IPOH, Feb 28 — Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah (USAS) has denied that there was mismanagement of land by the university.

In a statement here today, the university’s Board of Directors said a new member of the board recently had raised the issue of land mismanagement to the media.

"The Board would like to highlight that his statement was made before the benefit of a full briefing on the investigation carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers Risk Services Sdn Bhd (PwC).

"As such, (the board member’s statement) should be disregarded,” the statement read.

Without naming the member, the Board said the member had regretted making his statement.

"The member made the statement without having full knowledge of the facts,” the statement added.

The Board said it was committed to maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance in the academic institution.

On February 22, state executive councillor Abdul Aziz Bari was reported to have said Perak would investigate the alleged mismanagement of 2,400 hectares of land given by the previous Barisan Nasional government to USAS.

The state Education, Science, Environment, Green Technology and Information Committee chairman said an audit firm would be hired soon to look into the allegations.

He said that the plots of land were sanctioned to USAS in various parts of Perak since its formation in 1999 to enable the university to generate income and operate independently.