KOTA KINABALU, Feb 4 ― Deputy chief minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan has denied Opposition leader Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal’s claims on a controversial carbon trading deal known as Nature Conservation Agreement or NCA, saying that the latter was also working on a similar deal during his tenure as chief minister from 2018.
Jeffrey, the main government proponent of a carbon credit deal potentially involving some two million hectares of forests that has earned international spotlight, said that Shafie was faking information and “lying through his teeth” to manipulate the emotions of the ordinary people and “score political brownie points with the government”.
“In reality, when Shafie was chief minister, he was working on the same carbon deal but was unable to finish it because Warisan lost the election. Warisan even organised a seminar on the subject. It was officiated by Shafie’s deputy chief minister Datuk Seri Panglima Madius Tangau,” he said in a statement here.
Kitingan claimed that under the Warisan carbon trading deal, Shafie had agreed to a 51-49 formula: 51 per cent profit for the government and 49 per cent for the company.
“The current deal agreed by the GRS government dwarfed Shafie’s deal because it stipulates that the government will take 70 per cent of the profit while the company, which will be responsible for all aspects of the business including marketing and sales, will only receive 30 per cent.
“First he accused the government of selling two million hectares of land to foreigners. Now he is saying it is a lease. He knew that the words flowing out of his lips were lies, but he did it nevertheless,” said Kitingan.
His claims today come following Shafie’s statement yesterday where he cited an Al Jazeera report which said Kitingan claims the NCA has already been debated and approved by Sabah’s Legislate Assembly.
Shafie said no such motion was brought by the government to the state assembly and it would not have come up until he brought it up during his debate. He again reiterated calls to axe the deal after too many uncertainties like the lack of credible background on the third party brought in to market the company ― in this case, Singapore-based Hoch Standard.
Kitingan, who did not address the assembly gaffe, said Shafie was wrong in assessing the capability of companies “the conventional way” which failed to include the company’s connectivity and network, as well as the company’s shareholders and directors, or the existence of a special purpose company or vehicle.
“I advise Shafie to cease lying since it is harmful to everyone.
“Cancelling the agreement will put us back months of hard work and delay our plans for Sabah. We don’t want to manage and run Sabah the way the previous governments did. How can we expect different results if we keep using the same strategy that has been proven to be ineffective?” he said.
The NCA first came to light via conservation website Mongabay, claiming the deal involving two million hectares was signed by the state government and Hoch Standard, without the knowledge of the people.
Since then it has come to light that the agreement, signed by Chief Conservator of Forests Datuk Frederick Kugan and witnessed by Kitingan, did not carry a designated area map and an addendum to the agreement and cannot proceed till they were ironed out.
However, there has been some confusion as to whether the deal is still on or not as Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor said there was still a series of requirements that Hoch Standard needed to comply with before the agreement can proceed.
Some of the main contentions of the NCA is how the little known Hoch Standard was awarded the deal and how they arrived at 30 per cent, as well as the credibility of the company which has no background in the carbon trading industry.
Kitingan himself has vouched for the company and said due diligence was performed to his satisfaction. In the Al Jazeera report, he was upfront about his faith in the project and would leave the ruling coalition if the project did not go through.
