Land swap done to help school

SHAH ALAM: A vernacular school in Puchong is dismayed that some parties are attempting to sabotage a land swap carried out by the state for its expansion.
“We are very upset and disappointed,” Chai Yoon Peng, who leads SJK (C) Sin Ming’s board of directors, told reporters on Wednesday.
A local MIC politician had accused Selangor of carrying out a “lopsided” land deal when it exchanged a nine-acre state land with a private developer for a 1.8-acre commercial land next to SJK (C) Sin Ming at Batu 16, Puchong.
“The state is (just) trying to help the school,” said a distressed Chai at the press conference.
The school could not afford to purchase the 1.8-acre land directly from landowner Bukit Hitam Development Sdn Bhd, which had been valued at RM7.45 million (at the rate of RM95 per sq ft) by TD Aziz Sdn Bhd.
As a result, the state offered to swap a nineacre unconverted land in Bandar Bukit Puchong, valued at RM25 million (at the rate of RM63.77 per sq ft) by TD Aziz Sdn Bhd, with Bukit Hitam Development.
On top of giving up the RM7.45 million commercial land, senior executive councillor Teresa Kok said the developer also has to contribute RM25 million to the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) to build a sports complex.
The deal was approved by the MPSJ full board in July 2011 and the Selangor executive council in November 2011.
Kok estimated that Bukit Hitam Development would have to pay anotherRM6.25 million to the state to convert the nine-acre land to industrial status and invest another RM6.75 million on infrastructure.
She pointed out that the land swap is hardly a sweet deal for the developer.
On Monday, English daily The Malay Mail had published on its front page MIC Puchong Perdana chief and former MPSJ councillor B Awthar Singh’s allegation that the land swap was “lopsided”.
SJK (C) Sin Ming director Sia Lian Sem is now worried that Bukit Hitam Development Sdn Bhd may pull out of the deal due to the bad press. The developer had signed a memorandum of understanding with MPSJ but had yet to ink the final agreement with the local council.
Sia said the school had already raised RM8 million from public donations to build a multi-purpose hall and new classrooms on the1.8-acre land.
The new facilities will enable the primary school to accommodate another 1,000 students on top of its existing 1,800 pupils.
Construction had begun in March and the work is scheduled to be completed in mid-2013. “It’s already 50% completed. What will we do if the developer refuses to swap the land now?” said Sia.
MPSJ councilor Ng Sze Hang, who was also present at the press conference, urged MIC and other Barisan Nasional component parties to stop spreading misinformation on the land swap.

Source: Selangor Times