Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat has clarified the leasing of 10,526 hectares of plantation land to a private company, which was later bought over by Perak DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham.

NONE He denied the allegation by Umno leaders that the land was to bribe Ngeh ( left ) and Perak DAP in exchange for the appointment of PAS’ Pasir Panjang asssemblyperson Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as Perak menteri besar after the historic 2008 general election.

According to a statement issued by his press secretary Ahmad Fadhli Shaari today and published by PAS organ Harakahdaily , the spiritual leader of the Islamic party is mulling suing those who made the “slander”.

The allegation was first raised in the pro-BN blog pisau.net, in which the blogger claimed that the Kelantan government had given 10,526 hectares of land in Gua Musang, worth more than RM30 million, to a company owned by Ngeh.

It claimed that the land deal was part of negotiations between DAP and PAS in 2008 over the appointment of the Perak menteri besar after the two parties, together with PKR, captured the majority of the state seats.

DAP, which held the most number of seats among the three parties, initially objected to the appointment of Nizar as menteri besar, but later changed its stand and accepted Nizar’s appointment.

malaysiakini taiping chinese forum 230612 nga kor ming 1 The allegation was later amplified by Perak Umno leaders, including Slim assemblyperson Mohd Khusairi Abdul Talib and state exco member Hamidah Osman, who furnished documents from the Companies Commission of Malaysia stating that the company, Upayapadu Plantation Sdn Bhd, was owned by Ngeh, who is the largest shareholder and a director in the company.

Another Perak DAP leader, Nga Kor Ming ( above ), who is the assemblyperson for Pantai Remis and MP for Taiping, is also one of the directors.

Ngeh is the assemblyperson for Setiawan and MP for Beruas.

The duo, who are cousins, have reportedly denied the allegation but refused to confirm whether they are owners or directors of Upayapadu Plantation.

Land given to Kelantan Islamic Foundation

In the statement today, Ahmad Fadhli explained that the land located in Relai forest reserve in Gua Musang had been given to the Kelantan Islamic Foundation by the state government on Sept 13, 2000, to be used as a resource to fund the foundation’s operations.

After failing to develop the land through a joint-venture with a company in 2000, the foundation took back the land and cancelled the development, he said.

In May 2006, the foundation leased the land to Upayapadu Plantation, which was then chaired by Wong Yeon Chai, for 50 years at an annual rental of RM100 per acre for rubber plantation and RM150 per acre oil palm plantation.

Ahmad Fadhli said the change of directors and shareholders to Ngeh had been conveyed to the foundation in May this year, and the new owners were requested to pay another RM1.5 million to the foundation.

He stressed that both pertinent incidents - the land leasing in 2006 and the change of ownership in 2012 - have no relevance to the 2008 general election, and that PAS and DAP had not formed any alliance in 2006.

“The land was only leased (to the company) and not alienated,” said Ahmad Fadhli, refuting the allegation in pisau.net that the land was “given” to Ngeh’s company.

He also claimed that all agreements and transactions related to the land have been reported to the various committees of the foundation in compliance with procedures and laws.

Besides Nik Aziz, Nga also confirmed that he has lodged a police report and would take legal action against the blogger and Utusan Malaysia , which reported the allegation.

In a statement issued today, Nga said his legal firm was acting for some 100 individuals who intend to invest in Upayapadu Plantation.

“This is a private sale-and-purchase deal which is completely different from a government land application.”

Nga, who is Perak DAP secretary, also explained that going by the Legal Profession Act 1976, he could not disclose any detail about his clients or the deal.

Both Nga and Ngeh later explained on Twitter that both of them are also amongst the investors in the company.