KOTA BELUD: Pintasan incumbent Datuk Fairuz Renddan (pic) who is contesting as an independent candidate in the 17th state election has dismissed allegations linking him to a 30 per cent project commission scheme as cheap issues deliberately raised to tarnish his reputation.
The allegations, which surfaced on TikTok, claimed that Fairuz received 30 per cent kickbacks from businesspeople lobbying for project approvals during his tenure as
Political Secretary to the Sabah Finance Minister, Assistant Minister for Special Duties and Assistant Minister for Youth and Sports.
“This is the work of malicious parties with no campaign resources who choose the easy route to destroy my image with such cheap issues,” Fairuz said in a statement, here, Thursday.
He said the accusations are baseless and false, rejecting claims that he used his position as an elected representative as a shield from investigation and scrutiny.
“These allegations are serious, malicious and full of sentiment aimed at damaging my reputation, especially after I resigned as Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) Youth Chief and Gagasan Rakyat Pintasan Division Chief. There is no official evidence whatsoever regarding the issues they raised on social media,” he said.
Fairuz said healthy election campaigning reflects political maturity, criticising those unable to practice healthy political culture during the campaign season.
Addressing allegations involving businessman Albert Tei, Fairuz clarified that the RM5,000 payment received into his Public Bank account was a donation for food baskets during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I have no problem if he wants me to return the money. When the money was deposited into the Public Bank account, it was stated as a donation or assistance for payment of food baskets that we distributed to the people at that time,” he said.
