Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat denied today that the Kelantan government required those applying for timber concessions to 'donate' to entities connected to figures within the PAS-led state government.

pas information meeting 090110 nik aziz The Kelantan Menteri Besar said the state government does not subscribe to such a policy, Bernama reported him as saying in Kota Baharu.

Nik Aziz ( right ) was asked to comment on a posting by blogger Syed Azidi Syed Abdul Aziz, who claimed that every timber concession applicant has to pledge a 'donation' at the state exco meeting or the 'pre-council' meeting of the state executive council.

Nik Aziz, who is the Islamist party's spiritual leader, also chairs the Kelantan government's committee in charge of matters related to timber concessions.

syed azidi syed abdul aziz kickdefella police pc 171008 03 Azidi ( left ), formerly a corporate liaison officer with the state government-owned company PMBK, cited in his Kickdefella blog posting today an incident that allegedly occured a few months ago in a committee meeting chaired by Nik Aziz.

According to Azidi, when asked to explain in the meeting why a certain timber concession then being considered should be approved, one exco member said the applicant had agreed to donate "a certain amount of money" to an NGO under the chairmanship of a state exco.

The same senario occurred six months ago, said Azidi, in which a timber concession in Dabong was granted to the same applicant on the grounds that the latter had donated to a certain Kelantanese-based NGO.

"How can Nik Abdul Aziz deny knowing about such 'donations' when in the last incident, Nik Aziz had to debate with one exco who was trying to put a stop to these immoral actions," Azidi asked.

azlan "In the end, Nik Aziz had to keep his silence when the said exco was forced to recite verses from the Quran demanding that wealth be distributed equitably and not to particular groups of people," he claimed further.

Azidi was sacked as PMBK corporate liaison officer last November in a move allegedly linked to a probe by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission probe against Nik Aziz's son-in-law and then-PMBK CEO Abdul Ariffahmi Abdul Razak ( above ).

Ariffahmi has denied any improprieties.