Did Sabah rep lie to Al Jazeera about carbon trade deal?

 

Shafie Apdal said he doesn’t want the Nature Conservation Agreement to become a scandal that can damage Malaysia’s image. (Bernama pic)

KOTA KINABALU: Warisan president Shafie Apdal says a Sabah assemblyman has given a false statement to an international news network on a controversial carbon trade deal.

He refuted the claim made by the state representative in an Al Jazeera report that the Nature Conservation Agreement (NCA) had been debated and approved in the state assembly.

“For the record, there was no proposal tabled by the government in the previous state assembly sitting over the deal,” Shafie said in a statement today.

“Therefore, I refute the statement that the NCA has been given the green light by the state assembly. This is a false statement which is an apparent attempt to confuse the people in Sabah and the international community as well.”

Shafie, who is the state opposition leader, said assembly members, including from the opposition, could be held liable due to the irresponsible statement by the assemblyman over the NCA.

Al Jazeera had in an online report yesterday quoted Sabah deputy chief minister Jeffrey Kitingan as saying he did not believe “bad press” would jeopardise the NCA as the deal had “already been debated and approved by Sabah’s legislative assembly”.

The news network, however, reported that records showed the state Cabinet had not approved the NCA, but “only the theoretical monetisation of carbon and natural assets subject to strict due diligence”.

As such, Shafie called for the cancellation of the NCA, which the state government initiated with Singapore-based firm, Hoch Standard Pte Ltd.

“We don’t want the NCA to become a scandal that can damage Malaysia’s image.

“Based on the various indications and facts brought forward, we urge the state government to scrap the NCA immediately.”

Shafie had previously likened the NCA to “selling” state land to foreigners and told the government to disclose its details in the sitting last December.

The agreement, according to Sabah forestry authorities, would not allow exploitation of the state’s protected forests.

The NCA’s main objective, they said, was for the conservation and protection of rainforests through the monetisation of carbon stored in standing trees, in addition to natural capital benefits in the forest environment.

But despite the assurances by the state forestry department, Sabah NGOs continue to question the deal, particularly its lack of transparency. The agreement only came to light after the media broke the news about it. - FMT