‘Selangor MB a prostitute’

An Umno Youth member lashes out at Khalid Ibrahim over the plan to build a housing area for foreign workers. MCA, on other hand, says the move is bad for business.

PETALING JAYA: Taking the Selangor state government to task over its plan to build a housing area for foreign workers, an Umno Youth member accused Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim of behaving like a “pelacur” (prostitute).

Arman Azha Abu Hanifah, who was formerly the Perkasa Youth chief, was among the group of Umno Youth members who joined MCA in a protest over the issue today.

“He (Khalid) has prostituted himself in his promises to the people,” he said, pointing out that even locals were having a hard time getting houses in Petaling Jaya.

A PJ resident himself, Arman said many Malaysians, especially urban Malays, had to buy properties outside of the Klang Valley even though they worked in PJ.

“How can we work in PJ, when we live in Sungai Buloh? This is a prime land,” he said, pointing to the city council MBPJ’s Mechanical and Transportation Department building in SS8 here, which would be demolished to pave the way for the project.

“Instead of giving it to the foreign workers, why not give it to the Malay youth?” he added.

MCA: Bad for business

Meanwhile, Selangor MCA public complaints bureau chief Theng Book said the state government’s plan to build the foreign worker-centric housing area was bad for business.

The land was said to cover an area of 20 acres and worth at least RM261 million.

With the council building demolished, Theng said, the state government would hire a developer to construct living quarters to accommodate more than 10,000 foreign workers employed in the area.

Theng said this idea would ultimately destroy businesses in the nearby Sungai Way New Village in SS9A, which he added were heavily reliant on foreign workers.

“This will affect the whole of Sungai Way. A lot of people are renting rooms to foreign workers for survival,” he told reporters in front of the intended site.

“If you do this, these people (in Sungai Way) are going to have a problem with their livelihood… So I think we should stop this project,” he said.

Theng’s deputy, Kelvin Chong, agreed.

He alleged that more than half of the Sungai Way New Village would become empty if foreign workers were transported to the intended apartments.

“One is the residents, the other are the hawkers. Some of the workers will go to the market to buy things, so they (hawkers) get all the income there,” he said.

“Almost 60% of the population will move out when the project is completed,” he added.