Bukit Lagong: More quarries with royal, political links unearthed

Five more quarries which are set to operate in the Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve in Selangor have been found to have ties with the state’s royal family and two menteris besar.

Previously, Malaysiakini revealed that 27 quarries will be opened, with at least three linked to the state government.

Two of them are linked to Menteri Besar Selangor Incorporated (MBI) and Permodalan Negeri Selangor Berhad (PNSB). Both firms are owned by the state government and chaired by the menteri besar.

The third is owned by Koperasi Jabatan Perhutanan Negeri Selangor Berhad. Current and former employees of the Selangor Forestry Department are allowed to join this cooperative.

With the latest five quarries, the number of quarries with direct or indirect political or royal links is eight or 30 percent of the 27.

According to the Companies Commission’s records, the three developers with royal connections are Sodc Global Network Sdn Bhd, Genius Force Sdn Bhd and Pioneer Highland Sdn Bhd.

Sodc Global Network has two stakeholders - the younger brother and nephew of state ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

The sultan’s brother Tengku Sulaiman Shah has a 49 percent stake in the company while the latter’s son Tengku Shakirinal Shah is the major stakeholder and holds the rest of the shares.

For the second developer, Genius Force, the major stakeholder is Blueprint Projects Sdn Bhd which holds 95 percent.

Tengku Amir Shah, the son of Sultan Sharafuddin, controls a 70 percent stake in Blueprint Projects, which in other words means the regent of Selangor controls 66.5 percent of Genius Force.

As for the third developer, Pioneer Highland, its stakeholders include Templer Powell Sdn Bhd (75 percent shares) and Nakhoda Aktif Sdn Bhd (25 percent shares).

The regent’s name appears again in Templer Powell’s company data. He holds 60 percent of the shares, putting him in control of 45 percent of Pioneer Highland.

Meanwhile, the regent’s sister - Tengku Zatashah - holds 20 percent of Templer Powell shares, indirectly controlling 15 percent of Pioneer Highland.

Nakhoda Aktif has two shareholders, one of them is Budaya Selatan Sdn Bhd which holds half of the stakes. The sultan’s nephew Putera Azamuddin holds 90 percent of the stakes in Budaya Selatan and therefore, indirectly holds 11.25 percent of Pioneer Highland’s shares.

According to a map revealed by environmental watchdog Rimba Disclosure Project, the quarry sites of Genius Force and Pioneer Highland are situated next to each other on the northwest side of the forest.

Besides the abovementioned royal family members, there is also a former staff of the Selangor palace involved in the quarry projects.

According to media reports, one of the shareholders of Pilihan Daulat Sdn Bhd - Zakaria Abdul Rahman - was the former comptroller of the Selangor royal household and was conferred the “Dato’ Diraja Selangor” title in 2019.

Malaysiakini has contacted the Selangor royal office to get its response.

Involved in environmental campaigns

It is also interesting to note that Tengku Zatashah, who is the sultan’s second daughter, had often positioned herself as an environmental activist. She started the #sayno2plastic campaign in 2016 and went to Pulau Redang for beach cleaning activities.

She was also involved in the #zerofoodwastage and #NoMoreLitter campaigns and was invited to the Paris ChangeNow Summit in 2020 to speak on her efforts in promoting sustainable social initiatives.

The regent, on the other hand, had been quoted expressing concern about the environment and how development impacts climate change.

Creating quarries in forest reserve land goes against sustainable development because when the forest is cleared for quarries, it will lose its function as a “green lung” and flooding could worsen.

Quarries - lucrative business in S’gor

Environmental portal Macaranga reported that the state government raised the tax rates for forestry products (especially quarry rocks) leading to much higher forestry revenue since 2011.

As a result, the report noted that the revenue collected per forest area in Selangor is the highest among other peninsula states although the state has imposed a 25-year moratorium on logging activities in forest reserves.

For instance, Selangor collected RM345 in forestry revenue per hectare of forest which is 3.7 times more than the peninsula’s average of RM93.

This proves the quarry industry is a lucrative business in Selangor.

However, the 27 new quarries in Bukit Lagong did not go through open tender processes and there is a lack of transparency with regard to the government’s approval procedures.

Staff of former and incumbent MB involved

Meanwhile, one of the quarry developers - Jernih Jasa Intan Sdn Bhd (JJI) - has two shareholders linked to former Selangor menteri besar Azmin Ali and his successor Amirudin Shari.

A check revealed that both Razali Ramly and Khairul Afiq A Rahim hold a 30 percent stake respectively in the firm.

Razali is Azmin’s special officer in the latter’s capacity as Gombak MP. In 1999, Razali contested the Sungai Tua seat under PKR but lost to a BN candidate.

After Selangor fell to Pakatan Rakyat in the 2008 general election, Razali was appointed as an Ampang Jaya councillor in 2010.

Khairul Afiq’s father is A Rahim Ahmad Kasdi, who is the current menteri besar’s political secretary (Sungai Tua constituency).

Malaysiakini has reached out to Razali, Rahim as well as Azmin and Amirudin’s offices for comment.

Read more:

• 27 quarries to open up in Bukit Lagong Forest, Selangor GLCs involved

• Indigenous tribe in Kuang fears new quarry will lead to pollution, floods

• State rep: Dozens of new Bukit Lagong quarries may worsen Kuang floods

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