Former editor and social activist Ahmad Lutfi Othman said today that he has yet to receive any news from the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) regarding several reports he filed against Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo some four years ago - the first was filed in Oct 23, 2001.

"They have neither informed me of any new development nor summoned me to provide further clarification on the reports that I have filed with them since 2001. Since that time, I have filed about five to seven reports providing either more details (on allegations) or new allegations," he told malaysiakini .

"I am not overly shocked or disappointed at this (silence). It was something I expected," he said.

Currently an independent media practitioner, Lutfi had previously headed Islamic magazines Muslimah , Tamadhun , Al-Wasilah , and online daily detikdaily , before becoming spokesperson for Independent Media Activists Group (Kami)

In his report to the ACA in 2001 which cited nine cases of alleged abuse of power and corruption by the MB, Lutfi claimed that 400 acres in Bukit Cerakah, Shah Alam were in 2000 granted to four companies headed by the same four directors.

"At a time when the people of Selangor are in need of land, the MB has so easily and suddenly approved large parcels of land to a handful of applicants..." said the report.

"The question is, what is the criteria that (one particular director) has been chosen, together with three of his friends, to receive 400 acres of land, as if they were so special as to deserve such a lucrative windfall?"

Bukit Cerakah, now Bukit Cahaya Agricultural Park, has been in the public eye recently on account of the adverse effects of development occurring in the forest reserve's surrounding areas.

Focus on MB's powers

Lutfi believes, however, that the media spotlight focusing on the environmental destruction occurring at Bukit Cahaya has been misdirected, whereas the root cause of abuse, the sweeping discretionary powers of the MB to grant land, has not been highlighted.

"To me, it's not about the cutting of slopes or the felling of trees. (In the first place), there should have been a (buffer zone) between the forest reserve and the land to be developed.

"The question is, why was the land given so easily to developers or companies? What I am trying to do is bring about a reform in the way that land is granted or approved," said Lutfi.

Whereas ordinary citizens are put through stringent and time-consuming process of determining their qualifications to own low-cost flats, certain individuals seemed to enjoy a short-cut avenue to obtain the MB's approval, said Lutfi.

Citing another case in his 2001 report, Lutfi alleged that even four 20-year-old company directors had received 50 acres of land each in Kuala Langat after obtaining approval from the MB.

"If we were to apply for a low-cost house, for example, we have to present details of our income, our marital status, our family situation, and so on. How is it that the application for land, worth millions of ringgit, by four directors in their 20s can be approved so easily?" asked Lutfi.

The media man believes that the original companies in Bukit Cahaya and Kuala Langat were chosen and granted land because they were not in any way directed to certain persons in the state government.

Subsequently, however, these company directors would be paid and bought over by the real developers which do have ties to state officials attracted by the high prices that these lands currently demand, said Lutfi.

"I have spoken to one of the 20-year-old director. He told me he didn't even know he had acquired land. He was eventually told, however, to sign some papers that indicated he had approved of the transfer of ownership to another company."

"We find that many of the developers of land today are not the original companies that had acquired the land in the first place."

Pressure on Khir mounts

Meanwhile, pressure on Khir to resign over the Bukit Cahaya fiasco intensified from the opposition DAP.

A Selangor DAP leader Ong Chee Keng said it was impossible that the MB could not see the destruction at Bukit Cahaya as the agricultural park is clearly visible even from his office window.

Claiming that he was in the dark regarding approval for the development plans at Bukit Cahaya, Khir yesterday had called for investigations to identify the person responsible within the Selangor State Development Board (PKNS) for the illegal works.

"When the PKNS is one of the developers that had destroyed the environment, investigations as called for by the MB who is also PKNS chairperson is not needed because he is himself responsible. What more when he can see the destruction himself every day?" Ong said in a statement.

The Star today named PKNS as one of three developers fined by the a Shah Alam Sessions court for the illegal works, the others being Dacing Kota and Restu Mantap.

A fourth developer, Green Hill View Development, has pleaded not guilty and will have its case heard May 4. Two other companies will appear in court next Tuesday to face the same offences.