'Over 100 caveats on land bought by Selangor govt'
MIND-BOGGLING: Buyover of Danau Putra land makes no sense, says Chua
KUALA LUMPUR: ONE of Talam Corporation's 13 land assets bought by the Selangor government had more than 100 caveats, Datuk Chua Tee Yong claimed yesterday.
"In addition to overvaluation of the assets, I would like to point out that one of the lands, located in Danau Putra, has more than 100 caveats.
"As such, why did the Selangor government accept this land? These caveats would need to be cleared for the land to be more marketable," he told a press conference at Wisma MCA here.
Chua, who is MCA Young Professionals Bureau chief and deputy agriculture and agro-based industries minister, had previously alleged that the state government had acquired the 53.6ha land for about RM87.7 million, RM57 million more than the market price from Talam, now known as Trinity Corporation.
He said the land's interest was only protected by a caveat lodged by the state government and that it was still charged to financial entities.
"The Selangor government should protect the people's interest by clearing all its bank charges and transfer it to its rightful owner, that is the state."
He also pointed out that although the state government had acquired the land parcels in 2010, most of the land titles were still under Talam's name.
Last month, Chua revealed that the Selangor government had bought over Talam's 13 land assets worth RM676 million to clear the financially troubled firm's debts.
Chua, who is also Labis member of parliament, had also revealed that several of the assets were overvalued, totalling between RM107 million and RM165 million.
He also accused the Selangor government of misleading the public by claiming that its subsidiaries had not attempted to recover the debts owed to them from Talam. A debt settlement agreement between Talam and a state-linked firm proved otherwise.
"Based on a supplemental settlement agreement, it clearly states that Talam owes Universiti Selangor (Unisel) about RM284 million."
The agreement also stated that Talam was entitled to a RM36 million discount within a stipulated timeframe, he added.
Chua said this meant that the amount due from Talam to Unisel would be about RM248 million.
Chua also said the agreement proved that there was, in fact, an attempt by a state subsidiary to recover debts owed to it from the debt-ridden property developer.
"It is, therefore, a lie for the Pakatan Rakyat-led government to say that the debt is 'hidden' as it was clearly mentioned in the agreement."
On Monday, DAP publicity secretary Tony Pua claimed Talam's RM392 million debt to three state subsidiaries had been considered a "hidden debt" as it was never recorded in the three firms' books.
It was reported that the company owed state subsidiaries Unisel (RM248 million), KHSB (RM115 million) and Permodalan Negeri Selangor Bhd (RM28 million) totalling RM392 million.
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