The former DAP leader in Terengganu alleged to have appointed a 26-year-old woman as a 'proxy' in the state's RM1.5 million timber concession controversy has denied any involvement in the project.

Simon Yeo Kim Pean, the Marang district councillor, said yesterday that he has no link with the contract and that he did not appoint the woman, Suzana Embong, to win it through the latter's newly set-up company. The timber concession are on a piece of 2,600-ha land located in Marang, Setiu.

Yeo was among the 15 DAP Terengganu leaders who resigned from the party last month to remain in the PAS-led state government posts.

He claimed Suzana is merely an employee in his logging company which was set up a decade ago. He declined to name his company but said that he employed about 30 people.

"Suzana has been working as a clerk in my company over the past two years. She is a good and hardworking employee," Yeo told malaysiakini in a telephone interview.

Not a shareholder

He said although Suzana has set up her own company which won the controversial contract on July 19 this year, she however remained as a clerk in his company. He claimed the woman was a factory worker before joining his company.

Yeo also denied that he was among the "few shareholders" in Suzana's company.

Media reports have quoted Terengganu Umno Youth chief Din Adam's report to the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) on Monday stating that the woman is a niece of an influential PAS member and acting for a former DAP member but it did not name names.

Yeo said he was called in by the ACA on Monday, together with Suzana, and that he has explained to ACA officials - with the support of written documents - that he was not involved in any way with the contract.

"I am confident that I would be cleared from any wrongdoing," he stressed.

Malaysiakini

learnt from a source that the woman's father is a PAS member who is involved in the logging business.

However, the source said the issue has been blown out of proportion as the woman could be financially supported by her family and that there was no reason why she could not tender for the project like any other legitimate bidders.

Much lower price

The controversy was sparked off after Umno's Ajil assembly representative Rosol Wahid accused the PAS government last Wednesday in the state assembly for awarding the timber concession to a four-month-old company owned by the woman for RM1.5 million, a price far below the real value of the timber in the huge plot of land.

The state's economic, petroleum, industrial and human resources committee head and PAS vice-president Mustafa Ali last week denied that the state government has awarded the contract to any company on the said land.

He said the state government merely awarded the land to Yayasan Terengganu to help relieve the state's foundation financial difficulties and was only aware of the matter after the foundation has engaged a company to clear the trees on the land to make way for oil palm plantation.

He said he was uncertain which company the foundation has engaged to do the job.

Despite this, PAS president and Terengganu Menteri Besar Abdul Hadi Awang was quoted in the local media as confirming that the contract was awarded to the woman through Yayasan Terengganu since she offered the highest bid.

He said the award was given regardless of political affiliation, gender or age. He also threatened to take legal action against those who claimed that the highest bid was RM4 million instead of RM1.5 million.

On Saturday, Umno Terengganu state liaison deputy chief Idris Jusoh alleged that the contract was awarded not in accordance with proper procedure since another party has offered a higher bid of RM4 million.