What bailout! firms now offer higher for Tabung Haji land, says Najib

The fact that several offers were received to buy Lembaga Tabung Haji's land at Tun Razak Exchange showed the earlier purchase made by the board was not to bail out 1MDB, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said Tabung Haji had received offers for the land at a higher price. "By flipping to a private company, Tabung Haji is going to make a few millions over night.

"So it cannot be a bailout because no private company will buy over a project if it is a bailout," he told reporters after launching a people's housing project at Kampung Pirasan on Sunday.

Bernama reported Najib as saying that the Government does not want the controversy surrounding the Tabung Haji land deal with 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to be prolonged.

He said the issue had been twisted to make the deal look as if Tabung Haji was using depositors' money to save 1MDB out of its financial woes.

"We do not want to continue with this controversy because it will take away a lot of our energy in terms of concentrating on some of the big programmes that we have in mind," he said.

He was asked to comment on Tabung Haji's announcement that it would sell off the land it purchased from 1MDB.

The transaction came under heavy fire from various quarters, including former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and non-governmental organisations.