Located at the junction of Jalan Burma and Jalan Zainal Abidin in George Town, 70 per cent of the Taman Manggis land will now be developed into hotel and service suites with the remaining 30 per cent developed into a healthcare facility.

He said the use of the land was changed after it was sold to Kuala Lumpur International Dental Centre (KLIDC) Sdn Bhd via open tender in 2011.

“It clearly would give a commercial advantage to the company as the land could now be valued much higher,” H’ng told newsmen after he and several other local Barisan Nasional leaders lodged police reports on the matter at the George Town City police headquarters.

He said the value of the land would go up by allowing the owners to build a hotel on the site, and added that the conversion of use was “extraordinary and shocking.”

“It’s like after winning your bid for a Proton Saga, you convert it to a Mercedes-Benz. Is this fair to the people of Penang?” he asked.

He said the land deal had shortchanged Penangites, especially the urban poor, who were now denied of low-cost homes in the city.

In their reports, H’ng and others alleged that there were elements of fraud in the Taman Manggis land deal and urged the police to conduct a thorough probe into the issue.

H’ng also attached a letter addressed to the landowner from the Northeast District Land Office dated December 7, 2011, which effected the conversion of land use.

Originally Taman Manggis was meant for low-cost homes with phase one of the project being completed in 2005.

However, the current DAP-led Penang government claimed the remaining land, 0.4 ha was too small for low-cost units, and sold it to KLIDC.

KLIDC purchased the plot for RM232 per square feet or RM11.5 million when at that time BN was ready to buy the lot for RM22.4 million to build low-cost homes for the city’s poor.

“The KL company was offered the land even though it offered nearly RM10 million less than BN’s price,” pointed out H’ng.