Lawyer: IC, passport returned to Penang exco man Phee

Ramkarpal Singh says Phee Boon Poh cooperated fully with MACC during a seven-hour questioning session today over the illegal Sungai Lembu carbon processing factory.

GEORGE TOWN: The identity card (IC) belonging to Penang state executive councillor Phee Boon Poh that was seized by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was returned to him today.

Phee’s IC was seized by the MACC as part of its investigation into an illegal carbon processing factory in Sungai Lembu.

His lawyer Ramkarpal Singh said Phee cooperated fully during a seven-hour questioning session at the MACC headquarters here today and that the officers were satisfied with the statement taken from him.

Phee’s IC was returned along with his passport and other personal items that had also been taken, he said.

“We cannot go into the details of the questioning. Suffice to say it went quite well,” Ramkarpal, who is also the DAP’s Bukit Gelugor MP, said.

“I don’t think there is anything more to investigate. That is what the officers told us anyway.

“We await further instructions from them. For us, it is the end of the statement-taking process,” he told reporters outside the MACC office at Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah here.

Phee had arrived at the MACC office at 9.45am and was questioned from 10.30am. He left the building at 5.30pm and did not take questions from reporters.

Meanwhile, former Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) president Maimunah Mohd Sharif was also seen entering the MACC building at 5.30pm today.

Maimunah, who is now Penang Island City Council (MBPP) mayor, served as president of MPSP from March 2011 till June this year. She was MPSP president during the time the illegal carbon processing factory was operating.

On Aug 11, Phee, 66, was questioned by the MACC for allegedly using his office or position for gratification under Section 23 of the MACC Act 2009. The Sungai Puyu assemblyman was also arrested that same day.

Two other men, a father and son aged 70 and 37, the owners of the factory, were also arrested.

The trio were remanded for five days but the order was revoked by the High Court. They spent only three days under remand.

The factory in question had used the conventional method of burning sawdust to make activated carbon, a product used widely in air purifiers, water filters and air-conditioners.

The MACC launched a graft probe after it was revealed that the 5,000 sq metre plant did not have a proper emission control system.

Sited on hilly land in an oil palm estate, it is about 1km from the nearest residential area and has since been shut down by the Department of Environment.

Residents in the area had reportedly complained about the persistent air pollution in the area over the past 10 years, which they claimed caused them to fall sick. -FMT