Penang chief minister’s political secretary Ng Wei Aik today handed over the offer letter for the sale of a parcel of land in Taman Manggis to the state Barisan National, which has expressed its intention to acquire the land to build public housing.

NONE Ng ( right ) and several DAP members handed over the official letter to the state BN operations centre in Dato’ Keramat at 11am.

The letter was received by state BN secretariat secretary Hassan Din and working committee assistant secretary Noorshah Osman on the party’s behalf.

The group interacted cordially with one another and later posed for photographs, all of them smiling broadly as the cameras clicked away.

Hassan said he would hand over the letter – addressed to Penang BN chief Teng Chang Yeow – for further action but declined to comment when asked about Ng’s earlier complaint that he was unable to obtain the party’s exact contact numbers.

Before the event Ng, who is also Komtar assemblyperson, lamented that his team was given the “run around” when they had asked for the telephone and fax numbers of the state BN.

“We were even referred to Umno Wilayah (Federal Territory), which then asked us to contact 103 (the Telekom inquiry number). We finally asked the state Gerakan office, which told us to come here,” Ng told reporters outside the BN building.

Land too small for public homes

NONE The issue of public housing was highlighted when state BN Youth chief Oh Tong Keong ( left ) slammed the state government for selling land, claimed to be reserved for the poor, to private developers to build a medical centre.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had denied this, saying the land was too small for public housing, adding that a bigger plot – twice the area of Taman Manggis – had been reserved and planned for such units.

After the brief meeting with the BN representatives, Ng said the state government has now complied with BN’s request to purchase the 1.1 acre land at Taman Manggis at the agreed price of RM450 per sq ft.

Asked if there was any condition attached to the offer, Ng said the land must only be used for public housing – as pledged by the state BN – and not for any commercial enterprise.

“We hope they can make good their promise to buy the land and forward us the money before the 13th general election. We hope they do not use this as an election ploy,” said Ng.

“The offer will lapse on nomination day. This is a little of the BN’s contribution to the rakyat after 55 years of ‘disappearing’ with the people’s money,” he added.

What about open tender?

Asked whether the offer to the BN contradicted with the state’s open tender policy, Ng replied in the negative.

lim guan eng visit kampung batu uban 210812 lim guan eng He added that Lim had consulted the state legal adviser who assured him that since the price offered was the highest, it was acceptable, although the BN did not bid for the land when the tender was open in 2009.

Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, had criticised BN for not making public its intention to build affordable housing on the land, even though the latter insisted that the previous administration had given the nod for the project.

“This money – from BN – will go to our planned public housing project on the two-acre land off Jalan SP Chelliah,” he said, referring to the 1,320 units of low- and medium-cost units proposed for the area, which is not far from Komtar.