Dr M asked: Why not slam sale of freehold Penang land to foreigners, too?

The Barisan Nasional’s Eric See-To says debate over freehold status of Forest City reclamation project in Johor is a distraction created by Pakatan Harapan and its chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

PETALING JAYA: The Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications team has challenged PPBM chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad to extend his grouse against the sale of freehold land in Forest City, Johor, to a reclaimed project in Penang as well.

Its deputy director Eric See-To asked if the former prime minister would also want to take the DAP to task over the status of the reclaimed site in Tanjung Pinang. The DAP leads the state government and is PPBM’s ally in Pakatan Harapan (PH).

“Perhaps Tun Mahathir would also want to take up this issue with DAP too over the sale of freehold land to foreigners? Other than Johor, I am sure Tun Mahathir is patriotic about Penang too,” he said in a Facebook posting last night.

See-To claimed that the debate over the land status of the Forest City project was merely a “distraction” by Mahathir and PH.

“It does not matter whether it is freehold or leasehold status as both types of land can be compulsorily acquired by the state government under the Land Acquisition Act. There is no difference at all,” he said.

In March last year, Mahathir had questioned Forest City’s offer of freehold status to buyers, as seen on advertising material on the city’s street lamp posts.

He said that although the government had claimed that the land sold to China nationals was on a 99-year lease, the billboards and posters said otherwise.

He said residents of Forest City could stay there forever and there was no ruling that would prevent them from becoming citizens after staying there for years.

More recently, at the PPBM annual general meeting on Dec 30, Mahathir had again said the land on which the project was being built was being sold off to foreigners.

“Our land will be completely sold, no matter what happens to Forest City. I hope Forest City will truly become a forest… Its residents will consist of baboons, monkeys and so on,” he had said.

Touted as a futuristic smart city project, Forest City spans some 1,400ha. Costing RM100 billion, it is expected to be completed within 20 years and has a range of facilities, including housing units, offices and shopping malls.

In his posting, See-To also showed a screenshot of part of the memorandum of agreement for the sale of the Penang land by Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZ) to Ewein Zenith II Sdn Bhd which stated that “each parcel shall be a freehold title in perpetuity”.

“The land will be used to develop luxury condominium projects with freehold status where a large proportion will be sold to foreigners,” he said.

Ewein Zenith II was reportedly 60% owned by Ewein Bhd and 40% by CZ.

On August 22, Ewein Bhd had announced in a filing with Bursa Malaysia that Ewein Zenith II and CZ had mutually terminated their sale and purchase agreement for the 4.4252-acre (1.79ha) land.

Ewein said CZ would refund to Ewein Zenith II the deposit of RM16.2 million with interest at a mutually-agreed rate.

The land had been given to CZ by the Penang government as payment for its work on the Penang undersea tunnel and three related roads on the island. -FMT