Md Mahathir Md Salleh Huddin, the son of Md Salleh Huddin Abu Hanifah, is listed as one of the shareholders in OPG Global Group Sdn Bhd, the company awarded the contract to manage the Integrated Manasik Monitoring System (Imams), which has since been shot down by Putrajaya amid strong opposition.
The tourism ministry’s directory lists Salleh as an adviser to minister Nazri Aziz as well as for Destination Perak Sdn Bhd, a state-owned company that carries out tourism promotion in Perak.
When contacted, Salleh said he had nothing to do with the company even though his son was involved in it.
“My son is a shareholder. I have nothing to do with it. These details are all available in the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) registry,” he told FMT.
“He has been doing business for a long time now. He is not a newbie.”
Salleh also clarified that he was not Nazri’s special officer, as claimed in messages making the rounds on social media, adding that he played an advisory role for the tourism ministry without getting paid “a single sen”.
“I am only a freelancer. So if you read (the ministry website), the name listed is a subsidiary of PKNP. That is all,” he said, referring to Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Perak which owns Destination Perak.
“I am merely an adviser on Perak tourism,” he added.
Imams was cancelled following brickbats from the public and industry players.
Nazri had previously said that the system, which was to act as a conduit between the Saudi Arabian embassy and umrah visa applicants, was cancelled because it was not what he had wanted.
He told FMT that someone in his ministry had misunderstood his intention.
Imams would have been the sole authority for visa applications to perform the umrah.
Under the scheme, a visa applicant is charged an additional fee of RM90.10 which includes fees for processing and an insurance scheme, as well as the 6% goods and services tax.