Johor Menteri Besar Osman Sapian pleaded ignorance when asked about Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim's Facebook posting on the new ship-to-ship hub in Johor.
"I haven't been in Johor for two days, since yesterday until today. So far I have not received any news, except what is viral on Whatsapp and that is from Gerakan Muafakat Johor.
"Whether it is true or not, I do not know yet," he told reporters while leaving the "Rise of the Asian Tiger" convention in Shah Alam today.
When pressed on Tunku Ismail's Facebook posting, he said it would be difficult for him to answer as he did not know about it yet.
"Let me check. If true then I will tell you later," he said.
Tunku Ismail had yesterday reproduced the Gerakan Muafakat Johor posting on his Facebook page, which accused Putrajaya of failing to inform the Johor government on the new shipping hub.
KA Petra Sdn Bhd and Hong Kong's Hutchinson Port Holdings Ltd are scheduled to sign the deal tomorrow in Putrajaya.
According to Gerakan Muafakat Johor, the deal was hatched in a secretive manner.
"Our research found that the joint venture has special treatment from the federal government because it is believed that it involved cronies of certain leaders in Putrajaya.
"This is an attack on Johor's economy because it will decide who benefits from doing business (at the site and it will) benefit their cronies," the anonymous posting stated.
It also accused Putrajaya of undermining the federation agreement, which allowed Johor to decide on matters concerning land and water, and risks inciting secession.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke told the press earlier today to hold their questions on this issue till tomorrow's signing ceremony.
"You can ask the question tomorrow. The PM will be attending the event," Loke had said when asked to respond to Tunku Ismail's posting as well.
On a separate issue, Osman (above) said the Johor state government is considering relocating the factories in Pasir Gudang to a more suitable location.
"(Pasir Gudang) is going to be upgraded to a city status meaning the number of residents there has exceeded 600,000, so that place is no longer suitable for us to approve factory buildings.
"So we are planning to identify a new area, maybe far away from Pasir Gudang which is more suitable for us to approve new factory buildings," he said.
He suggested several locations for the factories such as Kota Tinggi, Sedenak, Simpang Renggam or near Kluang.
This comes after the Sungai Kim Kim chemical waste pollution case in Pasir Gudang, which was first realised on March 7 when many students, teachers and staff of schools near the river suffered breathing difficulty, vomiting, nausea and sore throat after inhaling toxic fumes emanating from the effluents. - Mkini
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