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Friday, October 17, 2014

SECRECY shrouds Selangor hearing on fraudulent land transfers & re-zoning

SECRECY shrouds S'gor hearing on fraudulent land transfers & re-zoning
SHAH ALAM - A shroud of secrecy prevailed over the hearing today on how fraudulent land transfers and re-zoning had been perpetrated in Selangor by some crooked government officials.
Apparently, those who had attended the hearing by the Selangor Select Committee on Local Councils, including expert witnesses who were subpoenaed to testify, were sworn to secrecy about what was exposed at the session.
State executive councillor in charge of local authorities, Dr Idris Ahmad, refused to comment on the hearing, which was to have been a "no-holds barred" session – complete with the names of those involved in unlawful and dishonest activities.
"I have to be ethical, this is a closed-door meeting, I can't disclose anything until the next meeting," Idris said when approached after the hearing, touted to be follow-up of a previous Special Select Committee on Competence, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) hearing held two years ago.
Among those spotted at the meeting were Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) councillors Lee Suet Sen, Cynthia Gabriel, Mohd Ghazalee Daud, Suriase Gengiah, Halimey Abu Bakar and Azri Mohamad Arish.
Unlike the previous hearing which was open to the public, today's meeting was a closed-door session.
Speaker Hannah Yeoh said the provisions of the standing orders do not provide for people to attend closed-door hearings, unless they are summoned as a witness.
She claimed the select committee for local councils has no power to hold a public hearing and that there is also a clause preventing premature publication of evidence, adding that their role was to report to the House.
theSun reported today that the high-powered committee was expected to hear about the manoeuvring, fraud, deception and money changing hands in relation to fraudulent land transfers and re-zoning in Selangor.
Among the evidence said to be presented were instances where amendments had been added to the Local Plan by the Planning Department of certain councils without the approval of the state executive council, or where plot ratios and density had been increased arbitrarily.
The only person who was brave enough to comment on the hearing was former MBPJ councillor and legal expert Derek Fernandez, who lamented that some officials had skipped the standard procedures by not wanting to reveal land transfers and re-zoning project amendments to the public, including councillors.
"People who are not happy with council decisions will use a back- door approach and get papers straight to state level, and the papers are approved without the council's authority," he added.
He said such decisions were also hidden from councillors by officials who did not entertain queries about decisions which they claimed that the state had made at a proper meeting.
"The councillors are kept in a dark place as they carried out actions without the approval of the councils," said Fernandez, adding that very often councillors are even excluded from attending meetings and the state does not inform them on what happened at the meetings.
"They just comply and then blame the state for making the decision on the matters, but if the state has decided on something, why didn't the decision get to the council in a professional manner?" asked Fernandez.
Councillors are left baffled as they do not know whether the state administration had given orders to the council officials without their knowledge, he added. -Sundaily

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