Nga and I were not given any land by Kelantan Government
A pro BN blog, Pisau.net maliciously claimed that Kelantan Menteri Besar, Tok Guru Nik Aziz approved to me and YB Nga Kor Ming 10,526 acres of land in exchange for our agreement to appoint Dato’ Seri Nizar Bin Jamaluddin as Menteri Besar in 2008.
The claim in Pisau.net is a blatant lie. UMNO knows the truth about the said land but pro BN media continue to cause confusion and therefore I feel the need to issue this media statement.
I have on 19/12/2012 lodged a police report for action to be taken under Section 8A (Offence for publishing false news) of the Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984 and Section 499 (Criminal Defamation) of the Penal Code against those who defamed Tok Guru Nik Aziz, YB Nga Kor Ming and me. I have instructed my lawyer to take legal action against those who have defamed YB Nga Kor Ming and me.
I would like to reiterate that neither YB Nga Kor Ming nor I was given any land by the Kelantan Government. The acquisition of Upayapadu Plantation Sdn Bhd together with other investors in April this year (2012) was a commercial transaction purchased in the open market.
The above said issue was brought up by BN in order to divert the public’s attention from the scandals that YB Nga Kor Ming and I have exposed in the recent State Assembly involving BN Perak Government approving to UMNO/BN cronies state lands worth Hundreds of Millions Ringgit.
In order for the public to be very clear that there was no corrupt or any improper dealing in the acquisition of Upayapadu Plantation Sdn Bhd, let me explain the following:-
(i) I have informed YB Lim Kit Siang a few month ago that I was involved in the Gua Musang project.
(ii) I have also informed and explained to the Pakatan Rakyat Perak leadership about 2 months ago of the said matter when a blog, Media Perak started to post malicious accusation against me and YB Nga Kor Ming with regard to the said matter.
(iii) I have by a leter dated 6/9/2012 informed the Inland Revenue Department of the acquisition and have asked the Department for a ruling whether a certain tax is payable with regard to the said acquisition.
(iv) The Deputy Minister for Plantation Industries and Commodities, Dato’ Hamzah Bin Zainuddin from UMNO has also been informed of the abovesaid acquisition as Chairman of Program Pembangunan Ladang Hutan (Reforestation Programme) which had granted a loan for the development of the said land. He met me personally in Parliament and explained that the Government will continue the loan even though the project is now taken over by me who is from the opposition. The said development to plant rubber timber clones trees is important to ensure sufficient sustainable supply of timber for the furniture industry.
Therefore, the acquisition of Upayapadu Plantation Sdn Bhd was not done in a secretive manner. I must repeat that it was a commercial transaction purchased in the open market.
As the Perak PR leadership had been informed earlier, when the false allegation surfaced the last few days it did not take PR Perak by surprise. I would like to thank the PR Perak elected representatives for handling the issue so well that when BN elected representatives threw the false allegation in the Perak State Assembly, the PR representatives were able to corner them and made them look stupid. None of the BN elected representatives who raised the issue dared to repeat the allegation outside the State Assembly knowing very well that their allegation was false.
I have explained the matter through the media and Tok Guru Nik Aziz has also through his press secretary issued a media statement to refute the allegation on 21 December 2012. Tok Guru Nik Aziz has also personally refuted the allegation when asked by the media.
In order for the public to understand this matter more clearly let me lay out the following facts with regard to the said 10,526 acres of land.
On 13/9/20000, the Kelantan Government approved the land to Yayasan Islam Kelantan (YIK).
In December 2000, the land was approved to one company to develop but it failed to develop the land. The land was taken back by YIK on 18/8/2004.
YIK awarded the land to Upayapadu Plantation Sdn Bhd to develop on 28/8/2005 and the Agreement was signed on 3/5/2006.
Upayapadu Plantation Sdn Bhd also was not successful in developing the project and its shareholders decided to sell the company.
I and the other investors (YB Nga Kor Ming included) bought the company in April this year (2012).
Clearly, the allegation that we were given the land in exchange for our agreement to appoint Dato’ Seri Nizar Bin Jamaluddin in 2008 is a blatant lie.
Two (2) companies have failed. We hope we will succeed. The new shareholders are taking a business risk like any other investors.
As my personal integrity is being questioned, I would like to state that never in my whole life have I given a single sen of bribe and neither have I taken a single sen of bribe. This pledge I have made from the days of my youth when I was the Methodist Youth Fellowship President of the Chinese Methodist Church Ayer Tawar when I saw the upright suffers under a corrupt system. My adviser, the late Miss Cheok Bee Lan in holding fast to her Christian principles had to take the 7th time her driving test before getting her driving licence just because she will not give in to then rampant corrupt practice of ‘guaranteed pass package’.
I state this with great humility as I have many other weaknesses but the public must not be allowed to doubt my sincerity in fighting corruption. We must not allow BN to use falsehoods to divert public’s attention from their corrupt practices.
