Ngeh: Kelantan land-for-Perak MB claim a blatant lie
Ida Lim, The Malaysian Insider
Perak DAP Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham today insisted that allegations that he and another Perak DAP leader were given land worth RM30 million in PAS-ruled Kelantan in exchange for PAS taking the Perak Menteri Besar post is a “blatant lie”.
Perak BN state lawmakers had recently made the accusations against Ngeh and his cousin Nga Kor Ming, who is DAP’s MP for Taiping. “Clearly, the allegation that we were given the land in exchange for our agreement to appoint Dato’ Seri Nizar Bin Jamaluddin in 2008 is a blatant lie,” Ngeh said in a statement today.
He said that the Kelantan government led by PAS did not give him or Nga any land in the state, stressing that the Perak DAP duo had instead bought over the company tasked with developing the land.
”I would like to reiterate that neither YB Nga Kor Ming nor I was given any land by the Kelantan Government. The acquisition of Upayapadu Plantation Sdn Bhd together with other investors in April this year (2012) was a commercial transaction purchased in the open market.”
He said that the duo and the new shareholders of Upaya were “taking a business risk like any other investors”.
“Therefore, the acquisition of Upayapadu Plantation Sdn Bhd was not done in a secretive manner. I must repeat that it was a commercial transaction purchased in the open market,” the Beruas MP said. Ngeh claimed BN raised the allegations against him and Nga to “divert the public’s attention” from the land “scandals” which the duo had brought up in the Perak state assembly.
The two state lawmakers had claimed inside the state assembly that the Perak government led by BN was allegedly involved in what they describe as multi-million ringgit scandals.
Ngeh further said that he had pledged to not engage in corrupt practices from the days of his youth.
“As my personal integrity is being questioned, I would like to state that never in my whole life have I given a single sen of bribe and neither have I taken a single sen of bribe. Yesterday, DAP national chairman Karpal Singh had asked Ngeh to clear the air over the controversy.
