(July 1): PKR Youth wants to know why Lembaga Tabung Haji's land at the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) still has not been sold despite claims of "ready buyers".

The party's deputy Youth chief Fahmi Fadzil asked if there had been a U-turn in the pilgrims' fund board's decision to sell the 0.66ha piece of land, which was purchased from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

Fahmi said Tabung Haji chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim had on May 9 claimed that they had received offers for the land, with a profit of RM5 million for the pilgrims' fund.

Tabung Haji purchased the land for RM188.5 million from 1MDB in April to develop a residential tower.

The cost was 43 times the price the debt-ridden 1MDB had paid for the same plot, which it had bought from the Federal government four years ago.

Fahmi also said that Azeez claimed that a decision would be made within two weeks, which was supposed to have been by May 23.

Till now, Malaysians are still in the dark about the sale, Fahmi said.

"Or has there been a U-turn in the board's decision?

"If so, the public demands a clarification as to why Abdul Azeez was so bold to announce that a decision on the buyer would be made by end-May," Fahmi said in a statement today.

He urged the chairman to come clean on the issue given that the fund belonged to the people who saved their hard-earned money to be able to perform the Muslim pilgrimage, or haj.

On June 15, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom said Tabung Haji was still evaluating potential buyers for the Tabung Haji land.

"Tabung Haji is still evaluating all the offers in its effort to make the best decision so that the whole process remains Shariah compliant," the minister told the Dewan Rakyat in response to a question by DAP lawmaker Tony Pua.

Pua then said that the delay was an indication that Tabung Haji was struggling to sell the land.

Pua added that the usual process to determine a bid for a piece of land would not take six weeks, and warned that a failure to complete the transaction as promised would only prove that no other buyers were interested in the land.

Tabung Haji's purchase of the land upset many as government-owned 1MDB was mired in controversy involving its RM42 billion debt.

Some critics called the purchase a bailout for 1MDB which had cash flow problems affecting its ability to repay loans. Others highlighted a conflict of interest since some Tabung Haji top executives are also directors of 1MDB.

Mindful of a backlash and sensitivity among its depositors over the purchase, Tabung Haji quickly vowed to sell off the land at a profit soon after buying it, saying it had ready buyers which proved that the land had appreciating value and was a profitable venture.

Azeez said the decision to sell the land was on the advice of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also chairman of 1MDB's advisory board. – The Malaysian Insider