A lease-holder named in the declassified document about the Selangor reforestation project has described it misleading for not disclosing the whole truth.

According to a top official of the Megafores Nursery Sdn Bhd, who requested anonymity, the company does not owe Selangor Agricultural Development Corporation (PKPS) or the state government any money in royalties, as implied in the document .

In fact, he said, it is PKPS which owes Megafores money as compensation for land claimed by the government to build a road connecting Universiti Industri Selangor (Unisel) with Bukit Beruntung.

NONE The total compensation for the claimed land is RM4 million to be paid collectively by the state government, PKPS, land developer Talam Corporation and Megafores.

Talam Corporation has settled its share of the compensation amounting to RM1 million to PKPS.

From this sum, RM400,000 has already been paid to Megsafores by PKPS.

He added that the projected earnings of millions as stated in the document, can only be reaped after the timber has matured.

He also said that Megafores has already settled all royalties for the sales of the acacia trees felled to plant the more lucrative teak and rubber trees.

However, the official pointed out that even those sales did not meet projected figures as many of the trees had already been cut down by poachers even before the lease was obtained.

PKPS owns 49 percent of Megafores

He added that the document failed to reveal the 49 percent of the Megafores shares held by the Selangor Agricultural Development Corporation (PKPS).

As such, the board of directors has always included representatives from PKPS, and detailed reports have been delivered to it every year without fail.

"Everything that we have done under the project has been approved by PKPS themselves," he said.

He also said the so-called lop-sided agreement, which the document claimed favoured the companies was drafted and given the go-ahead by PKPS' legal team.

The official also pointed out that the declassified document only listed the then PKPS group general manager Karim Marzuki on Megafores's board at the time when the agreement was signed.

NONE In fact, then PKPS senior corporate manager, Mohd Nordin Darhan was also a founding director of the company.

"Megafores was founded specifically for the purpose of the reforestation project," he said.

When asked about claims that Megafores had gone against the initial agreement by planting oil palm, the official said that the agreement clearly stipulated that the land can be used for "agro-forestry" which includes that particular species.

The palm oil plantation, which was approved by PKPS, makes up only about 10 percent of the leased land, and was undertaken because it was prone to floods.

He said that the "illegal animal feed factory" was also approved by PKPS as it is used to sustain animal husbandry activities, which also falls under the banner of agro-forestry.

He also claimed that PKPS should understand the term agro-forestry, as the company had supplied them with a book explaining the concept at great length during the initial stages of the project.

"The project is not just about planting trees, it also includes rearing goats and cattle," he said.

Legal action pending against PKPS

The official also revealed that Megafores is in the process of taking legal action against PKPS and the state government as a last resort, after failing to solve the matter amicably since 2008.

He also told Malaysiakini that PKPS and the state government have "refused to meet" with them, and that letters sent to the MB have been ignored.

He confirmed that Megafores had sent PKPS a letter of demand for RM6.6 million in losses incurred as result of a boundary-dispute, as stated in the document.

The losses came when sentang trees planted by Megafores were felled by a neighbouring lease-holder, who subsequently planted rubber trees in the same area.

NONE Upon checking, it was found that there was an overlap in the areas leased to Megafores and other company, both their leases granted by PKPS.

He said that Megafores has since lodged a police report on the encroachment and is taking legal action against PKPS for breach of agreement.

The agreement states that PKPS must allow the company to use the land, without encroachment, legal or otherwise.

He added that Megafores holds the lease for only 1,018 hectares, and not 5,000 as stated in the document.

Megafores is not the only party named in the declassified documents refuting the claims made against them.

On Thurdsay, LBCN Development Sdn Bhd director, Khairuddin Abu Hassan, told a Malay newspaper that he may take legal action against Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim ( above ) and the state government over defamatory statements made in a declassified document.

LBCN Development was named in one of the declassified documents which touches on the Bandar Alam Perdana abandoned housing project.