DAP and PAS have urged the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) to conduct immediate investigation into the multi-million ringgit logging scandal in Umno Pahang which reeks of high-level corruption.

DAP national publicity chief Ronnie Liu said "the ACA should have enough grounds to start investigation immediately" from the series of reports published in malaysiakini earlier this week.

"The silence from top Umno leaders on the logging scandal is deafening," he said in a statement yesterday.

"We hope ACA will not deliberately avoid probing this case just because it involves the most powerful ruling party in the country."

How much profit?

The DAP leader also wants Umno Pahang to reveal how much profit the party has gained from logging the vast plot of land - approximately 40 sq km in size - which was never owned by the party.

"The legitimacy for Umno Pahang to log on the land is in question since the party never owned the land as it has repeatedly failed to pay the RM4.8 million premium. Why didn't the Pekan district land office take stern action against the party, but instead allow the company appointed by the party to continue logging the land?"

"Is this case just a tip of the iceberg of timber concessions granted by the state to Umno Pahang as a means to raise funds?" Liu asked.

Malaysiakini

yesterday quoted Pekan district land office head Zainal Rahim Darus as confirming that the 10,000-acre land located at Nenasi and which falls under the Pekan district has yet to be alienated to Umno Pahang and still belongs to the state government.

The Pahang government led by the state Umno chief - then Khalil Yaakob - had awarded a lucrative logging concession to Umno Pahang five years ago.

The state government can alienate state land to private land - or gazette it as either a permanent forest estate (where limited logging is permitted) or permanent forest reserve - if approval is given by the state executive council.

The controversial approval for Umno Pahang to own the 10,000-acre state land was recorded in the council's meeting minutes on Jan 7, 1998.

However, the ruling party has repeatedly failed to clear the land premium despite given four unusual extensions - including two appeals from Umno Pahang - since June 2000.

A Kuantan-based logging company Seruan Gemilang Makmur (SGM) was given the task to log the land three years ago.

However, the company recently sought RM31 million in compensation through the courts from Pahang Umno after the party failed to secure a licence from the state forestry department for SCM to log the remaining 3,000-acre land.

Poser in state assembly

Commenting on the same issue, a PAS Pahang state representative said the ACA should initiate an immediate inquiry against several Umno Pahang leaders named in the reports.

PAS Tahan state assemblyperson Abdul Malik Yusof told malaysiakini that he has questioned the state government on the logging scandal during a state legislative assembly meeting in 2000.

"However, I have yet to receive any response from the state government or the menteri besar," he said.

According to Abdul Malik, he has also exposed another logging scandal in the state in October 1999.

"A Umno-linked company, Upayapadu Sdn Bhd, has won a logging concession for a plot of 20,000-acre located in Pekan with the mere premium of RM36,210 - when it should be worth between RM30 million to RM40 million," he claimed.