Labuan’s Umno MP Suhaili Abd Rahman has been accused of abusing his position as an elected representative as well as chairperson of the Labuan Corporation in trying to close down a popular seafood restaurant on the island.

A source well-versed with the recent happenings in the Federal Territory said Suhaili’s hands were visible in recent attempts by the authorities to shut down the Mawilla Yacht Club Seafood Restaurant.

In a latest move to get the restaurant vacated, the Labuan Corporation has placed barriers in the form of concrete blocks at the entrance of the restaurant.

The corporation also started issuing a compound fine of RM100 per day to the restaurant for allegedly continuing their business without a trading licence since last September.

“Suhaili wants to take over the restaurant business from the present owners and he is using the corporation to achieve it,” the source told Malaysiakini recently.

The restaurant has been around since 1995 and is owned by Prospergrow Sdn Bhd, who is occupying the land after an agreement with the Royal Malaysian Navy.

It was officially opened by former finance minister Daim Zainuddin in 1997.

The restaurant is spread on 1.5 acres and part of the land belongs to the Land Office while the other part is held by the navy under a temporary occupation lease (TOL).

It is located at Jalan Purun next to a naval base and overlooks the sea.

Closure notice

According to the source, the restaurant’s problems started last January when Labuan Corporation issued a closure notice to Prospergrow.

“They were told to cease operations as the corporation thought the agreement with the navy was null and void since the TOL was not renewed,” added the source.

Following this, the corporation also refused to renew the trading licence of the company.

For its part, the restaurant continued operating as normal and filed a suit against Labuan Corporation over the closure notice.

Last month, the Sabah High Court ruled that the corporation should issue the trading licence and at the same time urged Prospergrow to clear the TOL issue.

When contacted, a spokesperson for the restaurant said that they were appealing to the Court of Appeal on their responsibility in obtaining the TOL. They believe that it is the navy’s duty to do so.

According to the source, Suhaili, who also runs his own seafood product business, started eyeing the property since 2002.

“At that time he tried to persuade the navy top brass in Labuan not to renew their tenancy agreement with Mawilla but he was unsuccessful,” added the source.

“Following that in 2004, he used his power as the chairperson of the Labuan Corporation in rejecting the renewal of TOL by the navy,” the source said.

And with this, added the source, he then in 2006 rejected Mawilla a trading licence which was compulsory to run a business in Labuan.

The reason he gave was that the land has no TOL approval, claimed the source.

Unauthorised use

Similarly Mawilla’s trading licence for 2007 too has been rejected. Likewise, the TOL for the land they occupy at the moment has also not been renewed.

“The MP instructed the officers to give Mawilla compound everyday and instructed them to be closed down immediately. And now he has placed the barriers at the entrance to stop customers for entering the restaurant,” added the source.

The spokesperson for the restaurant said that a police report has been lodged against the corporation on the blockage, adding that the Labuan Corporation should wait for the disposal of the appeal before forcing the restaurant to be closed.

When Malaysiakini contacted the Labuan Corporation for comment, an officer from the enforcement unit said that the access road was the property of the corporation and as such it had the right to block “unauthorised use” of the road.

Suhaili, a representative from ruling party Umno, was unavailable for comment as his office in Labuan said that he was away on an outstation trip.