Vale project: What are you hiding, Zambry? Teoh El Sen | April 7, 2012 Former Perak menteri besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin claims the letter related to the Vale project which current MB Zamby Abd Kadi declassified is not legally binding. PETALING JAYA: Former Perak menteri besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin has hit back at his ‘usurper’, Zambry Abd Kadir, over the latter’s attempt to ‘embarrass’ him by declassifying documents pertaining to the controversial Vale iron ore processing plant being built in Teluk Rubiah, Manjung, Perak. Nizar, who has been put on the defensive since Wednesday after Zambry exposed a letter Nizar wrote to the Brazilian company indicating his support of the project, today questioned if Zambry was hiding the “true reason” the BN government approved the deal with Vale. “He is trying to avoid the true reason. Was somebody’s interest being taken care of when they(the BN government) approved the Teluk Rubiah site? We know there were a lot of compromises from his (Zambry’s) government in their agreement with Vale,” Nizar told FMT. Nizar repeated the allegation that the company which sold the land to Vale had owed the government RM20 million in accumulated unpaid arrears. In an FMT report on August 22, Nizar was quoted as saying: “In order to settle debts to the bank and to the state government, they dumped everything on the Brazilians…Obviously, Vale was given additional incentives when it decided to choose Teluk Rubiah.” It was also reported that in 2009, KYM Holdings Bhd, through Harta Makmur Sdn Bhd, sold 488 hectares (1,205 acres) of leasehold land in Teluk Rubiah to Vale International and Vale Malaysia Manfuacturing Sdn Bhd for RM196 million. Companies Commission of Malaysia documents shown to FMT stated that Harta Makmur is 60% owned by Tegas Consolidated Sdn Bhd and 40% owned by RAS Sdn Bhd. The majority shareholder for RAS is Sultan Azlan Shah. His consort, Tuanku Bainun Mohd Ali, and his son, the late Raja Ashman Shah, are minority shareholders. Sultan Azlan Shah’s children are directors of the company. “He didn’t answer when we asked him about this possibility of our suspicions that the Teluk Rubiah deal was about these financial problems. He just wants to assassinate my character, to shame me,” said Nizar today. Nizar reiterated his challenge to Zambry to declassify all documents related to the Vale project so to expose “the whole truth” and not to nitpick on just one letter that did not put things in context. “The Pakatan Rakyat stand has always been that Tanjung Hantu was the preferred site,” said Nizar, who said he had indicated this alternate site in earlier negotiations with Vale representatives a few months before the letter was sent. ‘Letter not legally binding’ Nizar explained that the reason his letter was worded as such was because it was simply an “invitation” to Vale and stressed that it did not mean that it was officially “approved”. “It is unfair for Zambry to put my entertaining of Vale, in a public relationship, of their interest in buying a land in the state as an approval. It was not yet discussed at the exco meeting. He(Zambry) is jumping to conclusions to say it was an approval,” said Nizar. Nizar said that the final approval could only have been given after other agencies – including Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Department of Land and Mines, as well as Defence Ministry—had approved that it fulfilled their standards. “So, there was no harm for us to look into the application at the time, does not mean that we approved it, that’s how a government moves. The letter is not legally binding and is conditional,” said Nizar. Nizar asked whether Zambry’s government had gotten Defence Ministry’s green light to the project as there were also worries that the proximity to a naval base would jeapordise national security. “There were so many other factors, including fishermen and other people affected that we would not have approved so easily,” said Nizar. “I was against it to be in Teluk Rubiah. We(Vale and state government then) had no animosity. But Zambry painted the picture in another way, “ said Nizar. Asked what would Pakatan Rakyat do if it manages to retake Perak, Nizar said that it would allow Vale to continue operations. “No, there’s no way that we can remove them now. Can’t reverse a state government’s decision after it was made,” said Nizar. “Even if we take over, we’ll allow it to continue in Teluk Rubiah. But we’ll monitor it tightly, whoever is affected, we’ll ask for the compensation to be given, they must adhere to the strict international standards,” said Nizar. “My relationship with Vale is now still good, I even met with the Kuala Lumpur Vale chief two, three weeks ago. “We thought that if Vale fulfil all the requirements, it can bring good economic effect in the area. They have given assurances that it won’t have any environmental effects when they cited their plant in the middle of the Brazil town. So if that is the case, we won’t have any qualms,” said Nizar. Why defer to Singapore courts? Meanwhile, former state exco Ngeh Koo Ham, said that Zambry was making selective disclosures and it was “preposterous” to suggest that the state government offered Teluk Rubiah as it was a private land. “If a man murders his wife, you take the first letter when he wrote to her of the sweet nothings which shows they were a loving couple, and leave out (a) subsequent letter (that) shows they had a fall out, of hatred, words of anger, frustration, unhappiness. Would that be fair in a murder trial?” asked the state assemblyman of Sitiawan, who is also a lawyer. Ngeh also questioned one of the terms of the agreement between Vale and the state government which stated that any dispute which arises must be settled in the Singapore courts. “Why did the state agree to such a condition? That’s a slap in the face for Malaysian judiciary and sovereignity of the nation, that we say we cannot manage our laws, that people don’t have trust that the matter can be justly abjudicated here?” On Wednesday, Zambry stayed true to his earlier threat to declassify documents to show that Nizar, the Pasir Panjang assemblyman, had lied about the Vale issue. In the letter, dated Dec 17, 2008, and addressed to Renato Neves, Vale’s global marketing and commercial director, Nizar expressed his pleasure at having met Vale representatives in his office during which the two parties had discussed at length “the status of development of your (Vale’s) proposed iron ore distribution centre and iron pelleting project at Teluk Rubiah, near Lumut”. Nizar wrote that he was looking forward to hearing the outcome of the company’s application for the manufacturing licence and incentives from the International Trade and Industry Ministry. He had reassured Neves that the state government would provide “all necessary supports and assistance needed for it to be implemented successfully”. Nizar had, in the letter, expressed his happiness with Vale’s negotiation with Harta Makmur and had informed Neves that “the state will process the transfer of the said land to Vale and conversion of the land to industrial use once the appropriate application (is) received by the Department of Land and Mines”. Zambry warns Nizar Zambry had claimed the letter fully debunks claims that the Pakatan government was not involved and did not support Vale’s plan to set up in Teluk Rubiah. Zambry said he had been forced to de-classify the letter after being attacked by Pakatan, especially after a recent demonstration by NGOs over the project. Today, in a Bernama report, Zambry warned Nizar “to stop being hypocritical and lying about his support for the iron ore project” and that Nizar’s action could have a negative effect on investment, development and economic growth in the state. Vale is the world’s largest iron ore mining and processing company. It has a locally registered company called Vale Malaysia Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, which started constructing the Teluk Rubiah plant last July. The plant is expected to be operational by June 2014. It will process blended iron ore and pellets used in steel production for distribution to customers in Malaysia, Australia, China, Japan and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region. The jetty would be the destination point for the massive Vale ships of 400,000-deadweight tonnes carrying iron ore from Brazil. In January, the Malaysian chapter of the international coral reef monitoring organisation, Reef Check Malaysia (RCM), had warned that the Vale plant was endangering the coral reefs in the area. (copy paste dari FMT)... utk perhatian Mr Sulit Menyulit..(maaf sy tag Tuan)
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 15:23:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015