A timber businessman today lodged his second police report against Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob for alleged 'corruption, abuse of power and deceit' in a multi-million ringgit logging concession.

Lee Sin, director of logging company Seruan Gemilang Makmur (SGM) lodged the report with the Kuantan police after ending his 240km ' anti-corruption walk ' from Gombak to Kuantan this morning.

In his report, the 52-year-old businessman claimed Adnan abused his power by providing Pahang Umno with a 10,000-acre plot of land owned by the state.

"Therefore, I believe that the menteri besar had approved the land wrongfully and deceived the company. Besides, he also repeatedly made media statements which contradicted the truth .

"I feel there are corrupt elements which the police should investigate," he said in his report, a copy of which was made available to malaysiakini .

'Umno's land'

The ruling party gave SGM the exclusive right to log and sell the timber of the 10,000-acre land, dubbed 'Umno's land'.

However, a bone of contention in this controversy was that Umno Pahang had failed to pay the RM4.8 million land premium despite obtaining the land in 1998. This means, the land, which has already been stripped of trees, technically still belongs to the state.

Under current laws, permission must be obtained from the state executive committee before logging can be done on state-owned land while for private land, the matter is referred to the menteri besar.

Lee lodged his first report against Adnan in January to counter the menteri besar's denial that he was involved in the logging scandal. Adnan has also lodged a police report.

Apart from the police reports, the opposition lodged two reports with the Anti-Corruption Agency pertaining to this case.

However, to date, the authorities have yet to take action against any person.

Act immediately

In view of this, a eight-member team led by Lee launched an 'anti-corruption walk' from Gombak to Kuantan on Sunday to highlight their plight to the public.

The businessman said he was inspired by the King's birthday speech early this month that the fight against corruption should have no regard for rank or public status.

Also present at the Kuantan police station to show support this morning was Parliamentary Opposition Leader and DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang.

He urged the authorities to act immediately and be fully accountable to the public.

"I hope the 240km trek by Lee Sin and his eight-men squad will open the way for greater support from the civil society and the Malaysian public to the premier in the war against corruption, as the premier will not be able to make headway if his call to fight corruption remains a lonely one without full endorsement from his cabinet, government, Parliament and the people," he said in a statement.

He added that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's war against corruption will never take off seriously unless there is full public support.

Lim also said that he will raise this issue at the next parliamentary sitting in July.

Satellite photos confirm widespread logging on Umno's land