The present administration has attracted significant investments from China, but in return, it has given big land parcels where buildings that will be occupied by these foreigners will rise, claimed Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
He said the bankruptcy of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), whose funds where allegedly used for personal reasons by Prime Minister Najib Razak and his close associates, has forced the government to use valuable land as collateral to get foreign investments.
“Our heritage is being sold, our grandchildren won’t have anything in the future,” said Mahathir on Saturday during the launch of the opposition party he leads at an indoor stadium in Selangor, Shah Alam.
Mahathir’s four-month-old Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia was officially approved as a registered political party in September 2016.
Aside from that, he reckoned that Malaysia’s demography would be affected by the substantial investments from abroad and gargantuan infrastructure projects.
In a blog post written last December, Mahathir said PM Najib’s plan for a railway line to connect the country’s capital with the states in the east coast will require many migrant workers to temporarily reside in Malaysia within a long period of time.
“They (China) will come with technology and workers from their country. Their workers, tens of thousands of them, must necessarily be based here, especially in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang.”
The construction of the RM55 billion East Coast Rail Link, which is funded by China, is expected to take seven years, he added.
Meanwhile, the 91-year-old Mahathir pledged to rescind the unpopular six percent Goods and Services Tax (GST) and stop all sales of huge assets to foreigners if the opposition parties win in the next general election, which is widely speculated to be called in 2017.
Iskandarhome 