Rahman defends previous land grant to plant timber species
Published on: Saturday, July 11, 2020
Rahman
Kota Kinabalu: Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) President Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal’s accusations that the previous state government was selective and did not adhere to proper procedures in land approvals are completely unfounded. He said demonising past leaders, twisting of facts and telling outright lies on land grants by the former administration are simply attempts to distract from the real reason behind his sudden generosity to smallholders in Lahad Datu recently.
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“During a recent handing over of land titles to folks in Keningau and Sook, Mohd Shafie in a fiery speech wondered why Datuk Seri Najib Razak questioned his motive behind giving land to villagers in Lahad Datu.
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Shafie
“Mohd Shafie said no one made noise when the former state government gave land away to Tan Sri Majid Khan, the owner of Jawala Plantations Sdn Bhd,” he said, in a statement, Friday.
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Abdul Rahman said he feels compelled to reveal the truth and correct these unfounded allegations by Shafie who clearly made them to tarnish the previous government.
He explained that in 1997, the Government of Sabah introduced the Forest Management Unit (FMU) system to promote Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) in Sabah.
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“Ten separate long-term licences were issued, with Sabah Foundation being the biggest concessionaire including the surrender of existing licences to be replaced with the FMU/SFM concept.
“Unfortunately, no licences were issued to natives in 1997 (Sabah Foundation being the exception) and this was focused mainly on existing licences, some dating back to the colonial era.
“To address this anomaly, the Barisan Nasional Government in 2014 or thereabouts, studied the possibility of bringing in competent native forest operators to join in the SFM-FMU concept.
“Based on its long-term experience (since independence in 1963 or thereabouts) a company, Jawala Plantations Sdn Bhd, was chosen to be a player and to participate in this concept,” said Abdul Rahman.
The Tuaran Umno Division Chief said Jawala Plantations, through its overseas subsidiary, is known to have tree plantations in Indonesia, focusing in the establishment of rubber trees for the furniture industry, both in Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia.
“For its Sabah venture, it proposed to plant indigenous species, including Red Laran, white Laran, etc, for face veneer of high quality.
“Due to the scarcity of available sized areas in a single locality in Sabah, it was deemed appropriate that the existing FMUs might consider sharing their areas, by allowing a portion of their areas to be reforested by others equally competent.
“Sapulot Forest Management agreed to surrender about 11,000 hectares of their FMU Licence (originally 94,000ha) for the government’s benefit as it deemed fit,” he said.
He said with the consent of the State Cabinet, the excision was completed and, thereafter, the Jawala FMU licence was issued and the area (11,000 ha) being reforested. This excision was carried out with the intention of accelerating the FMU/SFM endeavours: more players, more capital, equity addressed and greater achievements, he said.
“Clearly playing to the gallery, Mohd Shafie without blinking an eye lied to a crowd about the land matter concerning Jawala Plantations.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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