Three islands off Sabah with a total worth of more than US$30 million have caused a ruckus in the East Malaysian state after an advertisement was put up for their sale.
Several more are said to be on the auction block and two others for rent. The advertisements were aired on a Toronto-based private islands online real estate site.
As usual, there was little information and a lot of secrecy especially from the state government.
Shameful to sell state 'treasures'
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Musa Aman has come under fire from nationalist and heritage activists. The spectre of corruption, never far from Musa's administration, also looms large.
Last week, Pakatan Rakyat leaders in Sabah sent Musa a memorandum objecting to the sale of the provately-owned Mentukod, Mengalum and Pandanan Islands.
Sabah PKR's Jefri Jomion, Sabah PAS Youth chief Mahirul Latigu and Sabah DAP youth representatives led a delegation to Musa's office, where their memorandum was received by the chief minister's political secretary Noorlaimah Marjan.
"It is shameful that the islands which have hundreds of hectares, with maritime interests and sovereignty are to be passed to the foreigners without any prerogative action and without the government vigorously defending it," said Mahirul.
"We repeat our stand that the government should be preventing the sale of the islands, as it will bring more losses, especially to the treasure that is the right of all the people of Sabah."
More than meets the eye
Pakatan leaders also want Musa to come clean on the deal and reveal who were the private owners of the islands, why they wanted to sell and why did the state allow it without any checks or resistance.
"State those individuals who are involved. If the transactions are made without the authority of the parties, then this could be considered a violation of the rights of the island," said Lahirul.
"Please also clarify, how come both Pandanan and Montukod Islands which are registered under the Native Title (NT) can be sold in international markets while the islands are stated to be meant only for agriculture."
According to the Pakatan leaders, the transaction has actually caused the government of Malaysia to lose millions apart from the loss of heritage value for Malaysia in general and Sabah in particular.
"Question is, how is it so easy that there is a change of land or land swap between the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry with a developer known only as Wisma Pertanian on Mengalum Island when it is located in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) which is known to be very valuable and has become a tourist attraction, " said Lahirul.
Links to government officials
He also urged Musa to state who were the people behind Syarikat Pemaju Wisma Pertanian and if they were any links to government officials.
"If the Land and Survey Department can enforce Section 42, then the Sabah Land Ordinance, Chapter 8 of the Customary Land which deprives those in the ‘pedalaman’ of their ‘Tanah Adat’ rights, should also be able to enforce laws that are in the same scope to take care of the interests of the people of Sabah as a whole."
Pulau Mengalum is a turnkey private island resort off Kota Kinabalu, with a land mass of some 250 acres priced at US$18 million. Pandanan Island, near Semporna, involves 10 acres at US$2 million, while Montukod Island, about one kilometre off Kinarut, involves 17.2 acres at RM35 million or (US$11.266million).
Pulau Mengalum was once a stopover for famed voyager Ferdinand Magellan, whose alleged anchor is one of the island's relics.
Pulau Pandan gained notoriety when Abu Sayyaf militants kidnapped three workers of a local tour firm in 2000 - their second after Pulau Sipadan. They managed to escape during a firefight between the terrorist-kidnappers and Filipino troops.
The two islands advertised for rent are Sipadan-Kapalai Island, off Semporna, involving 50 acres and Pulau Layang Layang, involving 50 acres. Layang-Layang is Malaysia's sole claim on the disputed Spratlys chain. The rental asked for both these islands were stated as "price on request" in the advertisement.
Malaysia Chronicle
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