Johor bahru: Claims that the Johor government has failed to act on land issues affecting residents of Kampung Melayu Majidi are false, baseless and misleading, former state executive councillor Mohd Hairi Mad Shah said today.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Mohd Hairi stated that, as of May 31, the state government had streamlined the lease renewal process under Section 90A of the National Land Code to make applications clearer and more systematic. He also mentioned that a 50 per cent premium discount had been introduced to ease the financial burden on residents, while four outreach sessions involving 91 villagers had been held to assist them with the process.

'A total of 35 applications have been received, approved and issued with Form 5A notices. The first batch was presented by Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi on May 26 last year, followed by another presentation on June 26 this year,' Mohd Hairi said in a statement today. As the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Larkin seat in the Johor state election on July 11, he emphasized that the remaining applications were being processed.

He shared records from the Johor Bahru Land Office which indicated that 938 houses in Kampung Melayu Majidi have 30 years or less remaining on their land leases, while 426 have between 31 and 60 years remaining and 23 have more than 61 years left. Mohd Hairi noted that a special counter to process lease extension applications has been operating at the Kampung Melayu Majidi Business Centre since last Monday and will remain open until tomorrow. A total of 77 residents submitted applications during the first two days of operations, which Mohd Hairi believes reflects their confidence in the state's approach.

He also questioned those who had been vocal in criticizing the issue but failed to come up with a comprehensive solution when they previously had the opportunity to do so. 'Making promises that are constrained by law while pointing fingers from the sidelines is not a struggle. It is cheap politics that uses the people as political capital,' he said. He further added that BN remains committed to ensuring all solutions are implemented transparently, with residents' welfare as the priority and in line with efforts to strengthen the 'Bangsa Johor' community.

Earlier, former PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli, in a video that went viral on social media, claimed that UMNO representatives in the area had failed to raise issues involving leasehold land in Kampung Melayu Majidi.