TERENGGANU MB CAUGHT LYING! China firm’s local unit owns part of iron mine - Tony Pua reveals

KUALA LUMPUR - The Terengganu government may have been hasty in denying approvals given to a firm from China to mine iron ore in the state as the company has a local subsidiary which took on the mining exploration through a deal of its own, according to opposition lawmaker Tony Pua.

The firm in question, CAA Resources, filed a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in October last year showing that its local unit Capture Bukit Besi Sdn Bhd entered into a memorandum of understanding to acquire 60 per cent of Red Sun Resources Sdn Bhd - the company, the lawmaker alleged, which owns parcels of land located at, or surrounding, Bukit Besi in Dungun.

“In the agreement, Capture Bukit Besi agreed to conduct the exploration and/or prospecting activities at Bukit Besi at a cost not exceeding US$5 million,” Pua told a news conference at the Parliament lobby today.

Pua, Petaling Jaya Utara DAP MP, said Capture Bukit Besi also agreed to repair roads, build dams and construct ponds at Bukit Besi at a cost not exceeding US$6 million.

Last week, CAA Resources’ chairman and chief executive Li Yang told the New York Times that the company had secured lucrative deals to mine the iron ore in the east coast state through corrupt dealings.

Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Razif Abd Rahman, however, denied that CAA Resources was awarded the contract to reopen in the Bukit Besi mines in the state, rubbishing the prominent international newspaper’s claims as “blatant lies”.

Razif asserted that the state government has not approved any such deal to reopen the mines - which was closed four decades ago - whether directly with CAA Resources or via any other firm. -Malay Mail