Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman and three others received some breathing space when the Court of Appeal today allowed a stay of proceedings on the civil suit over the aborted construction of the Goddess of the Sea (Mazu) statue.

chong kah kiat Former Chief Minister Chong Kah Kiat ( left ) filed the civil suit against Musa following the state government's decision to rescind the approval given to build the statue.

A three-member panel led by Justice Abdull Hamid Embong made the order today at the appellate court to suspend hearing of the case scheduled to resume at the Kota Kinabalu High Court on Monday, after it (the High Court) dismissed Musa's striking out application.

The other members on the bench were Justice Hassan Lah and Justice Abdul Malik Ishak.

Counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah represented Musa and the other three while lawyer Ansari Abdullah represented Chong.

The Kota Kinabalu High Court was supposed to resume its hearing on Monday after judicial commissioner Yew Jen Kie rejected Musa's striking out application.

musa aman pc in sabah 190608 01 Yew had also thrown out a notice of motion by Musa ( right ) on Chong pertaining to the stop-work order on the statue.

She also did not allow for a stay of proceedings following the decision and had ordered the trial which had began since Jan 12 to continue with the testimony of the third witness.

Chong's claim

Chong is seeking declarations that:

  • Musa had 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;

  • a fatwa by the state mufti on July 7, 2006 against the construction of the statute is unconstitutional as it infringes upon Article 11 of the constitution;

  • the letter of approval by the fourth defendant, the Kudat Town Board is valid; and

  • the town board's withdrawal of the letter of approval by another letter dated Nov 15, 2007 is null and void.

Chong also filed an originating motion on Dec 12 last year, where he 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 named the Kudat Town Board and the Central Town and Country Planning Board as the first and second respondents respectively.

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.