I was in Ipoh this weekend to give a talk for REHDA Perak’s Mapex 2018. (Click here to know more) Then someone mentioned to me that there is a huge land sale. Here’s that piece of news. This is more of news for Ipohans yeah. For years, I have often wondered when will the Perak Menteri Besar (MB)’s residence be sold. That piece of land is pretty prime and well, there has also been some news that the fengshui is not that positive. It’s next to a roundabout which meant that the MBs who stay there will not last long. It’s like a merry-go-round. Now, there’s that potential. Reported in news.yahoo.com was this potential sale and it was confirmed by the MB himself. Please do refer to yahoo.news for the full article. Ipohans would know where is the official residence of the Perak mentri besar. It’s on Jalan Raja Dihilir (next to the roundabout).
The Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu has confirmed and he said the decision was made because of ongoing high-rise development surrounding the 5.3-hectare property, which made it unsuitable for a mentri besar to live there. He told reporters, “The state Economic Planning Unit is currently gathering suggestions on what to do with the residence.” According to Ahmad, this is not a new suggestion. There has been suggestions to relocate the mentri besar’s official residence since the state administration of Tan Sri Ramli Ngah who helmed Perak from 1982 to 1999, but no action was taken then. He shared, “Maybe because of political reasons, the project did not take off. But as years passed, its surrounding area is seeing vast development with tall buildings. It is time to think of a new place.” Please do refer to yahoo.news for the full article. The MB is currently staying at the official residence of the State Secretary which is located further down the same road. Within the article, it was also revealed that Malay Mail have information that the land on which the official residence is situated has a market value of RM80 million.
Personally, I think it’s more important to have a clearer explanation as to the financial implications of the sale. Will there be gains to the Perak state government or will it cost much more to build a new residence for the MB? The MB does not need a large compound actually because those open houses could have been conducted in the stadium instead. However, it will NOT make any financial sense if after the sale, the state government would still have to fork out a super huge amount for a new MB’s residence. However, I am equally interested to know what would be the plans for the piece of land. Would it be bought by a Perak based developer or perhaps one of the big names in KL instead? it does not need to be for residential yeah. A good commercial development can be considered too since 5.3 hectare is 13-acres or 566,000 sq ft. Happy waiting for more details.
written on 4 Aug 2018
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