Labuan MP didn't disclose relatives shareholders in bidding firm - witness

Former Labuan Port Authority (LPA) deputy chairperson Rozman Isli did not disclose that his father and younger brother were shareholders in a company bidding for a government contract, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court heard.

However, trial judge Rozina Ayob also heard witness testimony that the bidding company - Labuan Liberty Port Management Sdn Bhd (LLPM) - failed to get the contract to be the operator of Dermaga Merdeka Pelabuhan Labuan.

LLPM security manager Mohamad Kasli Sulaiman Darja testified about this during today’s hearing of the abuse of power case against the incumbent Labuan MP.

The prosecution accused Rozman (above), as then officer of a government agency or deputy chairperson of LPA, of having used his position to solicit bribes for an employment contract - namely to operate Dermaga Merdeka Pelabuhan Labuan - for LLPM, in which his father and younger brother have an interest.

While reading from his written witness statement, Kasli said that the Warisan lawmaker did not make the disclosure during two meetings between the accused and LLPM representatives on two occasions.

Kasli said the first meeting was at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur Hotel on Dec 11, 2017, and the second meeting was at Le Meridien Hotel, Putrajaya, on Dec 12, 2019.

The seventh prosecution witness testified that the meetings - in which he was present with several other company representatives - were presentations for the tender to be the operator of Terminal Pelabuhan Merdeka, Labuan.

Kasli said that the accused’s father and brother - Isli Siput @ Ali and Tony Noolan S Isli respectively - were shareholders in LLPM, which had operated Dermaga Merdeka Pelabuhan Labuan from 1998 until March 2020.

“Rozman did not inform during the session that Isli and Tony were his father and younger brother,” Kasli said about the 2017 meeting, adding that no decision was informed to them about the tender at the time.

The witness said that as there was no decision on the tender, LLPM was allowed to continue to operate on a month-by-month sublease basis.

LLPM tried for contract twice

As for the 2019 meeting, Kasli told the court that Rozman also did not disclose about the shareholdings of the accused’s father and brother.

“LLPM was not chosen to be the operator of Terminal Pelabuhan Merdeka Labuan and the agreement inked with LPA before this was ended.

“LLPM was given termination notice on March 31, 2020,” Kasli said during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Abdul Ghani Faijan.

The witness added that LP Multi Terminal Sdn Bhd was the company that was given the contract rather than LLPM.

However, during cross-examination by defence counsel Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, the witness conceded that LLPM failed twice to secure the contract, one in 2017 and the other in 2019.

The trial before Rozina resumes on Nov 16.

On Oct 14 last year, before the Sessions Court, Rozman claimed trial to the single graft charge.

During a press conference held immediately after he was charged that day, the accused claimed he was charged over his refusal to defect from Warisan and back the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration.

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