Don't call me racist, Shaik Hussein tells CM

Penang Umno Youth chief Shaik Hussein Mydin is not too happy being labelled “a racist” for questioning the state government over the alleged sale of a plot of land reserved for a mosque in Bayan Mutiara.

Shaik Hussein (left) said he was not a racist by raising the issue as he would have done the same if the plot of land allegedly sold to a private developer had been for a church or temple.

“It’s not racism but the technicality surrounding the issue which must be clarified by the state government,” he said at a press conference today.

He urged Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng not to hurl accusations of racism just because it was Umno who questioned the land deal.
The bid for 41.6ha land was won by Ivory Properties Group Berhad via an open tender, according to Lim.

“I am fighting for the plots reserved for a school and mosque. Don’t tell me it is racist to fight for a school,” he told reporters.

“Don’t just say I am wrong because I am from Umno Youth. I do not like Guan Eng but I respect him as the CM, likewise he should respect me as the opposition and state Umno Youth leader,” he added.

Shaik Hussein was referring to Lim’s accusation that he was a racist in a press statement yesterday.

Lim (right) said the state shall expose Penang Umno as a racist party that clearly does not want non-Muslim votes in the next general election.

He added that Umno was only questioning why the mosque land has disappeared but not non-Muslim land in the Bayan Mutiara project.

“Penang Umno has stoked fires of religious hatred against me as a non-Muslim leader by spreading dangerous lies that I have sold or caused mosque and school land to disappear,” he had said.

Malay community needs assurance

“Clearly Umno is taking a very racist and dangerous approach in pitting race against race, religion against religion in their desperate lies to undermine my leadership and the PR state government,” he added.

Shaik Hussein called on Lim not to divert the issue, urging him to “stay focussed” and clarify the matter.

He added that he did not accuse Lim but wanted to know if indeed the land was sold, and if it was, to return the plot of land in question.

Both plots of land should be transferred to  the state Education Department and Penang Islamic Affairs Council, he added.

Shaik Hussein stressed that the Malay community needed an assurance from Lim that the project would include a mosque and a school as required in any development plan.

He then displayed several documents to justify his claim that the land was indeed sold to the developer and that Umno was not responsible for the subdivision of the two plots of land.

The documents showed that in Feb 2005, a letter of undertaking had been issued by the previous owner - Penang Development Corporation (PDC) - to the local council (MPPP) that the plots cannot be subdivided as it has yet to obtain the land title.

Two plots of land earmarked

However, the letter stated that the title could not be sought as the land was still owned by the state government but that two plots were earmarked - one for a school (six acres) and the other for a mosque (2.49 acres).

In October 2006, the layout plan for the Bayan Mutiara project was approved and construction of Phase I, which includes several blocks of condominiums - D' Residence - had already begun.

The condominiums obtained the certificate of fitness in July 2010, where one of the conditions for this was that the land for school and mosque must be subdivided and transferred to the relevant owners.

“We want to know why this was not done. We are not saying there is any hanky-panky but perhaps Lim was not adviced properly,” added Shaik Hussein.

Lim holds the land portfolio in the state executive council and also chairs the PDC, which is the state development arm.

He had clarified that there are standard requirements for schools and places of worship like surau or mosques are mandated by the local government and must be included in any development project.

This however has not convinced Penang Umno that Lim was not involved in the sale of mosque land.

“But I did not make a police report nor lodge a complaint to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, we just need to hear this explanation about it,” Shaik Hussein stressed.

Shaik Hussein said he has informed by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Islamic Affairs Minister Jamil Khir Baharom of the issue.

“I notified them just to keep them informed. The two departments may want to discuss the matter with Lim or the state government, perhaps they want to take legal action. I will not interfere.”

“I prefer not to go to court if I have the choice. I have so many other issues to highlight, but this issue is about the people’s right and so I have to fight for it,” he added.