Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy is baffled over how a Gerakan leader can be so utterly confident of the judiciary that the latter was able to predict he could win a case before even going to court.

And since state Gerakan chief Teng Hock Nan has such confidence, he should indeed sue the state for accusing him of being complicit in allowing the million-ringgit land scam, Ramasamy said.

The scam, which involved a businessman, Tan Hak Ju, and a piece of quarry land in Seberang Perai, occurred during the previous BN administration prior to 2008, while Teng was in office.

Teng, who was a former Penang exco member, was upset that the state government, particularly Ramasamy, had persistently claimed that the land deal was a “scam”.

p ramasamy husam musa penanti by election ceramah 290509 05 Teng, former Kebun Bunga assemblyperson, considers the fiasco merely “negligence on the part of government officers”.

“Just go ahead and sue us because we still maintain that this is a scandal,” added Ramasamy ( right ), who recently tabled a White Paper on the matter in the state legislative assembly.

“If he is so sure of the judiciary and is confident he can win the case against us, go ahead and sue,” challenged Ramasamy.

“But I am quite surprised that he (Teng) is so sure of the judiciary,” he added.

The White Paper had detailed the findings of a probe conducted by the state on how the transaction took place, and who was involved in the deal.

Among others, the paper revealed irregularities allegedly committed by former BN exco members who okayed the application for the 4.2 hectare land, without obtaining the necessary approvals from five related departments.

The application eventually had to be cancelled since the land was found to be owned by another party, which led to Tan suing the state government.

Ramasamy, who is Batu Kawan MP, ignored Teng’s earlier challenge that the state government stop hounding him over the alleged scam or face legal action for defamation.

Teng had told reporters in a press conference on May 16 that he was very confident of winning should there be a legal suit.

‘Reluctant to sue the government’

However, Teng had said that he was reluctant to sue the government, despite being confident of winning, because ratepayers would have to bear the cost of if the state loses the suit.

NONE Meanwhile, Ramasamy said Teng ( left ) cannot continue to avoid answering the questions targetted at him for doing nothing to resolve the problem when he had the chance to.

“He still has not answered why he did nothing when he could have resolved the matter by paying off Tan with RM1.8 million and an alternative plot of land when he had the chance to,” said the former university professor.

“He has also not answered why he did not attend the hearings that we organised although we had invited him,” claimed Ramasamy.

“Instead the state government has to fork out RM15 million (which we had already paid). We may have to pay another RM25 million pending the court case,” he added.

Meanwhile, Teng urged the state government to focus on collecting more information and evidence to set aside the RM40 million High Court award to Tan.

On Sept 21, 2007, the High Court in Penang had ordered the state government to pay RM29.4 million as compensation to Tan for not processing his application properly.