Penang Gerakan chief Teng Hock Nan is offended over a remark made about his role in the alleged Tan Hak Ju land scam, revealed yesterday in a White Paper at the state legislative assembly.

NONE Teng ( left ), a former state exco member under Barisan Nasional, has criticised Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy, urging him to read the minutes of the previous meetings before uttering such a comment.

“I take strong exception to Ramasamy’s statement at the state assembly yesterday that I was not being ‘proactive’ in trying to reach a compromise with businessman Tan Hak Ju,” he said.

“Ramasamy should have read the minutes of the previous exco meetings and the sub-committee meetings thoroughly before making such a statement,” he added.

Tan, a businessman, had sued the state government for not processing his land application properly and then cancelling it as it was found to be owned by another party.

Teng was referring to Ramasamy, who was quoted in newspapers as saying: “Tang was offered compensation of RM1.8 million and an alternative plot but the deal fell through.”

According to the White Paper, new evidence has been found to show that Tan had prior knowledge of the land ownership which he did not disclose to the previous state government.

The state assembly had yesterday decided to re-file the case to set aside the High Court award which amounts to RM40mil.

Teng, a former Kebun Bunga assemblyperson, then pointed out that the previous state administration did not offer a RM1.8 million compensation to Tan over the failed land deal in 2004.

He added that it was Tan who demanded the sum from the previous government.

However, the state exco then decided that the amount he wanted should be justified with supporting documents including receipts of money spent on the case.

This decision was conveyed to Tan, who could not produce the documents and did not come back to us. He then went to court to seek redress, Teng said.

The matter was clearly stated in the White Paper which was tabled at the state assembly yesterday, he added.

‘It was a technical mistake’

Teng, Gerakan national vice president, is also unhappy that Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng continues to describe the case as a ‘scam’ or ‘scandal’.

“According to the White Paper, it was a technical mistake and negligence on the part of two government officers and there was no element of fraud,” he said.

“Hence, it is certainly very unfair that Lim keeps on calling the case a scam implying there was fraud and cheating, just for political gains,” he added.

Teng then further explained that after discovering the mistake, the previous state government had set up a sub-committee to talk to Tan on settlement including possible compensation.