Kedah caretaker menteri besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has admitted meeting a Chinese national who is wanted in connection with the theft of rare earth resources in the state.
However, he maintained the Chinese national’s business is with the Kedah Land and Minerals Office and the state’s Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI), which he has no involvement in.
Sanusi told Malaysiakini that the man owns a solar power company that is in a joint venture with MBI, and has been in Malaysia before he became menteri besar in 2020.
“I can’t remember how many times we met. The ones I remember were once at my office and once at a Hari Raya open house,” he said when contacted.
Even during these meetings, Sanusi indicated there was a significant language barrier as the suspect does not speak Malay or English.
“Even when we met, we could not discuss anything because he doesn’t know English. He has been in this country before I became menteri besar; I don’t know since when,” he said.
Malaysiakini withholds the names of suspects in criminal cases who are not public figures, pending formal charges being laid.
The menteri besar was responding to enquiries about Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s press conference in Alor Setar earlier, where he revealed a photo of Sanusi together with the suspect.
“Sanusi claimed that he doesn't know who is (the Chinese national) and he was not involved with MBI affairs.
“For sure, it is not wrong for Sanusi to pose for a picture with (the Chinese national)... we are not arguing that. But why did he deny knowing the man?
“His letter to the then home minister (Hamzah Zainuddin) clearly stated that he had applied for a working pass for (the Chinese national). Since you applied on his behalf, how can you claim to not know him?” Saifuddin said.
Saifuddin, who is also PKR secretary-general, has been making claims throughout the ceramah circuit in Kedah linking Sanusi to the alleged theft of rare earth elements (REE) in the Bukit Enggang Forest Reserve, Sik.
Sanusi had denied the allegations and threatened to sue Saifuddin, but the minister is standing by his claims and continues to make further revelations on the issue.
The person Saifuddin named at the press conference is one of two Chinese nationals frequently featured in his speeches, who were purportedly employed by MBI to carry out rare earth element exploration works.
One of them was supposedly caught trespassing a forest reserve along with over 380 bags of rare earth ore, while the other - the one highlighted by Saifuddin today - has gone missing.
Meanwhile, Saifuddin said that Sanusi, as a member of MBI’s advisory board, should not wash his hands off MBI’s affairs and shift blame for the company’s shortcomings to its CEO Muhamad Sobri Osman.
He also disputed Sobri’s claim that the two Chinese nationals were not employed by MBI.
Saifuddin revealed a purported letter by Sobri to then-home minister Hamzah to seek approval for workers' passes and approval from the Immigration Department.
“In the application, it clearly states MBI as the employer of the foreign workers. With this, Sobri's denial that the two men were not MBI employees just because they were not issued with workers’ passes is completely dismissed," he said.
MBI lodged a police report yesterday to deny Saifuddin’s claim that the Chinese nationals were employed by the company. - Mkini
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