KUALA LUMPUR: The Defence Ministry (Mindef) today revealed that it had suffered a half a billion ringgit loss in a land swap deal involving development projects.
It is believed that the losses involving the deal had taken place since 1997.
The matter came to light following the tabling of an investigation undertaken by the Governance, Government Acquisitions and Finance Investigating Committee (JKTUPKK) chaired by Tan Sr Ambrin Buan on Jan 28 said Defence Minister, Mohamad Sabu.
“All losses and leakages comprised 16 land swap projects involving 2,963 acres (1,199 hectares) of land belonging to the Defence Ministry valued at RM4.7 billion and with a project cost of RM4.8 billion.
“The JKTUPKK also found that the loss or leakage estimate throughout the project implementation period involving the land swap deal stood at more than RM500 million.
"We were informed that the majority of the land swap project implementation was not carefully planned and the selection of the developer company was also not properly implemented in a comprehensive manner," said Mohamad in a statement here, today.
Mohamad said that there was also evidence of political interference in regards to the choice of the land swap location, which was belived to have been done for the political interest of certain quarters.
"This had caused part of the project' to exceed the previously agreed-upon contract periods as well as it was found that oart of the project which had been completed was done so with unsatisfactory construction quality.
Mohamad said the investigative report was tabled and accepted by the cabinet at its meeting on Feb 13.
"In this regard, I had instructed officers in the Defence Ministry to lodge reports with the police, MACC (Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission) and other relevant agencies to conduct further investigation and undertake any other action as provided by the law," he said.
"This would enable them to conduct further investigations and take other actions as provided by law," Mohamad added.
The land swap issue involving Mindef arose after former International Trade and Industry Minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz claimed that the ownership of more than 40,000 hectares of the ministry's land was transferred to a company owned by three individuals without an open tender.
She made the allegation in an open letter addressed to former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on April 8 last year.
The former Kuala Kangsar Member of Parliament claimed that the lands involved in the transactions was leased for 40 years to the company, to enable the land to be developed with various commercial projects.
Among the properties mentioned by Rafidah in her open letter were the Sungai Besi Royal Air Force Base (RMAF) and Majidee Camp in Johor Baru.
She alleged the proposal was made to the then government back in 2007 via a Cabinet paper, and that it had already been approved and executed.
Mindef in a statement on April 18, 2018 had said that there was no truth to the former Umno Wanita Chief’s revelation.
The ministry insisted its management of federal land was open and transparent.
The ministry said that Rafidah’s claim that all federal land used by the ministry was transferred to a company owned by these three individuals was also untrue.
The ministry added that it only selected firms for deals such as land swaps using stringent vetting under guidelines set by the Public-Private Partnership Unit (Ukas).
After vetting, such deals are presented to a Cabinet committee for further scrutiny and approval.
The military branch occupying the land affected would also be consulted, said the ministry.