KOTA KINABALU: Former chief minister Datuk Seri Panglima Shafie Apdal is faking information about the government’s Nature Conservation Agreement (NCA) with the vile intention of manipulating the emotions of the ordinary people.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said the Parti Warisan Sabah president appears to have no qualms about lying through his teeth just to score political brownie points with the government.
“First he accused the government of selling two million hectares of land to foreigners. Now he is saying it is a lease. He knew that the words flowing out of his lips were lies, but he did it nevertheless,” said Kitingan today.
Kitingan explained that the agreement is solely for the purpose of conserving the forest and allowing Singapore-based company Hoch Standard Pte Ltd to trade the idle carbon and realise the monetary values of carbon through science.
The company will find bidders who will offer the best price for Sabah.
“In reality, when Shafie was chief minister, he was working on the same carbon deal but was unable to finish it because Warisan lost the election.
“Warisan even organized a seminar on the subject. It was officiated by Shafie’s deputy chief minister Datuk Seri Panglima Madius Tangau,” he said.
Kitingan revealed that under the Warisan carbon deal, Shafie has agreed to a 51-49 formula: 51 per cent for the government and 49 per cent for the company.
The current NCA agreed by the GRS government dwarfed Shafie’s deal because it stipulates that the government will take 70 per cent of the profits while the company, which will be responsible for all aspects of the business including marketing and sales, will only receive 30 per cent.
Given the much better deal on the table, it would be unthinkable for the GRS government to cancel and stop the NCA as suggested by Shafie.
Furthermore, Kitingan said Shafie is wrong when it comes to assessing the capability of companies because the conventional way failed to include the company’s connectivity and network, as well as the company’s shareholders and directors, or the existence of a special purpose company or vehicle.
“I advise Shafie to cease lying since it harmful to everyone. He and his followers should focus more on their own political party.
“GRS is doing everything it can to develop Sabah and we are concentrating on rebuilding our economy at this difficult time; an economy that Shafie and Warisan had willy-nilly drove to the ground during their 27 months in office.
“Cancelling the agreement will put us back months of hard work and delay our plans for Sabah. We don’t want to manage and run Sabah the way the previous governments did. How can we expect different results if we keep using the same strategy that has been proven to be ineffective?” he said.
