THE Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) has denied allegations that it has not acted on complaints of graft involving the controversial Taman Rimba Kiara project, deputy chief commissioner (operation) Azam Baki said.

“It is not true that we did not act on this scandal. We conducted the probe earlier and we have re-opened the case,” he said.

“The latest is that one of my men has been tasked to get more information from relevant parties to strengthen our investigation.

“We will complete the investigation as soon as possible and we will submit our report to the deputy public prosecutor for further advice,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today.

Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh recently slammed the MACC, saying the anti-graft body should close shop if it was not able to find any wrongdoing in the Taman Rimba Kiara case.

Several reports have been lodged with the MACC regarding this case: the first by Taman Tun Dr Ismail residents in May 2017, followed by Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng in November of the same year.

Yeoh followed suit in May last year.

Graft watchdog Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Centre) has also submitted more findings to the MACC, after carrying out its own research into the proposed project.

The project to build eight blocks of luxury apartments and affordable housing for former plantation workers now living in the Bukit Kiara longhouse was approved in 2014 when Barisan Nasional’s Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor was federal territories minister.

The ministry’s Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan is the landowner and joint-venture partner with developer Memang Perkasa Sdn Bhd, which is owned by Malton Bhd.

According to the joint-venture agreement, Memang Perkasa would bear development costs while the foundation would receive a fixed sum of RM160 million. – May 21, 2019.