Caretaker Kedah menteri besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor claimed that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had brought an Indonesian tycoon to the northern state to apply to mine in a rare earth elements (REE) area.
Sanusi made his allegations during a Perikatan Nasional ceramah in Pedu last night.
Malaysiakini is withholding the name of the Indonesian mogul but it is understood that the individual in question is an oil tycoon.
Sanusi claimed the duo had visited Kedah before Parliament was dissolved last year.
He then alleged that the Indonesian man had made an application to mine in an REE area in the state before the dissolution of the state assembly.
“Someone contacted me a few weeks before the state assembly was dissolved, saying that the Indonesian man wanted to give (me) hundreds of sacrificial cows.
“I didn’t accept it because the state election was around the corner. I was afraid that the cows would be a bribe, so I didn’t accept them.
“(Previously), I kept thinking... Then I remembered that the Indonesian man came (to Kedah) with Anwar and met many people to tell them that he wants to apply to mine (at the REE area),” he claimed.
Sanusi also alleged that the involvement of Anwar and the Indonesian tycoon has become a source of motivation for Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to continuously “attack” him.
“That’s why Saifuddin is 'working so diligently' on this matter.
“They have been ‘digging up’ all sorts (of stories), confusing the people. Their storyline is so that the people would hate Sanusi, hate PN and want to show the weakness in (my) governance.
“It’s in fact Saifuddin who doesn’t understand governance,” the PN election director added.
Sanusi asserted that he has no qualms about allowing any party who wants to apply to mine at an REE area.
However, he said the applicants should use the right channels to bring returns to the Kedah government and its people.
REE theft in Sik
Saifuddin has been making claims throughout the ceramah circuit in Kedah linking Sanusi to the alleged REE theft in the Bukit Enggang Forest Reserve in Sik.
Sanusi denied the allegations and threatened to sue Saifuddin, but the minister is standing by his claims and continues to make revelations on the issue.
In a press conference yesterday, the PKR secretary-general revealed a photo of Sanusi and a Chinese national who is wanted in connection with the theft of rare earth resources in Kedah.
The person Saifuddin named yesterday is one of two Chinese nationals frequently featured in his speeches, who were purportedly employed by the state’s Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) to carry out REE exploration works.
One of them was supposedly caught trespassing a forest reserve with over 380 bags of rare earth ore, while the other - the one Saifuddin highlighted - has gone missing.
Malaysiakini is withholding the names of suspects in criminal cases who are not public figures, pending formal charges being laid.
Sanusi has since admitted to meeting a Chinese national who is the wanted suspect.
However, he maintained the Chinese national’s business is with the Kedah Land and Minerals Office and the state’s MBI, in which he is not involved.
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 a 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.
Even during those meetings, Sanusi indicated there was a significant language barrier as the suspect does not speak Malay or English.
However, when speaking to reporters on the campaign trail, Sanusi was quoted as stating that the Chinese national brought an interpreter along.
“He (the suspect via the interpreter) told me that RM5 million has been given to MBI, and he had spent RM30 million, he had made all sorts of preparations and had an agreement with MBI before I took office.
“So, I told him to continue. Do whatever that needs to be done but make sure it is according to the law,” he was quoted as saying by Berita Harian. - Mkini
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