Mazu statue case moves to Court of Appeal

The ongoing civil suit over the construction of the aborted Goddess of the Sea (Mazu) statue in Kudat will only resume on May 4 at the Kota Kinabalu High Court following a related application made to the appellate court.

The brief respite follows Judicial Commissioner Yew Jen Kie allowing counsel Mohammad Shafee Abdullah's request last Thursday to seek the intervention of the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya.

Muhammad Shafee ( right ) is appealing against the High Court decision to reject his application to strike out the civil suit.

The Court of Appeal will hear Mohammad Shafee's application this Thursday.

Last Tuesday Yew had dismissed with costs the application by the four defendants to strike out the suit.

The suit was filed by former Sabah Chief Minister Chong Kah Kiat against current Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman and three others over the state decision to rescind the approval given to build the statue.

At the same time Yew also struck out an application by the four to throw out Chong's originating motion over the stop-work order on the statue.

The civil trial started on Jan 12 and the plaintiff has so far called three witnesses, of whom two have already been cross-examined.

Chong's lawyer Ansari Abdullah will also be present for the Court of Appeal hearing this Thursday.

Appeal against multiple rulings

In his originating motion filed on Dec 12 last year, Chong is seeking a court order to revoke the withdrawal of the letter of approval issued by the Kudat Town Board on Nov 15, 2007.

He is also seeking a declaration that the letter of approval issued by the Kudat Town Board on Feb 8, 2006 was valid and binding on all parties.

In the motion, Chong ( photo: with tie ) named the Kudat Town Board and the Central Town and Country Planning Board as the first and second respondents respectively.

On Tuesday, judicial commissioner Yew also dismissed Muhammad Shafee's application for a stay of the proceedings pending appeal to the Court of Appeal.

She also dismissed Muhammad Shafee's application for an interim stay to file an appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Yew's multiple rulings followed an attempt by the four defendants to strike out the suit and the originating motion on the grounds that the Kudat Thean Hou Charitable Foundation (KTHCF), which initiated the Mazu project under Chong's chair in early 2005, did not exist in law to allow it to sue and be sued. Chong is also a member of the Kudat Moral Uplifting Society.

Shafee did not agree with Ansari who suggested that the trial continued in his absence with his fellow lawyers Richard Barnes and Hassan Murtaza. Muhammad Shafee told the court that he needed their assistance in Putrajaya.

Received divine instructions

At the last hearing before the court last Thursday, Yew heard from Chong that there were no objections from the Muslim community in Kudat against the erection of Mazu statue.

Chong is seeking a declaration that a fatwa issued by the state mufti on July 7, 2006 against the construction of the Mazu statute was unconstitutional as it infringed upon Article 11 of the Federal Constitution; and a declaration that the letter of approval dated Feb 8, 2006 by the fourth defendant, the Kudat Town Board, was valid.

Chong, in his civil suit, is also seeking a declaration from the court that Musa had in giving directions and orders to the other defendants, acted mala fide and/or in abuse of his power as the chief minister and/or ultra vires the Local Government Ordinance and the Town and Country Planning Ordinance.

The former chief minister had previously told the court several times that he "received divine instructions from Mazu - the Goddess of the Sea - through the Taoists, especially mentioning my name that I should take the lead to put up a statue in Kudat for the good and prosperity of the people in Kudat".

Chong resigned as deputy chief minister and minister of tourism, under the rotation formula in the Musa cabinet, after the project was stopped on April 13, 2007.