Hidden interests in judicial review against carbon trade deal, says Sabah deputy CM

KOTA KINABALU, Aug 12 — Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan has questioned the motives of a court move by a group of civil societies to scrutinise the controversial carbon credit deal or Nature Conservation Agreement (NCA).

The main proponent of the agreement, Kitingan said that there were dubious intentions behind the suit and that the people involved had their own agendas in sabotaging and derailing the project.

“We are aware (of the move) and we are prepared to go to court if necessary. But they should be careful that their motive is genuine otherwise it will backfire on them,” he said during an online talk on the “Sabah Way Forward” Facebook platform hosted by Kupi Kupi FM.

When pressed further he said: “What is their motive and legal basis? It looks like they have other objectives which is to derail the project and some of them may be looking to takeover,” he said, declining to reveal names although “they know who their backers are.”

“I believe something happening out there to sabotage the programme, maybe some who used to be involved in logging or used to steal Sabah riches. I am not surprised if there are NGOs too. But AI technology now makes it easy to check who is behind these things,” he said.

Last week, a group of civil societies in Sabah announced its intentions to file a judicial review against the state government to ensure that due diligence and other requirements are followed in the process of the NCA.

They said that the project still failed to address many conservation and socio-economic concerns without proper procedures and accountability.

Kitingan, who is also the chairman of the Steering and Management Committee for the Implementation of the Nature Conservation Agreement, said the October 28, 2021 NCA deal with Singapore-based Hoch Standard Ltd (owned by Dr Ho Choon Hou) was still under implementation to meet various international requirements.

Hoch Standard has since been taken over by the British Virgin Island-based company Lionsgate. The deal involves management of carbon credit sales of two million hectares of forest reserves for a period of 100 years.

Kitingan said that there is nothing sinister about the offshore company as insinuated by some groups as the owner of Lionsgate is Dr Ho Choon Hou.

“I have nothing to do with it,” he said.

Kitingan defended the firm, saying they have onboard the advisory board former chief judge Tun Mohamed Rauf Sharif among other specialists to provide legal and technical expertise.

Kitingan instead pointed out another carbon deal which should be scrutinised, between Permian Malaysia Sdn Bhd, the Sabah government and Yayasan Sabah subsidiary and Rakyat Berjaya, signed on August 6, last year, involving an 80,000ha-logged-over forest in Kuamut.

“Who are the Luxemberg buyers? You will be shocked.

“I have studied three agreements. I am sorry to tell you it is nothing compared to the NCA deal which costs us nothing. The Permian deal is 84,000 hectares and takes five per cent from gross sales or RM40,000 a year goes to the government. But the government has to pay RM250,000 per year for five years. And there is no requirement for free, prior and informed consent,” he said, adding that the company is given a free hand to dictate the pricing of carbon sales and provide for discounts under the proposed deal.

In comparison, under the NCA Sabah, the assigned party — Hoch Standard will deal with the major global management groups involved in carbon trading.

He said that the state government has already engaged with and gotten the blessings via signatures of 16 native groups and will continue to engage with more indigenous groups which fulfils its obligation for free, prior, and informed consent to the people involved.

“To me, it’s more than enough, but we will keep going, so they’re also in the monitoring group,” he said.

The NCA came under the international spotlight after it had in October of 2021 signed a deal with the Singapore-based Hoch Standard to undertake a 100 year deal to trade carbon from two million hectares of Sabah’s forests