KOTA KINABALU, Aug 1 — Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor today said that the state is still pursuing the carbon trading deal, and is currently still fine-tuning the terms and conditions required.

Hajiji said that the income from venturing into carbon trading is very lucrative, and reiterated that it must be carried out correctly.

"We are still fine-tuning the details. It is good for us to explore this industry. Our forests can offer us lucrative returns but we have to manage our areas and water sources properly,” he said.

Hajiji was asked to comment on the agreement after deputy chief minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan last week said that the state government was still pursuing the deal.

The carbon trading deal, known as the Nature Conservation Agreement or (NCA) had been controversial from the start as it commits some two million hectares of land to a little-known Singapore-based firm, Hoch Standard.

The main proponent of the deal, Kitingan was reported saying last week that the deal was still ongoing despite some delay and interference by unnamed sources who tried to sabotage the deal in 2021.

Kitingan reportedly said that despite reports stating that the attorney general objected to the deal, there has been no official letter from the AG to him or the steering and management committee for the implementation of the NCA which is chaired by him.

Kitingan also said that he had told Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to have the country’s carbon exchange centre in Sabah given the region’s potential for significant carbon market activity.