Umno makes fools of Malays

Umno makes fools of Malays
By Chua Jui Meng

THE Land Acquisition Act 1960 was enacted to enable the government to make compulsory acquisition of land from the people for infrastructural and public projects.

It was meant for roads, schools, hospitals and public amenities.

Then came Mahathir Mohamad who, in 1991, amended the act to enable state governments to acquire land and then alienate such land to the private sector for property development.

Since then, Barisan Nasional (BN) state governments have been abusing and exploiting the Act to launch land grabs for their unabated profiteering agenda.

For example, in Johor’s Pengerang where the RM60 billion Petronas Oil Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Complex (Rapid) is located, the Johor Petroleum Development Corporation Bhd (JPDC) has used the Act to acquire 22,500 acres at an average of RM2.80 psf. That is enough to buy three pieces of roti canai.

According to property valuers, the current price of land in Pengerang is about RM12 psf.

The big question: Why did Johor Mentri Besar Ghani Othman approve the acquisition of 22,500 acres when the Rapid petrochemical refinery and complex needed only 6,000 acres?

The answer is clear, because some land has already been alienated to a private developer to build houses.

Rapid is set to wipe out:

Ø six mosques;

Ø 11 surau;

Ø Nine non-Muslim religious btructures;

Ø Five SKs national schools;

Ø Five Islamic religious schools;

Ø Three SJKCs (Chinese national type schools);

Ø Three government quarters;

Ø Three rural clinics;

Ø Two police stations;

Ø 11 Muslim cemeteries;

Ø Seven non-Muslim cemeteries; and

Ø Nine community halls.

The BN is also deceiving the rakyat by claiming that Rapid will benefit Pengerang residents when it is only benefiting BN-Umno cronies like:

Ø Dialog Group Bhd;

Ø Tebrau Teguh Bhd;

Ø Johor Mentri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman’s cronies;

Ø Housing developers who are also BN-Umno cronies;

Ø Foreign construction workers; and

Ø Highly-skilled workers outside Pengerang.

Rapid is also expected to release toxic materials to the environment thereby posing a serious public health hazard causing diseases such as:

Ø Nasal cancer resulting from inhaling toxic gases daily;

Ø Colon cancer from consumption of food produced from contaminated land;

Ø Blood cancer due to constant exposure to radiation; and

Ø Asthma due to fumes from the oil refinery.

Umno’s agenda only benefits its cronies like Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary.

What’s all the destruction for? It all points to greed and profiteering by at the expense of the people, in this case the Malays who lost their customary land.

Why must the BN state government acquire land belonging to individual Malay villagers when it can consider the vast tracks of land belonging to corporations, conglomerates and the state in South Johor?

Now, there is a Business Times report titled “RM12b Sunway resort city in Johor” (reproduced below).

Many have benefited from BN-Umno’s gravy train and the latest to get a share of this is Sunway. How much did Sunway pay for the land?

The land, belonging mostly to Malays in Gelang Patah, was acquired at only 64 sen psf from about 10,000 Malay villagers from 17 kampungs.

It is clear the BN government abused and used the Act to grab the land and then alienated it to Umno’s UEM Bhd for property and infrastructure play.

Up to now, the public is not told how costly infrastructure for Nusajaya had been, to whom and at what price awards were given out.

So much for Umno’s Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy) or Umno’s Pembela Melayu (Defender of Malays), etc.

It’s more like Rakyat (Melayu) Diperbodohkan, Rasuah Diutamakan (Making Fools Of People, Corruption Preferred). Clearly, it is all about Umno’s gravy train.

Read this latest report and judge for yourself, who are actually benefiting from the Act. Properties will start from RM500,000 to above RM1 million:

Wednesday, 14 November 2012 07:38

RM12b Sunway resort city in Johor

2014 LAUNCH - Project in Medini to be a replica of integrated development in Bandar Sunway, Selangor

SUNWAY Bhd's award-winning Sunway Integrated Resort City (SIRC) in Bandar Sunway, Selangor, will be replicated in Johor from 2014, with a RM12 billion gross development value (GDV).
The managing director of Sunway's property development division Ho Hon Sang is bullish on the project due to the large number of foreigners buying properties worth above RM1 million in the state.
Ho told Business Times in an interview that Sunway will offer a wide range of properties when it launches them in phases from 2014.
"The properties would start from RM500,000 to above RM1 million each, catering to the medium- to high-end segments. We will be addressing issues on affordability," Ho said.
Sunway acquired 277ha in Medini Iskandar last year for RM745.3 million, via a joint-venture vehicle with Khazanah Nasional Bhd.
The acquisition is in line with Sunway's strategy to extend its expertise in building and managing integrated cities, as exemplified by its projects in Bandar Sunway, Sunway City Ipoh, Sunway Velocity and Sunway Damansara.
The choice to build in Medini would offer Sunway a window of opportunities. Medini is home to other developments like Legoland Malaysia, Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios, Edu City, Kota Iskandar and the International Financial District.
To extend its interest in the state, Sunway bought a 35.2ha land near Taman Molek in Johor Baru to build apartments, condominiums, semi-detached houses, townhouses and bungalows, with expected GDV of around RM1 billion.
Ho said both the projects in Johor are in the planning stage.
He said the project in Medini, which will be transformed into an integrated development similar to SIRC, is expected to attract foreign interest.
SIRC, which started in 1986, is the only integrated resort city in Malaysia which fully encapsulates the "livability" concept with the presence of six key components - mall, hotel, office, theme park, education institute and medical centre.
"Our flagship project in Johor will be the development near Taman Molek, which we aim to launch by the middle of next year.
We are bullish on the project. There are a lot of international players within the vicinity of Taman Molek, especially foreign banks. We believe there is a market for new houses," Ho said.
-Business Times