“And sometimes, I heard the bidding is just through WhatsApp messages. So, the highest bidder among the cronies will get it.

“Then, the bidders will be told how much to pay the government and how much to pay some parties [such as corrupt politicians and middlemen] … this is what I heard.

“It is for the MACC [Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission] and police to investigate,” he said.

Lim had earlier lodged a report with the commission over alleged dubious transactions of 64 parcels of land belonging to Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) worth RM4.28 billion.

In the interview, he said Kuala Lumpur mayor Tan Sri Mohd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz had told him that there were no open tenders held for any of the land transactions.

“’Ini semua arahan Menteri… minuted,’ he said. Yes, to whom, for how much,” said Lim.

He also revealed that he had received the list of land transacted from the former Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor himself in a written reply from parliament.

The former minister had denied that his ministry and the Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan had sold land, and only DBKL had carried out such transactions.