Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has asked two Umno leaders to retire if unable to fail to prove that the Bayan Mutiara land sale was not conducted via an open tender.

selangor dap congress 2011 lim guan eng 2 Lim ( left ) accused Umno leaders of systematically carrying out a "vicious campaign of lies" against the state government on the sale of the 103- acre land, south of Penang bridge.

The acreage was sold by the Penang Development Corporation, a state agency, to private developer Ivory Properties Berhad at RM240 per square foot or total sale price of RM1.07 billion.

But state Umno chief Zainal Abidin Osman and Kota Belud MP Abdul Rahman Dahlan had said there was no open tender and that the selling price was 50 percent lower than the market value of RM420 psf.

The DAP secretary general had also been criticised for insulting Malaysians for appointing HDB Singapore as consultant for the state's massive affordable housing project in Batu Kawan.

No media coverage

Lim clarified that when the government decided to sell the land by open tender in 2010, a reserve price was set at RM200 psf on Apr 7 despite the valuation by the Finance Ministry on Nov 5, 2009.

The price had then been estimated to be at only RM65 psf, however, when the tender was closed on Dec 31, 2010, the state government had fixed the reserve price at RM200 psf, he said.

He added that Penang's "bold decision" was proven correct when the highest bid came in at RM240 psf.

However, he expressed "disappointment" that the estimated valuation of RM65 psf provided by the Property Valuation Department, of the Finance Ministry, was not reported by the English and Malay media.

"To-date Umno and Abdul Rahman have not responded to my challenge to buy over the 102.3 acres at RM420 if that is the market price claimed by the party," he said at a press conference in Penang.

"Umno should put their money where their mouth is by paying RM420 psf," he added.

Retire from politics

Lim said If Umno cronies buy over the land at that price, the state government can get an extra RM800 million or RM1.87 billion instead of RM1.07 billion at RM240 psf.

As for the party's allegations that the sale was not done through open competitive tender, Lim said he was willing to retire from politics if Umno can prove so.

"Facts are facts which can not be changed by lies. The open competitive tender of the Bayan Mutiara land was even advertised in the newspapers in 2010," he said.

" Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman, penang umno chief If Zainal Abidin ( left ) and Abdul Rahman fail to prove that there was no open competitive tender, would they then dare to accept my challenge to retire from politics?" he queried.

Lim said the two leaders should accept this challenge to prove that there are not engaging in a systematic campaign of lies to undermine and sabotage the state government's open competitive tender policy and affordable housing programme.