With that, Malaysians should expect huge areas of land becoming foreign enclaves, the former prime minister warned in his latest blog post.
He also claimed that the presence of these foreigners would have a major effect on the political landscape of the nation in future.
Slamming the government for “selling huge chunks of land” to foreign firms, Mahathir said Najib has given a new definition to the term foreign direct investment (FDI).
“He regards foreigners bringing in money to buy land and develop towns and cities where their people would come and stay as foreign direct investment.
“The result does not benefit us at all. Much of the most valuable land will now be owned and occupied by foreigners. In effect, they will become foreign land.”
The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman said that in the past, FDI meant inviting foreign investors to set up manufacturing plants to produce for export. The government would provide land and infrastructure and give tax holidays.
Mahathir said huge tracts of land around Johor Bahru were being sold and once these lands were developed into housing and related properties, it would lead to “mass immigration of foreigners” coming to take up residence in these new townships.
Citing reports that the country had succeeded in securing RM150 billion in FDI during Najib’s official trip to China two months ago, Mahathir said no details were given of the deals that were signed.
“We are just going to see large chunks of land in our country being developed by the foreign buyers and being occupied by them. Eventually they will demand for citizenship and they will participate in Malaysian politics, including in elections.
“Whatever ideology they believe in might change the colour of Malaysian politics,” he said.
Mahathir had previously claimed that 700,000 foreigners would be given citizenship in Johor so that they can vote in the next general election, but this was denied by the home ministry.
He added that some of these foreigners would only live in Malaysia during the winter months, and not permanently.
“This does not make sense as this would mean these townships would become ghost towns for about nine months of the year.”
Mahathir also warned about the community issues that may arise with having “foreign enclaves” within the country.
“We cannot allow thousands of acres to be owned, developed and settled by foreigners. If we do that, literally they would become foreign enclaves, and this would be troublesome for local authorities to manage. Indeed, it will be difficult even for the central government to manage.”