KELANA JAYA, 26 FEB: Datuk Seri Noh Omar was criticised for allegedly using MARDI to get land for ‘free’ for the construction of the Universiti Perdana campus in Serdang.
Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said that the construction of the campus is located on land owned by the Malaysian Institute of Agricultural Research and Development (MARDI) with the purpose of carrying out agricultural research which was given by the State Government.
“It is not meant for business, and if it is for that purpose, the State Government is smarter to use PKNS.
“I do not hold back the development but he has to buy it at the market price,” said Abdul Khalid.
He said this in a press conference after the Industry Workers Residential Complex Groundbreaking Ceremony here.
Abdul Khalid said that the State Government refused to approve the terms of the land exchange terms in the interest of the people of Selangor.
“Therefore, I have to defend the rights of the people of Selangor.
“We need to get a new premium price from the new development,” said Abdul Khalid.
Previously, Noh Omar was urged to not pursue the sale of the 200 acre land owned by MARDI in Serdang to any party just to make a profit.
On 25 September 2012, Agricultural Modernisation, Natural Resources Management and Entrepreneur Development Exco, Dr Yaakob Sapari disclosed that the they wanted to sell the land at a price of about RM14.50 per square foot.
However, Yaakob explained that the market price is between RM80 to RM100 per square foot which deemed the sale of the land unreasonable at the aforementioned price and will cause losses to the people.
The land owned by MARDI currently is used partly as the Malaysian Agricultural Expo Park (MAEPS) and is the site for the International Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism (MAHA).