KUCHING: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan has denied allegations, published in a news portal Sarawak Report, that he was involved in a conspiracy to defraud a RM285 million court
judgment.
He described the allegations as completely baseless and highly defamatory, adding he was reserving his legal rights against Sarawak Report.
Awang Tengah also demanded that the editor of Sarawak Report withdraw the allegations made against him and publish an unqualified apology, in terms to be approved by him, as soon as possible.
“I must say at the onset that there is no wrongdoing by me or any of the government officials. We are all discharging our public duties to serve the interests of the state.
“I’m not aware of the court judgment of RM285 million which Sarawak Report was referring to and the ‘successful litigant’ was strangely not even named. It was claimed that the ‘successful litigant’ was the complainant. The identity of the
complainant should be disclosed by Sarawak Report so that the public can know who he is,” he said in rebutting an article, published by the news portal on July 27 this year.
Awang Tengah, who had just returned from overseas, said from what was written in the said article, it appeared that Sarawak Report was referring to the land known as Lot 63 Sawai Land District, the document of title which was issued to Tanjung Tiara Sdn Bhd on March 28, 1994, after its chairman, who is an MP from Malaya, applied for it.
The title for the land carries a special condition that all the plantable areas shall be planted within 10 years of registration of title or by March 2004, he added in a statement yesterday.
Awang Tengah, who is also Urban Development and Natural Resources Second Minister, said based on official records, Tanjung Tiara submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report to the Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) that 90.6 percent of the land was plantable.
By 2010, based on inspection and verification by Land and Survey Department less than 60 percent of the plantable land was actually planted.
According to the deputy chief minister, the Miri High Court had issued a winding up order against Tanjung Tiara.
This is because it was obvious by that time that Tanjung Tiara, an insolvent company, could not fulfill the title condition to develop all the plantation area, which according to an EIA report, submitted by its consultant, that 90.6 percent of the 4,856 hectares of land, was plantable.
“Based on the above facts, an administrative notice to remedy the default was issued by the Land and Survey Department to the liquidators of Tanjung Tiara in 2012 to fully develop the whole plantable area. They failed to comply with the
administrative notice so a Notice of Re-entry was served on Tanjung
Tiara under Section 33A of the Land Code.
“According to the Land Registry records, the land was still registered in the name of Tanjung Tiara Sendirian Berhad but subject to the following encumbrances, namely, a charge in favour of Ha Tiung Nuing and Chan Yitt Fong by virtue of a Court Order and also that possession of the land given by Tanjung Tiara to another company, Osun Timber Sdn Bhd, pursuant to court order dated Nov 18, 2016. Therefore, the state government and its officials have not defrauded Tanjung Tiara of this land,” he pointed out.
On the dispute as to whether Tanjung Tiara had fully developed all the plantable area of 90.6 percent of the land, he said it was a subject matter in an action before the Kuching High Court, filed by the liquidators in the name of the Tanjung Tiara Sdn Bhd against the government, some state ministers and officials of the Land and Survey Department.
“I’ll leave it to the High Court to make its decision on the dispute brought to the court by the liquidators, and whether there was any wrong-doing by either Tanjung Tiara or the defendants. I’ll also leave it to the court to determine whether the publication of the article by Sarawak Report constitutes contempt of court,” he said.
On July 29, state legal counsel Datuk Seri JC Fong had come out with a statement, denying all allegations made against him in the same article.
He said he would sue Sarawak Report for the malicious allegations and asked its editor to appoint a
solicitor in Sarawak to accept service of his writ.
