State land in Penang to be auctioned

State land in Penang to be auctioned

Posted by kasee
Thursday, 20 March 2008,MT

By CHRISTINA CHIN

PENANG: To ensure transparency, the state government will call for auctions when alienating state-owned land.

By holding a public auction and making the land alienation process public, a higher price can be obtained, said Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

“Land alienation is a big problem. Why is it that when the state alienates land, it is not made public? For example, there is a piece of land opposite my house which I do not know of but someone from Kuala Lumpur gets it. The people want to know.

“We want to make it public and do it on an auction basis so that we can get the best price and highest premiums,” he said in an interview, noting that many people were unhappy because past practices were “riddled with corruption and cronyism.”

Lim said the only way to end this was through transparency and an open tender system.

He said this also applied to state and council contracts.

“By putting it on the notice board and the Internet, the information will be accessible nationwide. We cannot completely eliminate abuse but we can reduce it.

“I believe every Penangite will support it. Some people question why the same faces are always getting contracts but with transparency, at least even if they don’t get it, they will be satisfied,” he said.

He said it was reported that the Penang Bumiputra Petty Traders Association also supported an open tender policy for contracts and projects because they say: “Balik balik, dua tiga orang saja yang dapat” (the same people are always awarded the contracts).

“They question the point of giving out licences if they cannot even succeed in their bids,” Lim said. - STAR