Press Statement by Penang Gerakan State Chairman
Dato’ Dr Teng Hock Nan
May 11, 2011
Penang Gerakan chief Dato’ Dr Teng Hock Nan pointed out today that the then State Exco did not at all offer compensation of RM1.8mil to Tang Hak Ju as compensation over a land case in Bukit Mertajam in 2004.
“In fact, it was Tang who had demanded the sum from the previous state government. The State Exco decided that the amount he wanted should be justified with supporting documents including receipts on the amount of money he had spent in relation to the case. The decision was conveyed to Tang who could not produce the documents and did not come back to us. He then went to Court to seek redress,” said Dr Teng in a statement.
Dr Teng, who was then a State Exco member, said the matter was clearly stated in the White Paper which was tabled at the State Assembly yesterday.
“According to the White Paper, it was a technical mistake and negligence on the part of two government officers and there was no element of fraud and hence it is certainly very unfair that Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng keeps on calling the case a scam implying there was fraud and cheating, just for political gains,” added Dr Teng.
“I take strong exception to DCM Dr P Ramasamy’s statement at the State Assembly yesterday that I was not being “proactive” in trying to reach a compromise with Tang. Dr Ramasamy should have read the minutes of the previous Exco meetings and the sub-committee meetings thoroughly before making such a statement,” added Dr Teng.
Dr Teng explained that after discovering a mistake, the previous state government set up a subcommittee to talk to Tang on settlement including possible compensation.
Ramasamy was quoted in the newspapers as saying: “Tang was offered compensation of RM1.8 mil and an alternative plot but the deal fell through.”
According to the White Paper, new evidence has been found to show that Tang had prior knowledge of land ownership which he did not disclose to the previous state government. Hence the State Assembly had yesterday decided to re-file the case to set aside the High Court award which amounts to RM40mil.
