Three Penangites have filed a public interest litigation against businessman Tan Hak Ju and several state agencies to prevent public funds amounting to RM40 million from being paid to the property seeker.

Tan, who initiated his legal suit in 2005, is suing the state government for cancelling his application to purchase a 4.2 hectare plot of land (Lot 954 and 955 in Mukim 20) in Butterworth.

If he wins, the state has to fork out about RM40 million in compensation and interest to Tan, who initially bought the land for quarry work.

NONE Tan's approval to purchase the two plots was later withdrawn as the land was already owned by two associations - Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple and Persatuan Hokkien Hoay Kuan Province Wellesley - since July 1969.

Concerned over the massive waste of public funds, lawyers Ong Eng Kuan, Louis Edward Van Buerle ( left ) and social activist Kanda Kumar M. Doraisamy filed a civil suit in the Penang High Court in April.

The defendants are Tan, the state land and mineral department director, the registrar of titles and the Seberang Perai Tengah district land administrator.

The trio, who claim they do not represent anyone but themselves, said they were initiating the action because their are rightful citizens, eligible voters and taxpayers who do not want to see public funds go to waste.

They said the action was for the benefit of all Penangites as the use of public monies to compensate Tan was contrary to and in breach of the law because the case is considered "null and void".

'Unprecedented' financial loss

Speaking at a press conference in Penang today, Ong said the state should not be liable for the compensation as the land had been alienated to the two organisations and Tan was aware of the matter at the time of application.

NONE "Under the law, if a mistake has been made, the two parties must go back to the original position. Yes, the land office had made a mistake, but there had been no loss for Tan, so he cannot claim for damages" Ong ( right ) said.

Tan, however, had filed an injunction to strike out the case, which will be heard before Penang High Court judge Zakaria Sam on July 1.

In his affidavit, Tan accused the trio of having no locus standi to initiate the suit, and that they were merely attempting to prop up support for the state government.

Meanwhile, Van Buerle said if they managed to persuade the court to nulify Tan's suit and win the case, then Penangites and their state government would not have to suffer "an unprecedented" financial loss.

"We feel we do have the locus standi to query where our public funds go. It is also up to our AG to help Penangites and to please not treat this as a political issue," he added.

He urged the Attorney-General to take an interest and participate in the case in order to save Penangites millions of ringgit.

The AG, he noted, was informed of the matter about two weeks ago, and the trio was awaiting a response from his office.

Van Buerle also called on the media to help "uncover further truths" about the case, and dismissed the findings in the White Paper presented in the state legislative assembly in April as "insufficient to protect public funds".

"The White Paper tries to show who is responsible for this matter, but we are not interested in that. We were hoping that the state, through its legal advisor, take further action but it has not," he said.

'Land scam' threatens public funds

During the presentation of the Paper, Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy who headed the probe into the case, revealed that the previous state exco did not obtain the necessary land approvals from five related government departments.

Despite failing to get the approvals, the BN exco allowed Tan's application in 2002, but cancelled it two years later due to the overlapping ownership.

Ramasamy also accused the previous administration of not compensating Tan with RM1.8 million and offering an appropriate plot of land as a replacement.

Eventually on Sept 21, 2007, the High Court in Penang ordered the state government to pay RM29.4 million as compensation to Tan for not properly processing his application for the plot of land.

NONE The current and previous governments continue to be at loggerheads over the questionable deal with Tan, with some calling it a "land scam" while former political leaders vehemently refute that it was.

Kanda ( left ), who is a representative of the Malaysian Nature Society, said both governments - Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat - were to blame for this fiasco, and for not taking enough action to prevent a massive loss of public funds.

He added that the issue was not political, and if the state had initiated actions to prevent leaking money from its coffers, this litigation may not be necessary.

"We have no interest in who is right or wrong - whether current or previous government - we are only interested in protecting the public's money...already I do not think we have that much money to compensate Tan," he stressed.