Penang executive councillor Dr Afif Bahardin has denied saying that an Umno leader is allegedly involved in a shady deal involving the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base in Butterworth which has been sold to a private company for development.

Afif said he may have been accused of saying so during a press conference held by Tasek Gelugor assemblyperson Shabudin Yahaya and three others about the matter.

“Even though they did not mention names, they said there was a state government leader who accused them of being involved in the deal,” Afif explained during a press conference in Komtar today.

“I have been asked by many, especially journalists, who had contacted me and said I was the one they meant,” he added.

“I wish to clarify that I did not say they were involved (in the sale of the land),” he stressed.

He was referring to a report in Malay daily Sinar Harian today which quoted Shabudin as urging the state government to do its homework before issuing any statement on the sale of the 1,007 acres of land to a private company.

Shabudin said he had been accused of being involved in the shady deal, where he was said to have allegedly sold the land to a crony, although state Umno leaders had strongly opposed the development on the base which had existed since 1941.

“We firmly state we are not involved in such allegations, stop speculations without proof,” Shabudin was quoted as saying in a press conference in Perda yesterday.

Also present with him were Umno assemblypersons Jahara Hamid (Teluk Air Tawar), Muhamad Yusoff Mohd Noor (Sungai Dua) and Omar Abdul Hamid (Permatang Berangan).

Afif, who is state PKR chief, admitted that he did mention about the land in his ceramah during the Reformasi 2.0 gathering in Seberang Jaya last Thursday.

However, he said he merely questioned why the federal government under Umno and BN had sold the land without referring to the parliamentarian or assemblypersons under the Tasek Gelugor constituency.

“I urge the parties involved to obtain information from verified sources and to refer to the party who is responsible and not base their statements on rumours as a source to manipulate my statement,” he said.

Meanwhile, Shabudin said that the Umno leaders had met with Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on April 17, adding the party had collected around 1,000 signatures from the local folk who oppose the move.

It is learnt that TSR Capital Bhd (51 percent) will develop the land in a joint venture with Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (30 percent) and Pembinaan Bukit Timah Sdn Bhd (19 percent).