Sabah deputy speaker Johnny Mositun did an about turn on the poorly performing Saham Amanah Sabah, SAS unit trust scheme.

He denied ever accusing former chief minister Yong Teck Lee of wrongdoing in the SAS scheme during the latter's tenure from May 1996 to May 1998.

This latest turn of events comes within days of having said that he stood by his New Year's Day statement, blaming the Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) chief for the SAS fiasco.

Mositun said that he was not perturbed by the police report lodged by Sapp youth chief Edward Dagul against him on the issue.

"He's over reacting," said Mositun in responding to Yong's challenge that the Barisan Nasional conduct a full probe on SAS activities since its inception in 1994.

yong teck lee sabah sapp party pc 230409 02 "Yong ( left ) is in a better position than I to explain the facts behind the SAS fiasco. Yet his youth chief lodges a police report against me for concealment of facts."

Mositun clarified that many people bought SAS units during Yong's term as chief minister but this did not mean that he was involved in any wrongdoing.

The deputy speaker's delayed clarification comes in the wake of media reports that Yong may institute legal action against him to clear his name.

Mositun, who is also Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) information chief, stressed that Yong should have confined his comments to his statement on the police report lodged against him.

"He should not have resorted to rambling rhetoric and making all sorts of vague insinuations against other BN leaders," said Mositun.

"He has deliberately taken things out of context to further his party's political agenda against PBS' Chinese leaders."

Mositun was referring to Industry Technology and Resource Development minister Yee Moh Chai and PBS lawyer Chin Tek Ming who probed SAS while PBS was in the opposition.

He said Yong was chief minister when the SAS fiasco happened. Hence, it was his responsibility as the chief executive to have the matter investigated and acted upon.

This was regardless of who was involved so that it could be established whether fraud or criminal elements were involved.

Mismanagement and inefficiency had been cited for the SAS fiasco besides the stock market down-turn in 1978-98, said Mositun.

"It had never occurred to me to accuse Yong of wrongdoing or criminal liability with regards to the SAS fiasco. Yong has still to explain why he didn't take action on SAS.

"For example, he was chief mnister during the ill-timed SAS share deal with Sugarbun Holdings Berhad. The market was collapsing at this time," said Mositun.

He denied that he had information (of wrongdoing) on SAS which he was concealing, as alleged in the police report.

Instead, he pointed out that Yong seemed to know more than what he will admit on the unit trust scheme based on all the media statements by Yong on the issue.

"So, it's not fair to accuse me of concealing information on criminal wrongdoing at SAS and lodging a police report against me," he said.

Deputy speaker's potshots at Yong

Mositun said he was not singling out Yong for blame on SAS although two other chief ministers were involved before him in the unit trust scheme.

"It was during Yong's tenure as chief minister that SAS was badly hit," said Mositun. "He should have acted on the matter immediately. He didn't. Neither did he explain anything."

The SAS issue broke into the open this week in conjunction with a five percent SAS dividend announcement by Chief Minister Musa Aman ( right ).

The deputy speaker, in praising Musa for steering SAS out of troubled waters, took potshots at Yong for the continuing SAS fiasco.

musa aman pc in sabah 190608 01 He did not blame any other chief minister, including two from Umno, for the SAS fiasco.

Sakaran Dandai was chief minister when the SAS was launched, followed nine months later by Salleh Said Keruak who completed Sakaran's two-year term.

The chief minister's post was then under a rotation arrangement among BN component parties.

Sapp was unimpressed by Mositun's latest take on the SAS controversy. The party is insisting that the BN state government release a White Paper on the troubled unit trust scheme.

Units are now priced at 0.25 sen, up from 0.17 sen after the state government pumped in RM800 million last August to boost the scheme.

"The people of Sabah have the right to know what is the real cause for the SAS fiasco," said Sapp treasurer Wong Yit Ming.

"Since the PBS is now in the BN, it should demand for the state government to come up with a White Paper on the issue. This will inform the people of the truth," he said.