Ku Nan trial: DBKL rejected Aset Kayamas offer at first, wanted to keep land
The Kuala Lumpur City Hall initially rejected a development proposal from Aset Kayamas Sdn Bhd because it wanted to develop the land themselves, the High Court was told today.
Retired DBKL Economic Planning and Development Coordination Department director Kamariah Ibrahim said that the city hall had bought one of the two lots in Bandar Tun Razak from a private owner for a hefty price...
The Kuala Lumpur City Hall initially rejected a development proposal from Aset Kayamas Sdn Bhd because it wanted to develop the land themselves, the High Court was told today.
Retired DBKL Economic Planning and Development Coordination Department director Kamariah Ibrahim said the city hall had bought one of the two lots in Bandar Tun Razak from a private owner for a hefty price.
This is as the land was strategically situated next to the DBKL Training Institute (IDB) and another lot which it owned.
She said this during examination-in-chief in the corruption trial of Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, who is on trial in his capacity as former Federal Territories minister for receiving RM2 million from Aset Kayamas in June 2016.
Kamariah testified that DBKL planned to merge the two lots to build a hostel for its trainees.
Hence, when a February 2015 letter Aset Kayamas had sent to Tengku Adnan proposing a housing development was forwarded to DBKL, it was initially rejected.
Kamariah explained that the decision to turn down the proposal was brought up during a meeting she had with then-Kuala Lumpur mayor Ahmad Phesal Talib.
In her witness statement, she said DBKL eventually reversed its decision, and agreed to both approve Aset Kayamas's development plan and sell the land to the developer.
The development plan was approved after a DBKL one-stop centre meeting on April 20, 2015, chaired by Tengku Adnan.
The sale of land was subsequently approved in a DBKL steering committee meeting seven days later.
The reversed decision, Kamariah said, was after Aset Kayamas agreed to include the IDB hostel in their development plan and build it.
The developer also agreed to allocate 120 units of its low-cost apartments for DBKL support staff.
However, during re-examination by deputy public prosecutor Hadariah Siri, Kamariah noted that she was not satisfied by the deal, as the hostel would be crammed onto a 0.2ha plot of land instead of a dedicated 1.61ha.
She also said Tengku Adnan had an "agenda," but was cut off by an objection from lead defence counsel Tan Hock Chuan, who said opinion-based evidence is not admissible in court.
Judge Zaini Mazlan then told Kamariah to stick to answering in her professional capacity.
The witness then said she thought Tengku Adnan had a "good business strategy," but was again told by Zaini that her opinion was subjective.
Kamariah also told the court today that most requests to DBKL to buy its land had been submitted through Tengku Adnan's Federal Territories office.
She also clarified that under the Local Government Act 1976, DBKL can only sell land if it is approved by the Federal Territories minister.
Tengku Adnan's trial continues tomorrow.
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