Look in the mirror, Puad Zarkashi tells Dr M, Muhyiddin

Parti Pribumi Bersatu chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamed and president Muhyiddin Yassin should look at themselves in the mirror first, before criticising the Forest City project in Johor, Umno supreme council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi said.

He said the duo had been trumpeting their achievements in bringing in foreign investments through the manufacturing sector without selling land, but this had threatened national sovereignty in a different way.

“It is the manufacturing sector that is the source of the influx of millions of foreign workers, to the extent that it has become uncontrolled and causing other social problems.

“Just look at the existing factories. Who is in it? Most of them are foreign workers. Their involvement in criminal activities can also threaten national sovereignty,” Puad said in a statement issued through the Special Affairs Department’s (Jasa) news bulletin service Jasa Update.

Puad (photo) is also the Jasa director-general.

According to a parliamentary reply by the home minister on Nov 6, 2014, there were 85,029 index crimes committed between January and August that year, of which 9,496 (11.2 percent) involved foreign nationals.

Previously, Mahathir and Muhyiddin had claimed that large tracts of land around Johor Baru are being sold to foreigners - particularly Chinese investors - without restrictions, and that there would be mass migrations to take up residence in these new cities.

Mahathir made his statement based on a Bloomberg report that claimed Forest City would accommodate 700,000 new houses upon its completion. There are 60 other similar projects within Johor Baru’s Iskandar Malaysia region, adding another 500,000 houses.

Their comments had incurred the wrath of Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, who holds a minority stake in the project.

Meanwhile, Puad refuted the claims of Mahathir and Muhyiddin that selling Forest City land is tantamount to selling Johor’s sovereignty.

He said Forest City is to be built on 1,386 hectares of reclaimed land, compared with Johor’s overall size of 1.9 million hectares.

“In other words, Johor would increase in size by only 0.07 percent. The increase is done by land reclamation through Chinese investment.

“Thus, the claims of Mahathir and Muhyiddin regarding sovereignty, that Johor land is being sold, is not true,” Puad added.

He said the problem is that since Muhyiddin’s reign as Johor menteri besar, there is no more prime land in Johor Baru.

Most of these had been sold or privatised, leaving only coastal and riverside land for development, such as Danga Bay, which also involved reclamation. The Forest City project is also a result of this lack of prime land, he added.

Puad also chided Mahathir’s statement that he hoped his response to Sultan Ibrahim’s rebuke would not result in him being detained without trial.

It is as though Mahathir has forgotten that the Internal Security Act 1960 (ISA) has been abolished, he said.

“This is not his (Mahathir’s) era. His era with ISA is over.

“That is why Mahathir could join the Bersih 4 and Bersih 5 rallies without being arrested,” Puad added.- Mkini