As recovery works continue in villages near Kupang in the Baling district of Kedah after the devastating floods of July 4, the ownership of the durian plantation blamed by victims for the disaster has come under the spotlight.
According to earlier news reports, the project was developed by ECK Sdn Bhd.
The firm’s name, however, does not appear in the statements by the state government in the aftermath of the floods.
Yesterday, Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said his administration was in the process of determining the current owner as well as who initiated the durian plantation given the project’s long history and numerous changes over various administrations.
Even so, in a statement on July 6, the Kedah government mouthpiece Urusetia Penerangan Darul Aman named Aman Mega Sdn Bhd as its joint venture company for the forest plantation development.
Who are ECK and Aman Mega, and are they linked?
Power couple, powerhouse developers
According to the Companies Commission, ECK Sdn Bhd does not exist but a firm by the name of ECK Development Sdn Bhd and Aman Mega are linked through common directors and owners.
They are Khor Eng Chuen, 58, and his wife, Ginney Chew, 43, of George Town, Penang.
The couple with the title “Tan Sri” and “Puan Sri” respectively is a powerhouse when it comes to high-profile, big-ticket developments in Penang and Kedah.
ECK Development is the joint venture company for the multi-billion ringgit Kulim Airport and the developer of the RM6.3 billion Penang undersea tunnel project.
ECK Development took over the equity for the Penang undersea tunnel project from Consortium Zenith in January last year. It signed the joint venture agreement for the Kulim Airport project with the Kedah government, represented by Sanusi, last August.
ECK Development was also the main sponsor of the Kedah Football Association, with Chew credited as being the key figure in recruiting Spanish coach Ramon Marcote in 2017.
Link to money laundering firm
Interestingly, ECK Development is linked to MBI International Sdn Bhd - a firm implicated in fraud and money laundering, and whose fugitive founder Tedy Teow is dubbed “Jho Low 2”.
Several executives of MBI International were charged with money laundering, including Teow’s son Teo Ee Meng.
However, in 2019, the Teow family sold its shares in ECK Development, while Khor bought in. Chew and another nominal owner, Rohana Shariff, became shareholders in 2020.
Rohana only owns 40 shares compared to the couple’s 300 million.
Until May 8, 2020, ECK Development was also reportedly blacklisted by the Housing and Local Government Ministry for failing to pay compound payments - but was no longer on the updated list on May 15 that year.
On May 9 of the same year, it donated RM1 million to Penggerak Komuniti Negara, an NGO whose patron was then housing and local government minister Zuraida Kamaruddin.
This was according to a now-deleted but widely circulated Instagram post by Zuraida. During that period, Zuraida had come under political fire from opponents, who called for her resignation over the matter.
ECK: We complied with all regulations
Malaysiakini has contacted ECK Development via email and phone call for comment on the plantation’s role in the floods and is awaiting its response.
When contacted by The Star in 2019, ECK told the daily it had complied with all regulations.
Residents claimed to have never experienced floods this bad before the durian plantation project, even when it rained for two or three days.
Environmentalists had raised the alarm about a potential disaster due to forest clearing for the project on the hilly terrain.
They said forest clearing on the hillside and near rivers undermined the natural ability to abate water flow during heavy rainfall, causing huge amounts of water, sludge and debris to flow into downstream villages.
MBI Kedah said it had received due approval to develop a 1,074ha forest plantation in compartment eight of the Gunung Inas Forest Reserve. This is the size of about 1,400 football fields.
It said 600ha had been developed as a preparation site, of which 52ha are planted with seedlings, but work was stopped upon the instruction of the state government in 2020.
Sanusi said he ordered work to stop and for trees to be planted there to cover the cleared land, following complaints of more minor floods downstream.
On Wednesday, the menteri besar said investigations found the catchment ponds at the durian plantations were intact, suggesting it did not contribute to the floods.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.