KOTA KINABALU, Oct 9 — Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has refuted allegations that he was involved in a purportedly dodgy land deal involving 968 hectares of Pulau Balambangan in the northern district of Kudat.
Hajiji said that all approval applications had gone through the proper procedures and the allegations were politically motivated in order to discredit him.
“The accusations are ill-intended, politically motivated and aimed at smearing my name. My office will cooperate fully with any investigation into the allegations,” he said in a statement here today.
“All applications went through the necessary procedures via a Land Utilisation Committee (LUC) meeting and they were processed by the office.
“The application for the Yayasan Sabah land has been referred to the Innoprise Corporation Sdn Bhd board of directors, and everything was done according to the law,” he said in response to the allegations on social media.
Hajiji said that there will be an investigation on the matter and disciplinary action will be taken against the officer or officers who released the confidential documents cited in the allegations.
He said the authorities were also alerted to the Facebook account “Edisi Panas Sabah”, which had posted the allegations.
“I will consult my lawyers to initiate legal action against these false allegations,” he said.
Earlier, Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah information chief Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan had released a similar statement denying the allegations.
He pointed out that the Sarawakian businessman allegedly involved in the application, who is said to be a crony of Hajiji’s, in fact also had ties to former chief minister Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal.
Nizam, who is also assistant minister in the Chief Minister’s Department, said that the Opposition had come up with the baseless allegations because they did not have anything else to criticise the government over and had resorted to dirty tactics to tarnish the chief minister’s reputation.
Earlier, Warisan information chief Datuk Azis Jamman said that Hajiji must respond to the accusations.
“This is a matter of public interest and concerns the people of Sabah. We must safeguard the integrity and interests of Sabahans.
“A thorough investigation into this case will help to clear any further speculation over Hajiji’s power as chief minister.
“If the claims are found to be untrue, then the chief minister can take whatever necessary action against those spreading the allegations,” Azis said in a statement today.
