TIMBER CORRUPTION: PKR to hold press conference on Anifah and Musa

PKR leaders will hold a press conference this afternoon to divulge further details concerning Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, who was accused of corruption in timber and logging concessions by whistle-blower website Sarawak Report.
Anifah's borther, Musa Aman who is the Sabah Chief Minister, has also been accused of involvement.
Special Task Force
According to PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli, PKR deputy secretary-general Darell Leiking will be attending this afternoon press conference as well.
Darell has been part of the Special Task Force set up by PKR to investigate into the roles played by the Aman brothers in Sabah's lucrative but notoriously 'dirty' timber industry for the past 3 months.
The press conference will be held at the Parliament lobby at 1.30pm on Monday.
Apart from Rafizi and Darell, Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah and Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah will be present.

CORRUPTION: M'sian Foreign Minister named in MACC probe into Sabah Timber

According to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) documents obtained by Sarawak Report, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister, Anifar Aman, has been the secret beneficiary of lucrative timber licences in Sabah’s dwindling Forest Reserves.
The concessions came thanks to his brother, the local Chief Minister, Musa Aman.
The documents form part of a major investigation by the MACC into timber corruption, after an agent and nominee for Musa Aman, Michael Chia, was caught attempting to smuggle SG$16million out of Hong Kong in 2008.
We can reveal that the leaked papers show that investigators concluded that the Chief Minister had corruptly issued timber licences to his brother worth tens of millions of ringgit in their home state.
However, the investigation has been blocked at the highest levels and its findings kept secret, until now.
Our informants say that the brothers’ relative and fellow Sabahan, Attorney General, Abdul Gani bin Patail, has refused to allow charges to be brought and PM, Najib Razak, has scandalously turned a blind eye to the affair.
Virgin Forest Reserve was cleared by Aman
The documents in our possession list two major concessions and a salvaging and purchase arrangement with Yayasan Sabah for felled logs. The beneficiaries of the deals are listed as Anifar Aman and Hairul Aman, a nephew. Yayasan Sabah’s Forest Manager, Mohd Daud Tampokong was identified as the man who had authorised the agreements.

Named - Anifah and his nephew were named as the believed beneficiaries of these concessions in this MACC document detailing who had what timber concession in Sabah

We can see from the document that one set of deals was conducted through the company Aktif Syabas Sdn Bhd. The company was licensed to harvest 4,336 hectares of timber in block YS (Yayasan Sandakan) 1/02 and to further salvage and purchase ‘residual logs’ in  Benta Wawasan’s concession BW2/00(1), an area of 3,000 hectares.

Musa Aman, former Yayasan Executive, turned politician. How come his brother was one of the first beneficiaries of a timber licence of virgin Forest Reserve, according to MACC documents?

However, the other deal, made with the company Para Era Sdn Bhd, is even more shocking. It allows the concessionaire to extract timber from 2,000 hectares of virgin forest at the Pinagah Forest Reserve:

“Log extraction contract to harvest timber with 60-120cm dbh from a 2,000 ha of virgin forest at the Pinangah Forest reserve”. (see above table extract)

According to the document produced by the MACC, the parties behind these deals was Anifah Aman and his nephew Hairul, who are named on the document.
It is therefore noteworthy that both licences were awarded shortly after Anifah’s brother, Musa Aman (left) became Chief Minister and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Yayasan Sabah in 2003.
Tragically, our information is that the Forest Reserve was totally razed by 2007, despite the strictures about only felling trees over 60cm.
This MACC information substantiates complaints from within the industry that Musa Aman has turned existing corruption in Sabah’s timber business into a full-scale rape of the remaining forests in the state:

“He has maximised the kickback squeeze” confided one insider to Sarawak Report

Gani connection

Attorney General - Abdul Gani has prevented the MACC's investigation into Sabah timber corruption from proceeding

None of the public documents of these companies actually name Aman as the beneficiary.
However, insiders claim that the use of nominees is standard in the Sabah timber business and clearly the investigation by MACC officials led them to conclude, after months of investigation, that the Foreign Minister was the true concessionaire.
Yet, this conclusion by the MACC has never been tested in court, because the  Attorney General, Abdul Gani biin Patail, who is also from Lahad Datu in Sabah and closely connected to the Aman family, has refused to pursue the case.
Indeed the Attorney General has forced the MACC to shelve its entire investigation in Sabah, which was one of the largest and most extensive ever undertaken by that body and involved sums amounting to billions of ringgit, siphoned out of the state by corruption at the highest level.
So, it is surely of concern that, given Abdul Gani’s close family relationship to the Musa brothers, the Attourney General did not withdraw from the decision over whether to continue with the case.

Gani's wife is married to the sister of Musa's close associate, Johan Abdul Samad, Deputy Director of Yayasan Sabah and Samad's own sister is Foreign Minister Anifah's wife!

In such cases, where there is a plain conflict of interest, the government’s top law officer has to be seen to be acting from a position of impartiality. However, he has done the opposite and used his position to block any action on the huge body of evidence showing corruption in Sabah at the highest levels of state government and beyond.

Official shareholders - Aktif Syabas Sdn Bhd has been identified as a company linked to the Foreign Minister and his nephew

The political interests are equally glaring. Gani, who gained a mere 3rd class law degree at the University of Malaya, has never been regarded as one of the country’s best legal minds, yet he has been promoted to the top of the judiciary.
Critics regard him as primarily a BN ‘yes man’, appointed to a pole position to protect corrupted politicians.
With Malaysia rocketing to the top of the international league for illegal capital flight, many are concerned that it Gani’s refusal to allow high level corruption investigations to go ahead that has allowed BN politicians to continue to siphon out the country’s wealth unhindered.
Tragic loss of a Forest Reserve in Sabah

No habitat left for the world's most endangered species - this Sabah jungle has been almost wiped out since Musa Aman became Chief Minister

Meanwhile, our research has calculated the monetary value of the loss of the Pinangah Forest Reserve to the company Para Era Sdn Bhd.
Under the licence, this precious area of bio-diversity was supposed only to be selectively logged.
Indeed, according to insiders only around 20% of the available timber in the 2,000 hectare concession was ever officially reported and taxed by the authorities.
Yet the area has been completely razed, after becoming  caught up in a mysterious scandal, involving allegations of illegal logging that were later dropped by the MACC.
In the headline-grabbing case in 2007, 20 lorries were detained and 5,000 logs worth millions were seized during an MACC raid against clear-felling in this region by workers, supposedly working without a licence.  It was one of the biggest round-ups of alleged illegal loggers ever in Malaysia.
The result of this logging, as so many other cases, was the destruction of this virgin forest reserve.

MACC inspectors conducting the raid on illegal logging in the Sabah area in 2007

Yet, despite the raids and promises of a full enquiry, in the end the authorities never made a single arrest!
Having at first declared it would cooperate to track down the people behind this illegal logging, the Forestry Department’s Sam Mannan later declared that the loggers had been legal after all and in possession of a permit.
This was in spite of the clear felling of the area and the fact that only a fraction of the available timber was declared!
These contradictions have never been explained and the MACC has given up trying to prosecute the case.
It leaves many suspicions unanswered.  In particular there is a well known track record of some timber concessions using back door illegal logging to harvest their own areas, in order to avoid the taxes and restrictions imposed against clear felling.
So, if those caught clear-felling the jungle had permits after all, why have the company and the Forestry Department not come clear about what on earth has been going on and why the area has been destroyed?
A crime worth tens of millions

YS6/04 - the area of once virgin jungle that was handed to Para Era Sdn Bhd and destroyed

Whoever did benefit from the destruction of Pinangah made tens of millions.
Experts say that virgin jungle provides 100 cubic metres of wood per hectare.  Licence holders are supposed to pay Yayasan Sabah (the State) RM55 and the Forestry Department RM95 per cubic metre logged, a total of RM150 in tax.
This should afford a profit to the licence holder of RM30million for a 2,000 hectare area.
However, because the entire area has been harvested and very little declared, it turns out that roughly 200,000 cubic metres of wood have been extracted without paying that RM150 per cubic metre in tax!  This means a total of around RM30million in tax avoidance.
Mystery money
So, someone has made RM60million out of felling this concession, double the already substantial RM30million of profit that would have made if the logging had been taxed.
And they have destroyed the landscape in the process and denied revenue to the people of Sabah.
Yet, because of the failure to conclude a proper investigation and prosecution into the case, it has not been established whether those responsible were genuine illegal loggers, or someone to do with the actual concession holders.
And, because the MACC has been blocked into its own investigations into the corruption surrounding the issuing of this concession in the first place, it has not been established whether the licence is indeed corruptly linked to Anifah Aman, the brother of the Chief Minister of Sabah and the Foreign Minister of Malaysia.

YS means Yayasan Sandakan - the Forest Department map showing the Forest Reserve area that was destroyed

According to the leaked papers in our possession, the MACC investigators did believe there was such a corrupt link and that Aman was the beneficiary.
As a result, there remain an awful lot of questions officially unanswered over what is just part of one of Malaysia’s worst corruption scandals.  Luckily, Sarawak Report now has a mass of evidence relating to the suppressed MACC enquiry, which it will be revealing to the public over coming days!

Isu balak: Anifah nafi disiasat SPRM

Menteri luar, Datuk Seri Anifah Aman mendakwa beliau tidak tahu menahu mengenai dakwaan bahawa Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) mendapati beliau secara rasuah telah menerima lesen balak daripada abangnya yang juga ketua menteri Sabah, Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

MP Kimanis itu berkata, dakwaan "terdesak" itu telah diada-adakan oleh pihak berkenaan.

Dalam jawapannya melalui SMS kepada Malaysiakini, beliau berkata beliau tidak tahu menahu mengenai perkara itu.

Ditanya sekiranya beliau telah disiasat SPRM, Anifah menafikan perkara itu dan itulah kali pertama beliau mendengar mengenai dakwaan seperti itu.

Beliau mengulas laporan laman web Sarawak Report, Khamis lalu yang mendakwa mendapat dokumen bocor SPRM yang mendakwa demikian. -MK

Anifah dinamakan dalam siasatan rasuah balak Sabah

Menteri Luar Datuk Seri Anifah Aman didakwa diberikan lesen pembalakan lumayan secara rahsia di negeri itu, lapor laman pembocor maklumat Sarawak Report.

Laman itu mendakwa memiliki dokumen Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) yang siasatannya didakwa memutuskan Ketua Menteri Sabah Datuk Seri Musa Aman secara salah mengeluarkan lesen bernilai puluhan juta ringgit kepada saudaranya itu.

Menurut laporan itu lagi, dokumen daripada sebahagian siasatan terhadap penyelewengan balak selepas agen dan penama bagi Musa, Michael Chia, ditahan kerana cuba menyeludup keluar RM16 juta keluar daripada Hong Kong pada 2008.

"Bagaimanapun, siasatan telah disekat di peringkat tertinggi dan hasilnya kekal rahsia, sehingga sekarang," lapor Sarawak Report lagi. -MK

Aman brothers involved in Sabah timber graft?

Foreign Minister Anifah Aman has been a secret beneficiary of lucrative timber licences in Sabah thanks to his elder brother, Chief Minister Musa Aman, said Sarawak Report.

The whistleblower website said it has in its possession leaked Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) documents showing its investigators had concluded that the Sabah chief minister had corruptly issued timber licences to his brother worth tens of millions of ringgit.

According to Sarawak Report, the documents form part of a major investigation by the MACC into timber corruption after an agent and nominee for Musa Aman, Michael Chia, was caught attempting to smuggle RM16 million out of Hong Kong in 2008.

“However, the investigation has been blocked at the highest levels and its findings kept secret, until now.

“Our informants say that the brothers’ relative and fellow Sabahan, attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail, has refused to allow charges to be brought and PM Najib Razak has scandalously turned a blind eye to the affair.”

Sarawak Report claimed that Abdul Gani, who is closely connected to the Aman family, has refused to pursue the case.

“Indeed the attorney-general has forced the MACC to shelve its entire investigation in Sabah, which was one of the largest and most extensive ever undertaken by that body, and involved sums amounting to billions of ringgit siphoned out of the state by corruption at the highest level.”

Last week, MACC deputy commissioner (operations) Mohd Shukri Abdull lamented that Attorney-General's Chambers had refused to bring many “valid cases” the commission had investigated to court due to “insufficient evidence”.

Major conflict of interest

The website said with Abdul Gani’s close ties with the Musa family, the AG should have opted out of making a decision on the investigations.

“In such cases where there is a plain conflict of interest, the government’s top law officer has to be seen to be acting from a position of impartiality.”

The website detailed documents in their possession that named Anifah and a nephew, Hairul Aman as beneficiaries of two major timber concessions through two companies allegedly linked to them.

One, Aktif Syabas Sdn Bhd, had licence to harvest 4,336 hectares of timber in land belonging state-owned agency Yayasan Sabah, and purchase residual timber from another 3,000 hectares.

“The other deal, made with the company Para Era Sdn Bhd, is even more shocking. It allows the concessionaire to extract timber from 2,000 hectares of virgin forest at the Pinagah Forest Reserve (right),” it said.

Sarawak Report lamented that the forest reserve was “totally razed by 2007".

Recalling a “headline-grabbing case” in 2007 where MACC had detained 20 lorries and 5,000 logs worth millions allegedly harvested from virgin forests, the website noted that not a single arrest had precipitated.

“Tragically, our information is that the forest reserve was totally razed by 2007, despite the strictures about only felling trees over 60cm.

“This MACC information substantiates complaints from within the industry that Musa Aman has turned existing corruption in Sabah’s timber business into a full-scale rape of the remaining forests in the state.”

The Anifah connection

Sarawak Report added that it was noteworthy that both deals were awarded shortly after Musa became chief minister and chairperson of the board of trustees of Yayasan Sabah in 2003.

It said while Musa was not named directly in any of the companies’ public documents, the practice of employing nominees was a “standard” practice in Sabah.

“...insiders claim that the use of nominees is standard in the Sabah timber business and clearly the investigation by MACC officials led them to conclude, after months of investigation, that the foreign minister was the true concessionaire," it said.

It added that the leaked papers in their possession show that the MACC investigators "did believe there was such a corrupt link and that Aman was the beneficiary”.

Amangate: Swiss bank mum on Sabah allegation

UBS, the Swiss bank at the centre of allegations of money laundering by Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman, said it couldn't comment on the claims although a spokesman for the bank said it is fully committed to assisting in the fight against money laundering.

"UBS does not comment on market speculation or rumour," Mark Panday, a spokesman for the bank's operations in Hong Kong, told Asia Sentinel.

"However, in all markets in which it operates, UBS's policy is to cooperate fully with regulators. Indeed, it is committed to assisting in the fight against money-laundering, including corruption and terrorist financing."

The Sarawak Report, an NGO-based in Kuching and London, alleged in a report made public on Sunday that more than US$90 million was passed circuitously in 2007 by a Sabah lawyer from Musa into the lawyer's UBS Hong Kong account before it was forwarded in turn to a UBS Zurich account in the chief minister's own name.

The money transfers allegedly were shepherded by a UBS client manager, who originally worked at the Singapore branch for HSBC Hong Kong until 2006. According to the report, the manager moved to UBS, taking the accounts with him.

The Sarawak Report said Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption discovered the transactions in an investigation into alleged money-laundering by a Musa associate, Michael Chia (far right), and compiled a detailed list of the transactions between the lawyer, Chia and the UBS accounts.

The UBS client manager is believed to have left UBS. A call to the UBS Hong Kong office elicited no response. Panday declined any further comment on the matter.

Maximum of 14 years in prison

Hong Kong's money-laundering law, which appears to be focused mainly on drug trafficking, nonetheless make it an offence for bankers, lawyers or accountants to deal with property they know or have reasonable grounds to believe represents the proceeds of drug trafficking or other serious crimes.

Offenders are subject to a maximum of 14 years in prison. Records must be kept on any transaction over HK$8,000, the rough equivalent of US$1,000.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's voluminous guidelines put the onus on banks and other financial institutions and their professional employees to ensure that companies follow legal guidelines on deposits.

As required by the guidelines, banks make it a common practice to subject all employees dealing with the transfer of funds to regular, detailed briefings on money-laundering statutes and the penalties involved.

The need to guard against money laundering received new impetus in 2004 when the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) urged banks to be especially alert to the possibility of money laundering as the territory prepared to become an outlet for yuan-denominated deposits.

In June of that year, the HKMA issued a supplement to the territory's anti-money laundering guidelines, setting out ‘Know-Your-Customer' principles, taking account of the requirements of a paper on ‘Customer Due Diligence for Banks' issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

No further investigation

However, it is believed that despite the voluminous allegations and documents presented by Sarawak Report into the UBS client manager's activities, no further investigation into the bank's activities will be carried out in Hong Kong.

The files and documents amassed by Sarawak Report are regarded by authorities to be genuine although Cecily Chik, senior press information officer at the ICAC in Hong Kong, simply said, "We would not comment on questions on operational matters."

According to Sarawak Report, the documents were forwarded by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The NGO alleged that Abdul Gani Patail, the Malaysia attorney-general, blocked an investigation into the case.

The Sarawak Report told Asia Sentinel that Gani's wife is connected both to the key associate of Musa Aman at Yayasan Sabah, which controls the state's wood supply, and the brother of Anifah Aman's wife. Apparently frustrated MACC officials passed the file to the NGO.

In any case, the Sarawak Report alleged that the money in the Hong Kong accounts was ordered frozen when ICAC investigators moved in, but when the three-year statute of limitations lapsed in Malaysia, the funds are believed to have been passed on to the Zurich account and to Musa.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority guidelines, however, established a six-year statute of limitations.

"Those involved blame Malaysia's refusal to sign a cooperation agreement on the investigation for the collapse of the case and the subsequent release of all the money back to Musa and his collaborators," Sarawak Report alleged.

Account contained US$30 million

A May 25, 2007 letter obtained by the ICAC stated that the UBS account no 231117 should "hold [the money] on trust for Musa Aman," the NGO said.

Investigators noted that on May 31, 2008 the account contained US$29.6 million. The NGO alleged that Musa was paid the money for illegal timber sales.

A flow chart said to have been created by the ICAC in Hong Kong shows money coming in from certain companies into accounts managed by Michael Chia and his nominees in Hong Kong, then being passed to a number of British Virgin Island companies including CTF International, Zenique Investment and Blisstop Corp then back to the UBS Hong Kong account managed by the Sabah lawyer.

The chart demonstrates that the accumulated money was then passed from the lawyer into UBS Account No 230-75069201 in Zurich in the name of Musa Aman (right).

Investigators noted that on May 31, 2008, the lawyer's accounts contained US$29.6 million for account 231117, US$37 million for account 280777 and SG$9.5 million for account 280666.

The Hong Kong Account 231117, which had been in existence since 2006, received a US$22.4 million injection of money from another account, between April 28 and May 31.

According to the report, much of the money coming into the Chia accounts was linked to Sabah timber traders connected to listed companies in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, with Musa directly authorising the concessions.

Some of the transactions obtained by Sarawak Report name the reason for telegraphic transfers ‘Deposit For Concession'.

In return, loggers are said to have illegally denuded two large areas of forest supposedly protected by a Heart of Borneo Treaty between the Sabah government and the World Wildlife Fund - before Musa signed the Heart of Borneo Treaty with the environmental group.

'US$30mil held on trust for Musa Aman'

Whistleblower website Sarawak Report has revealed more documents purportedly from the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), claiming that a Sabah lawyer has a Swiss bank account holding close to US$30 million on trust for Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman.  

In its latest posting, the website claimed that evidence from the Hong Kong authorities shows that the account was opened in the lawyer's name with the Swiss Bank UBS in Hong Kong. This is allegedly operating under written instructions that the money is to be held on trust for Musa.

"A letter dated 25th May 2007, and now in the possession of the ICAC, stated the account should 'hold (the money) on trust for Aman,” the report states.

"Investigators noted that on 31st May 2008, that account contained US$29.6 million!”

The website based its allegation on a flow chart said to be compiled by the ICAC, showing a money trail leading from timber kickbacks to Musa's personal bank account with UBS in Zurich.

The chart tags the lawyer's bank account with the words 'Hold on trust for Aman'.

It illustrates how millions in Euro and in US, Hong Kong and Singapore dollars flowed from certain companies into accounts managed by Sabah timber trader Michael Chia and his nominees in Hong Kong, to a number of British Virgin Island companies and then to the lawyer's account.
        
The accumulated money was then passed into an account in Zurich in Musa's name, according to the chart.

The website claimed that it has copies of numerous bank statements that verify the information in the flow chart.

Musa has denied the allegations linking him with Chia, who was detained and charged with money laundering by trying to smuggle S$16 million into Malaysia.

Following Chia's arrest in Hong Kong, investigators got the ICAC to freeze his bank accounts for up to three years.

Sarawak Report also claimed that an instruction to forward US$22.4 million from the lawyer's account to Musa's account had been frozen together with the money when the ICAC investigators moved in.

However, the three-year statutory period on investigations expired late last year and the money is now believed to have been accessed by the account holders, it said.

The website blamed the collapse of the case and the subsequent release of all the money to Musa and his collaborators, on Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail's(left) refusal to sign a cooperation agreement on the investigation.

It alleged that Abdul Gani, who has close family connections with Musa's family, has been protecting the latter and had blocked his office from pressing charges.

'Land status changed'

The website claimed that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), which had received a copy of the ICAC investigation information and had uncovered much information on the Sabah timber kickbacks, was also blocked by Abdul Gani from acting against Musa.

Citing  extensive documents and insider information, Sarawak Reportsaid the money pouring into Chia's and the lawyer's accounts were kickbacks for timber concessions granted by Musa in his capacity as chairperson of the board of Yayasan Sabah.

The foundation controls some one million hectares of forest land entrusted to it to protect and preserve.

The website named several Malaysian timber traders, whose companies have received timber concessions, as the source of the kickbacks.

It further claimed that the Musa administration had changed the status of many protected areas and virgin forest into that of logging sites and handed these out to the timber companies.

"Our information is that kickbacks demanded by Musa’s agent Chia were on average RM2,500 per hectare of each concession. This amounts to billions of dollars in kickbacks given the huge areas that have been logged since Musa took power," it said.

The website, founded by investigative journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown, the sister-in-law of former British prime minister Gordon Brown, has vowed to release more documents on the illegal timber trade linked to Musa.

BERSIH Sabah releases draft TOR for RCI

Kota Kinabalu: The call for the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the grant of Malaysian citizenship to migrants and the presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah has been reiterated by BERSIH Sabah, who has released a draft terms of reference (TOR) today.

BERSIH Sabah calls for the Commission to publicly produce its interim findings on or before 30 June 2012 or before the 13th General Elections.

“The call for RCI is urgent, particularly for interim findings to be made public before the 13th General Elections as to ensure that there are no phantom or illegal voters sabotaging a free and fair election for Sabah,” says Anne Lasimbang, Director of PACOS (Partners of Communities Organisations).

Wong Tack, Chairperson of Himpunan Hijau further echoes the call, "The RCI is the most pressing issue for Sabah. People from all sides of the divide have expressed their greatest desire to see the RCI implemented before GE13, for without it, election will not be fair and there will not be a future for Sabah."

"Unfortunately, the federal regime has not shown the slightest willingness to carry out the peoples' wishes. Therefore, it is time not to come on these people who merely provide lip service. The resolution of this issue now lies in the hands of the people."

Wong Tack further urges Sabahans to come out on April 28th at Padang Merdeka, "to demonstrate their strongest anger on this issue".

BERSIH Sabah also welcomes Parti Bersatu Sabah’s (PBS) recent call for RCI before the General Election polls, and invites all supporting parties for RCI to join the nation-wide sit-in on April 28th, 2pm onwards at the Padang Merdeka, Kota Kinabalu.

Notes: Attached is the proposed TOR for the RCI, and photo of BERSIH Sabah committee & reps of endorsing organisations at Padang Merdeka

BERSIH Sabah is an independent non-partisan movement based in Sabah for free & fair elections. Local organisations, political parties and movements who have endorsed BERSIH Sabah include the indigenous NGO, PACOS (Partners of Communities Organisations), Himpunan Hijau, GAMIS (Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam Se-Malaysia), USDA (United Sabah Dusun Association), Tindak Malaysia, TABAH, PKR, STAR-Sabah, SAPP, DAP, PAS.

UBS Says No Comment to Sabah Money Laundering Report

Hopefully the balloon will stay up

But says its policy is to cooperate fully with authorities
The Swiss bank UBS, at the center of allegations of money laundering by Sabah’s chief minister Musa Aman, said it couldn’t comment on the claims although a spokesman for the bank said UBS is fully committed to assisting in the fight against money laundering.

“UBS does not comment on market speculation or rumor,” Mark Panday, a spokesman for the bank’s operations in Hong Kong, told Asia Sentinel. “However, in all markets in which it operates, UBS’s policy is to cooperate fully with regulators. Indeed, it is committed to assisting in the fight against money-laundering, including corruption and terrorist financing.”

The Sarawak Report, an NGO based in Kuching and London, alleged in a report made public Sunday that more than US$90 million was passed circuitously in 2007 by Sabah lawyer Richard Christopher Barnes from Musa into Barnes’ UBS Hong Kong account before it was forwarded in turn to a UBS Zurich account in the chief minister's own name.

The money transfers allegedly were shepherded by a UBS client manager named Denis Chua, who originally worked at the Singapore branch for HSBC Hong Kong until 2006. According to the report, Chua moved to UBS, taking the accounts with him.

The Sarawak Report said Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption discovered the transactions in an investigation into alleged money-laundering by a Musa associate, Michael Chia Tien Foh, and compiled a detailed list of the transactions between Barnes, Chia and the UBS accounts.

Denis Chua is believed to have left UBS. A call to the UBS Hong Kong office elicited no response. Panday declined any further comment on the matter.

Hong Kong’s money-laundering law, which appears to be focused mainly on drug trafficking, nonetheless make it an offense for bankers, lawyers or accountants to deal with property they know or have reasonable grounds to believe represents the proceeds of drug trafficking or other serious crimes. Offenders are subject to a maximum of 14 years in prison. Records must be kept on any transaction over HK$8,000, the rough equivalent of US$1,000.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s voluminous guidelines put the onus on banks and other financial institutions and their professional employees to ensure that companies follow legal guidelines on deposits. As required by the guidelines, banks make it a common practice to subject all employees dealing with the transfer of funds to regular, detailed briefings on money-laundering statutes and the penalties involved.

The need to guard against money laundering received new impetus in 2004 when the Hong Kong Monetary Authority urged banks to be especially alert to the possibility of money laundering as the territory prepared to become an outlet for yuan-denominated deposits. In June of that year, the HKMA issued a supplement to the territory's anti-money laundering guidelines, setting out "Know-Your-Customer" principles, taking account of the requirements of a paper on "Customer Due Diligence for Banks" issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

However, it is believed that despite the voluminous allegations and documents presented by Sarawak Report into Denis Chua’s activities, no further investigation into the bank’s activities will be carried out in Hong Kong.

The files and documents amassed by Sarawak Report, which can be found here, are regarded by authorities to be genuine although Cecily Chik, senior press information officer at the ICAC in Hong Kong, simply said "We would not comment on questions on operational matters." According to Sarawak Report, the documents were forwarded by the ICAC to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, known as the MACC.

The NGO alleged that Abdul Gani Patail, the Malaysia Attorney General, blocked an investigation into the case, in which tens of millions of dollars were routed from Sabah into the Hong Kong bank account and further funneled into a UBS account in Zurich, Switzerland, which was held in Musa’s name. Although Sarawak Report alleged that Gani blocked the probe because of a personal relationship with Musa, others say there was no personal relationship. Apparently frustrated MACC officials passed the file to the NGO.

In any case, the Sarawak Report alleged that the money in the Hong Kong accounts was ordered frozen when ICAC investigators moved in, but when the three-year statute of limitations lapsed in Malaysia, the funds are believed to have been passed on to the Zurich account and to Musa. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority guidelines, however, established a six-year statute of limitations.

“Those involved blame Malaysia’s refusal to sign a cooperation agreement on the investigation for the collapse of the case and the subsequent release of all the money back to Musa and his collaborators,” Sarawak Report alleged.

A May 25, 2007 letter obtained by the ICAC stated that the UBS account no. 231117 should “hold [the money] on trust for Aman,” the NGO said. Investigators noted that on May 31 2008 the account contained US$29.6 million. The NGO alleged that Musa was paid the money for illegal timber sales.

A flow chart said to have been created by the ICAC in Hong Kong shows money coming in from certain companies into accounts managed by Michael Chia and his nominees in Hong Kong, then being passed to a number of British Virgin Island companies including CTF International, Zenique Investment and Blisstop Corp. then back to the UBS Hong Kong account managed by Barnes.

The chart demonstrates that the accumulated money was then passed from Barnes into UBS Account No. 230-75069201 in Zurich in the name of Musa Aman.

Investigators noted that on 31st May 2008 the Barnes accounts contained US$29.6 million for account 231117, US$37 million for account 280777 and SG$9.5 million for account 280666. The Hong Kong Account 231117, which had been in existence since 2006, received a US$22.4 million injection of money from another Barnes account, between April 28th and May 31st.

According to the report, much of the money coming into the Chia accounts was linked to Sabah timber traders connected to listed companies in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, with Musa directly authorizing the concessions. Some of the transactions obtained by Sarawak Report name the reason for telegraphic transfers “Deposit For Concession.”

In return, loggers are said to have illegally denuded two large areas of forest supposedly protected by a Heart of Borneo Treaty between the Sabah government and the World Wildlife Fund -- before Musa signed the Heart of Borneo Treaty with the WWF.

Dompok Denies Bumburing Has Quit Upko

PENAMPANG -- United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok has described the rumuor that its deputy president Datuk Wilfred Bumburing had quit the party as "purely rumour and speculation" designed to confuse the people ahead of the impending general election.
"He is a friend of mine and a member of the party and my deputy. I have just spoken to him and he sounded out that there is this type of things being circulated but it was not true," he told reporters after attending the handing over ceremony of "Projek Baik Pulih Rumah Penduduk" at Kampung Putaton, near here Sunday.
Dompok, who is also Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, was asked to comment on speculation the past few weeks that Bumburing, who has been calling on the Federal government to resolve the illegal immigrants problem in Sabah, had left the party to join non-governmental group Angkatan Amanah Merdeka (AMM) which is headed by former Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Najib Yakin BN Rampas Negeri Di Bawah Pemerentahan PR Pada PRU-13?

Sama ada BN dapat menawan negeri-negeri di perentah oleh kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat hanya akan ditentukan selepas PRU13. Negeri-negeri yang dimaksudkan ia lah Selangor, Kedah, Pulau Pinang dan Kelantan.
Pada dasarnya, hanya rakyat dinegeri-negeri tersebut yang mempunyai mandat menentukan kerajaan BN atau pun PR yang mereka pilih pada PRU akan datang ini nanti.
Namun begitu, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak penuh keyakinan dengan keupayaan Barisan Nasional (BN) untuk merampas negeri-negeri yang ketika ini dikuasai pembangkang pada Pilihan Raya Umum (PRU) ke-13 yang akan diadakan pada bila-bila masa sahaja lagi.

• Najib selaku Perdana Menteri berkata ini berdasarkan kepada sokongan rakyat terhadap kerajaan yang semakin bertambah baik dan penerimaan dasar kerajaan ketika ini yang memberi tumpuan kepada usaha mentransformasikan negara.
• Najib, yang juga Pengerusi UMNO Selangor, turut menyuarakan keyakinan bahawa negeri Selangor sendiri akan kembali ke pangkuan BN, selepas pembangkang gagal menunaikan banyak janji di negeri itu.
• Katanya beliau bekerja keras untuk memastikan kemenangan BN kerana menurutnya hanya kerajaan BN sahaja yang mampu membawa pembangunan dan pembaharuan berterusan mengikut kehendak dan aspirasi rakyat.
• "Asalkan BN menang, negara berjaya, rakyat Malaysia makmur dan negara maju jadi kenyataan, transformasi dapat dilaksanakan, baru dapat buat transformasi besar," katanya di hadapan lebih 20,000 orang yang hadir pada perhimpunan Perdana Menteri Bersama Rakyat di Sekolah Menengah Putra Perdana Puchong, Petalin Jaya, Ahad lalu.

Selanjutnya Najib berkata beliau serta barisan kepimpinan BN berkerja keras siang dan malam untuk menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi oleh rakyat sekali gus memastikan kemenangan BN.
BN cukup yakin. Pembangkang memang celaru, tengok banyak janji tak tunai, rakyat kena tipu, jangan kena tipu lagi, sekali cukup. Ini semangat yang saya lihat insya-Allah gelombang ini akan bawa kemenangan kepada BN nanti,katanya.

Perkhidmatan 80 Guru Semantara Di Sabah Bernoktah Di Sini?

Sekadar Pandangan Penulis
Ingatkan peruntukan menaiktarafkan jalan negeri Sabah sahaja yang diberi kelulusan serta merta, rupa nya kelulusan memberhentikan guru-guru di Sabah juga dilakukan dengan kadar serta merta.
Berita yang disiar melalui New Sabat Times baru-baru ini melapurkan bahawa sebanyak 80 orang guru sementara di Sabah diberi surat notis pemberhentian gaji dengan bermaksud menamatkan perkhidmatan mereka sebagai guru.
Surat notis tersebut dikatakan dikeluarkan oleh Jabatan Pelajaran Sabah.
Walau macammana pun, Guru-guru tersebut merayu kepada Kementerian Pelajaran supaya meneruskan perkhidmatan kerana dalam faktor usia yang sudah mencapai sekurang-kurangnya 48 tahun mereka tidak lagi boleh diterima bekerja di mana-mana agensi kerajaan mahupun sektor swasta.

• Dalam isu yang rumit ini, terdapat dikalangan pemerhati yang berpendapat bahawa tindakan ini ada lah stategi mainan politik. Kerana kata mereka pada akhir episode nya , guru-guru yang diberhentikan itu akan disambung semula perkhidmatan mereka oleh Menteri Pendidikan Malaysia sebagai petanda bahawa Menteri tersebut dan juga kerajaan BN khasnya, perihatian kepada permasaalahan rakyat Sabah.

Kalau sangkaan pemerhati itu ada lah betul, rasa nya tindakan ini ada lah satu percaturan yang bahaya dan menyusahkan. Perkara serius melibatkan perasaan saperti ini tidak patut di pergunakan sebagai permainan politik. kerana besar kemungkinan ia nya memberi impak sampingan negatif kepada masyarakat yang membaca dan merasakan nya.
Walau macam mana pun harapan kita agar theori atau pun spekulasi melanjutkan perkhidmatan 80 guru sementara di Sabah ini akan menjadi realiti.
Sekurang-kurang nya ia tidak menambah bilangan kepada senarai pengangguran dan masaalah sosial yang sedia ada disini.

Berita Menyayat hati sepenuh nya...

Guru sementara kesal terima surat diberhenti serta merta

Keningau - “KAMI anggap periuk kami sudah pecah,” begitulah keluhan dan kekesalan lebih 80 guru sementara sekolah rendah dan menengah di negeri ini apabila masing-masing menerima surat pemberhentian gaji bertarikh 7 Mac 2012 yang dikeluarkan oleh Jabatan Pelajaran Sabah.
Cikgu Balaludin Bin Gapul dan Cikgu Panguot Kapu antara guru yang diberhentikan pembayaran gaji dengan serta merta, tampil mendedahkan perkara ini melalui akhbar untuk perhatian pihak yang berkenaan terutama Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak.
“Kami dedahkan masalah ini melalui akhbar sebagai jalan terakhir merayu kepada Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yang juga Menteri Pelajaran supaya memberi pertimbangan yang sewajarnya bagi menghargai jasa kami yang sudah berkhidmat lebih 30 tahun,” kata Balaludin bersama Panguot.
Balaludin berkata, jiwa mereka sudah sebati sebagai guru dan berkhidmat untuk anak bangsa walaupun berbekalkan gred B1.
Katanya, mereka merayu kepada Kementerian Pelajaran supaya meneruskan perkhidmatan kerana dalam faktor usia yang sudah mencapai sekurang-kurangnya 48 tahun mereka tidak lagi boleh diterima bekerja di mana-mana agensi kerajaan mahupun sektor swasta.
“Tambahan lagi katanya, mereka masih dibebani dengan hutang bayaran bulanan kenderaan dan masih menanggung anak-anak yang masih bersekolah dan belajar di IPTA,” jelas Balaludin.
Mengambil contoh dengan keluarga beliau sendiri, Balaludin memberitahu pada masa ini beliau masih menanggung anak-anak yang masih bersekolah dan yang melanjutkan pengajian di UITM Sarawak.
“Kami merayu kepada pihak yang berkenaan atas dasar kemanusiaan sejagat dan menaruh harapan sepenuhnya kepada kepimpinan Perdana Menteri dan Timbalan Perdana Menteri selaku Menteri Pelajaran agar dapat mengeluarkan surat lantikan kami dengan serta merta,” rayu Balaludin.
Katanya, mereka juga meminta agar diserapkan ke jawatan tetap seperti yang dijanjikan oleh Perdana Menteri semasa memegang Menteri Pendidikan pada ketika itu yang mengatakan tidak ada guru yang teraniaya.

NCR DISCUSSED AT LENGTH DURING MEETING

CHIEF Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Aman said the Native Customary Right (NCR) issue was discussed at length by the state Cabinet during its meeting yesterday.

POLIS LUPUS BUKTI ATAU SUBAHAT?

Memang Polis Keningau ini tidak pandai menjalankan tugas mereka. Boleh-boleh kes belum selesai pembersihan dilakukan. Memang tidak patut itu berlaku..

SETELAH lima bulan berlalu, kematian Kartini Borhan yang masih menjadi misteri, Pendakwaraya terus menyepi seolah-olah 'Darah KDM' yang tersimbah di segenap ceruk rumah sewanya di Taman Adika, Keningau bagaikan 'Darah Kerbau' yang dikorbankan tanpa bacaan Alfatihah.

BERNAMA - USAHASAMA TINGKATKAN PELANCONG KE SABAH

USAHASAMA antara Sabah dan negara-negara asing boleh membantu menggalakkan lebih ramai kedatangan pelancong ke negeri ini dari negara asal syarikat, kata Ketua Menteri Sabah Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

Perkembangan ini bukan hanya akan merancakkan pelaburan asing langsung tetapi turut menyumbang ke arah pertumbuhan, kekayaan ddan menghasilkan jumlah kerja yang banyak untuk penduduk tempatan.

"Ini seiring dengan Koridor Pembangunan Sabah (SDC) dan penekanan terhadap pelaburan sektor persendirian seperti yang ditekankan oleh Program Transformasi Ekonomi Malaysia," kata beliau ketika merasmikan pembukaan Ming Garden Hotel and Residences di sini yang dimajukan bersama oleh syarikat China dengan Perbadanan Pembangunan Bandar Sabah (SUDC).

SOGT KIMANIS NADI PEMBANGUNAN SABAH

JAWAB…Lajim ketika menjawab pertanyaan pemberita selepas menghadiri majlis rumah terbuka Ketua Penyelaras MAYANG Parlimen Beaufort Hajah Johiar Matlani di kampung Kebatu, Beaufort.

Oleh : JAAFAR ABDUL WAHID

Projek Terminal Minyak dan Gas Sabah (SOGT), yang dibangunkan oleh Petronas di Kimanis akan menjadi nadi kepada pembangunan negeri ini.

Timbalan Menteri Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan, Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Lajim Ukin berkata projek itu, bukan sahaja dapat dinikmati oleh masyarakat di sekitar Kimanis, namun akan memberikan impak yang positif kepada daerah berdekatan termasuk daerah Beaufort .

Menurut beliau projek tersebut bukan sahaja menggalakkan industri petroleum di negeri itu, tetapi juga menyediakan peluang pekerjaan kepada penduduk tempatan, selain kerja kontrak.

Bagaimanapun, beliau bersependapat dengan pandangan beberapa orang pemimpin politik di negeri ini yang diutarakan sebelum ini; agar lebih ramai rakyat tempatan diberikan peluang untuk menikmati kemajuan melalui peluang kepada usahawan baru yang ada hubung kait dengan industri gas dan minyak.

"Dengan perkembangan ini, secara langsung, akan membawa kemajuan kepada negeri Sabah di samping memberi peluang pekerjaan kepada penduduk tempatan, khususnya rakyat Sabah," katanya ketika ditemui pemberita selepas menghadiri Majlis Rumah Terbuka Ketua Penyelaras MAYANG Parlimen Beaufort, Hajah Johair Matlani bersama suaminya Jawarin Nasar yang juga Pegawai khas Pembangunan Parlimen Beaufort.

Lajim yang juga Ahli Parlimen Beaufort, berkata demikian ketika diminta mengulas impak dari perlaksanaan projek (SOGT) di Kimanis kepada daerah-daerah berdekatan termasuklah di kawasan Parlimen Beaufort yang beliau wakili.

Menurut Lajim, dengan kewujudan projek itu di sini, bukan sahaja pekan Kimanis akan mula menerima pembangunan, malah akan memberikan banyak peluang peningkatan ekonomi dalam usaha menaiktaraf kehidupan rakyat.

“Bukan itu sahaja, peluang pekerjaan untuk direbut oleh golongan belia termasuk peluang untuk memulakan atau menjalankan perniagaan akan terbuka luas kepada rakyat setempat dan sekitarnya,” tambah Lajim.

Mengulas kritikan parti pembangkang mengenai kedatangan Petronas ke Sabah, Lajim berkata, kritikan mereka (pembangkang) tidak membena dan tidak berasas sama sekali.

Menurut Lajim, mereka (pembangkang) hanya meletakkan kehadiran Petronas sebagai merampas hak anak negeri walhal kehadiran Peronas ke negeri ini terutamanya dalam projek cari gali memberikan kesan terhadap pembangunan ekonomi negeri melalui penerokaan dan juga pelaburan yang dilaksanakan .

Sehubungan itu, katanya, rakyat di negeri ini perlu merebut peluang yang ada terutamanya dalam industri yang dibangunkan oleh Petronas di negeri ini dan meminta Petronas membuka ruang dan peluang seluas-luasnya kepada penduduk khususnya golongan muda untuk terlibat dalam industri yang sedang dan akan dimajukan oleh Petronas.

Tambah Lajim, Petronas perlu melaksanakan program latihan seawal yang mungkin iaitu sementara SOGT sedang dibina bagi melatih tenaga mahir tempatan untuk diserapakan sebagai kakitangan dalam syarikat mereka.

"Jika mereka tidak ada pengalaman dan kelayakan, tentu sekali mereka tidak boleh bekerja dengan Petronas dan pekerja-pekerja terpaksa diimport dan dibawa dari negeri lain. Keadaan ini menyebabkan kita semua kecewa kerana segala kekayaan dan peluang pekerjaan akan jatuh di tangan orang lain,” jelas Lajim.

DIMENSI BARU MENERUSI KORIDOR PEMBANGUNAN SABAH

KOTA KINABALU: ADUN Kawang, Datuk Ghulam Haidar Khan Bahadar yakin pelaksanaan Koridor Pembangunan Sabah dapat membawa era baru bagi rakyat negeri ini,terutama di kawasan yang terlibat dengan pelaksanaannya.

Ini, katanya, disebabkan program pembangunan bersepadu menerusi koridor itu bukan saja mengubah keadaan secara fizikal, tetapi lebih penting turut membawa peluang pekerjaan kepada penduduk setempat.

“Saya melihat pembangunan koridor yang dicadangkan ini sebagai dimensi baru pembangunan negeri kita.

“Ia bakal membawa anjakan paradigma kepada rakyat dalam semua aspek, dengan syarat pelaksanaannya perlu dikaji dan diteliti, kemudian dipantau dan dikemaskini dari semasa ke semasa,” katanya ketika berucap membahas Ucapan Dasar Kerajaan di DUN Sabah hari ini.

Mengikut perancangan, pembangunan koridor berkenaan akan dikendalikan tiga agensi utama -- Yayasan Sabah, Perbadanan Pembangunan Ekonomi Sabah (Sedco) dan Sawit Kinabalu Sdn Bhd – selain turut membabitkan penyertaan sektor swasta menerusi formula Inisiatif Pembiayaan Swasta (PFI).

Ghulam berharap pelaksanaan projek berkenaan dipantau secara teliti dari semasa ke semasa untuk memastikan ia berjalan pada landasan ditetapkan.

“Dalam pelaksanaannya, pandangan serta maklum balas daripada wakil rakyat di mana sesuatu projek pembangunan itu dilaksanakan juga perlu diambil kira kerana wakil rakyat lebih memahami keperluan dan isihati rakyat di kawasan diwakili,” katanya.

Beliau berkata pelaksanaan koridor pembangunan itu adalah sebahagian agenda kerajaan untuk membangunkan rakyat negeri ini selain beberapa projek besar pembangunan ekonomi.

Mengenai kawasan Kawang, Ghulam berharap kementerian berkaitan mengambil inisiatif memperluaskan pelaksanaan projek bekalan air luar bandar supaya lebih ramai penduduk mendapat manfaatnya.

Katanya, loji rawatan air Papar yang menelan kos kira-kira RM198 juta kini sedang rancak dilaksanakan dan dijangka siap sepenuhnya tahun depan, sekali gus mengatasi masalah bekalan air yang kritikal dialami di Papar sejak sekian lama.

“Justeru, kita merayu kepada kementerian terlibat agar memanjangkan projek sedemikian ke kawasan luar bandar yang ketika ini masih bergantung kepada bekalan air graviti.

“Ketika ini, masih terdapat banyak kampung di Kawang yang berbekalkan air daripada gunung dan bukit menerusi sistem graviti dan mereka ini juga perlu diberi perhatian,” katanya.

Dalam ucapan perbahasannya, Ghulam turut menarik perhatian dengan kes kedaifan hidup keluarga Donni John Diun, yang dikatakan membunuh diri dalam satu kejadian yang sungguh tragik, pilu dan menyentuh perasaan.

“Saya membangkitkan perkara ini untuk kita sama-sama mengambil iktibar selain secara kebetulan kejadian itu berlaku di sebuah kampung dalam DUN Kawang dan anak kecil itu juga bersekolah di SK Kinarut, dalam kawasan DUN Kawang,” katanya.

Laporan aklhbar menyebut, Donni menggantung diri pada siling rumah mereka di Kampung Suangon, Kinarut, setelah mengalami tekanan hidup dan ejekan daripada rakan-rakan sekolah akibat kemiskinan yang menghimpit keluarga mereka.

“Kini Donni telah tiada, meninggalkan adik-abang dan kawan-kawan sebaya. Yang tinggal hanyalah sebuah kenangan buat keluarganya dan ingatan yang tidak mungkin terpadam sampai bila-bila,” katanya.

Sambil mengakui banyak pengajaran berguna boleh dipelajari daripada kematian tragik Donni itu, Ghulam berharap pemimpin masyarakat di peringkat akar-umbi, seperti JKKK dan Ketua Kampung, supaya sentiasa prihatin terhadap kehidupan penduduk di kawasan yang mereka wakili.



Ghulam berbincang dengan Pembantu Menteri kepada Ketua Menteri, Datuk Edward Khoo di persidangan DUN.

Sabah tunjukkan jalannya

Di mana ada kemahuan, di situ ada jalan. Dalam masa kurang daripada tiga bulan sejak melancarkan pelan pembangunan baru lima tahun, Sabah sudah menyiapkan 416 projek pembangunan bernilai hampir RM120 juta, kata Ketua Menteri Datuk Musa Aman. Ia membentuk kira-kira satu pertiga daripada semua projek yang bernilai kira-kira RM11 bilion: di mana 470 daripadanya adalah baru dan 794 sudah dilaksanakan melalui pelan pembangunan yang lama.

Namun Musa mahukan prestasi lebih baik. "Saya tidak katakan yang saya puas hati dengan apa yang kita sudah capai," katanya memberitahu pemberita selepas mesyuarat jawatankuasa bertindak di Wisma Innoprise di Kota kinabalu pada 29 Mac. "Saya percaya kita boleh lakukan lebih baik lagi."

Kebanyakan projek itu membabitkan infrastruktur yang akan menjadi asas kepada peningkatan Sabah sebagai negeri yang mempunyai pendapatan tinggi menjelang 2020 bersama dengan 12 negeri lain dibawah program transformasi ekonomi gagasan Perdana Menteri Datuk Najib Razak.

Musa mempunyai satu lagi sebab untuk mahukan prestasi lebih tinggi. Beliau mahukan Sabah menjadi negeri kaya menjelang 2015; itu empat tahun lagi dari sekarang.

Dibawah rancangan Malaysia kesembilan yang tamat pada tahun lalu, Sabah menyiapkan hampir 90 peratus daripada projek itu yang bernilai hampir RM18 bilion. Musa mahukan kakitangan awamnya untuk memperbaiki angka itu.

Katanya, projek itu akan dipantau bagi memastikan yang ia dapat dilaksanakan berlandaskan dasar penstrukturan prestasi yang terbaik.

Musa juga mengingatkan kakitangan awam terhadap gesaan perdana menteri itu mengenai perkhidmatan awam di sesi dialog khidmat awam perdana ke-12 (MAPPAXII) bagi memastikan semua dasar berpusatkan kepada rakyat apabila melaksanakan projek pembangunan. "Setiap projek mesti praktikal, berpatutan dari segi kos dan menguntungkan," katanya.

Sabah dan Sarawak: Pembangunan perlu seiring dengan Semenanjung

SUATU ketika dulu, rakyat dari Semenanjung perlu mengisi borang khas apabila sampai di lapangan terbang di Sabah dan Sarawak. Bagi generasi muda, mereka hairan mengapa mereka perlu mengisi borang itu dan melalui pemeriksaan imigresen, sedangkan mereka rakyat Malaysia dan bukannya rakyat asing.

Beberapa hari lalu, Timbalan Presiden Parti Liberal Demokratik (LDP), Chin Su Phin dari Sabah mengesyorkan agar mereka dari Semenanjung dibenarkan secara bebas untuk menetap, bekerja dan menjalankan perniagaan di Sabah, sama seperti mereka dari Sabah dan Sarawak dilayan di Semenanjung. Namun, cadangan itu segera ditangkis pemimpin lain, termasuk Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS). Hakikatnya, Sabah dan Sarawak belum lagi bersedia untuk melepaskan hak mereka seperti yang termaktub di bawah Perjanjian 20 Perkara sempena penubuhan Malaysia pada 16 September 1963. Dua negeri berkenaan masih lagi jauh di belakang dari banyak segi, termasuk pembangunan fizikal, kadar kemiskinan dan taraf hidup berbanding dengan di Semenanjung.

Musa Aman-Rakyat Perlu Didekat

 Sumber di terima dari Saya orang Sabah bah!!

Tawau - Dec - Ketua Menteri Sabah, Datuk Musa Aman membuat lawatan di Kilang Wakuba Biotech Laboratory dan pada masa yang sama juga beliau sempat bersama beramah mesra dengan penduduk di PPR Sri Apas Tawau dan bersolat Jumaat di Masjid Sri Apas Batu 8.

Pada waktu pagi, Datuk Musa Aman melawat kilang Wakuba Biotech Laboratory Tawau. Kilang ini merupakan satu lagi penggerak kemajuan dalam teknologi dan industri Kelapa Sawit Sabah dengan membuat kajian bagi penghasilan Kelapa Sawit yang bermutu.

Lawatan Kerja ke Wakuba Biotech Laboratory, Tawau.

Datuk Musa Aman bersama kakitangan Kilang Biotech

Sedikit penerangan dari pihak Biotech kepada Datuk Musa Aman