Singapore will look into Sabah carbon deal, says Warisan

 

The previous Sabah government signed a 100-year carbon trade deal with Singapore’s Hoch Standard Pte Ltd. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The Singapore government is not involved in the Nature Conservation Agreement (NCA) between the Sabah government and a Singapore-based company, a Warisan leader said today.

The party’s secretary-general, Loretto Padua Jr, said the Singapore high commission in Kuala Lumpur had denied that the government was involved in the agreement.

“The Singapore high commission has confirmed that the Singapore government is not involved in the NCA and (has given an assurance) that it will look into the matter as Warisan has made an official complaint,” he said.

On Thursday, Warisan leaders visited the high commission to officially lodge a complaint over the involvement of Hoch Standard Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based company, in the carbon trade deal.

“A company check indicates that Hoch Standard was registered in Singapore on Sept 11, 2019 with a paid-up capital of only US$1,000,” Padua said.

He also said the party was determined to get to the bottom of the NCA that was signed and agreed upon by the previous state government without the matter being discussed in the state assembly.

Previously, Warisan also lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission on the signing of the NCA.

The NCA is an agreement involving carbon credit trading, which is a market-based system that provides financial incentives to reduce the impact of greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming.

Deputy chief minister Jeffrey Kitingan was reported to have said it did not involve the sale or collateral of forest land as alleged by opposition leaders.

Before this, Warisan president Shafie Apdal claimed that the 100-year NCA agreement had caused two million hectares of forest in Sabah to be “handed over” to a company based in Singapore. - FMT