FORMER Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) founding member Ainina Saadudin has alleged that it was Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir who approved the lease of a large plot of beachfront property in Langkawi to his father in 2014.
The lease, she said, was for 60 years to construct a hotel and for tourism.
Ainina questioned how Mukhriz, who was then Kedah menteri besar, could have approved the 60-year lease on the 13ha plot of land to Cipta Selaras Sdn Bhd, a company she claimed was owned by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, for RM192,500.
She said apart from clearly being an abuse of power as Mukhriz had been menteri besar then, the 60-year lease was also too long for a large plot of land.
“There is a conflict of interest as the approval was made under the influence of Mukhriz as adviser to the Langkawi Development Authority (Lada), and it was for a company owned by his father, who was also once an adviser of Lada,” she said in Facebook.
She also uploaded a document, which she claimed was a copy of the offer letter for the lease addressed to Dr Mahathir.
“Besides all this, the payment for the lease is also way too little, which works out to RM267 a month, or 12 sen per square foot.
“In fact, (the offer letter states that) this amount can also be paid in instalments over a period of five years,” she said.
Ironically, said Ainina, in the same year the lease was approved, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that 1,000 affordable homes would be built in Langkawi under the 1Malaysia People’s Housing Scheme (PR1MA).
She said the homes were priced at RM98,000 each, but the Barisan Nasional government would absorb two-thirds of the cost. Therefore, the people only needed to pay RM34,000, or RM142 a month, for 20 years.
“We can see the difference between the two statesmen. Dr Mahathir only pays 12 sen a month for each square foot of a 1.5 million sq ft plot of land facing the Andaman Sea, and can get a profit of hundreds of billions of ringgit in the 60 years after his five-star hotel is constructed.
“Meanwhile, Najib, through the BN government, bears RM64 million to build 1,000 affordable homes for 1,000 Langkawi families, so they can have houses with three rooms. And they only have to pay RM142 a month for 20 years, and can keep these homes for the rest of their lives.
“Just make the comparison. You have one vote. Will 42,000 voters in Langkawi cast their vote to a billionaire, who is going to make hundreds of billions from your land, or cast it for a house, where a couple can start their lives and have children?”
In an immediate reaction, Mukhriz denied the allegations.
“In the eyes of society, Ainina is not a person who has much credibility. In fact, I am confident that her allegations are regarded by all as mere lies based on ill intentions because it is close to polling day,” he said.