Sabah deputy speaker steadfast on unit trust claims

Sabah deputy speaker Johnny Mositun stands by his recent statement on the poorly-performing Saham Amanah Sabah (SAS) unit trust.

He had linked the SAS fiasco with the tenure of Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) president Yong Teck Lee as chief minister from early 1996 to late 1997.

Mositun's reiteration comes in the wake of a police report lodged last Saturday by Sapp Youth chief Edward Dagul against him on the issue.

Dagul wants Mositun probed to determine whether he is concealing any evidence of crime involving the state-sponsored unit trust.

Mositun said that Dagul's statement was a distortion of facts and designed to discredit the Barisan Nasional state government.

Mositun also said that while Yong (left) could claim that he was not involved directly in the SAS fiasco, he nevertheless had to take responsibility in the matter.

Mositun who is also PBS information chief noted that Yong had waited until June 26, 2007 to lodge a police report on the SAS fiasco.

He also saw no reason to associate other leaders from PBS and Umno in the fiasco and questioned Dagul's motive in dragging in leaders who were not involved.

Sapp, according to Mositun, cannot deny that the public were actively buying SAS units during Yong's tenure as chief minister.

"Is the youth chief denying that Yong actively encouraged Sabahans to invest in the SAS units when he was chief minister?" asked Mositun.

"It is not the same as saying that Yong was not involved in any investment decisions at SAS, as claimed in Dagul's police report."

'Musa helped the SAS recover'

Mositun conceded that the 1997-1998 global economic downturn saw a drastic fall in share prices everywhere.

At one time, SAS was also linked to a Sabah-based Second Board counter which saw its share price rise from less than RM2 per share to a little over RM200 per share in a matter of months.

This was just before the 1997/98 Asian currency crisis. Subsequently, SAS unit prices fell to 0.10 sen per unit.

The deputy speaker did not touch on Dagul's claim that the state government had refused to publish a White Paper on the SAS fiasco despite repeated requests from Sapp and members of the public.

Mositun says he makes no apologies for crediting Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman (right) for initiating efforts to put SAS on the road to recovery.

Last August, the state government purchased 800 million new units in SAS giving the ailing scheme a much-needed impetus and raising the unit price from 0.17 sen to 0.25 sen.

The SAS has announced a five per cent dividend payout for the year just ended. No dividends were announced in 2008.

Mositun claimed that SAS has now been stabilised and consolidated, and a new injection of funds made so that the unit trust can position itself to improve its investment portfolio.

He, however, he admitted that the process of putting the SAS back on the road to recovery is not over yet.

He also dismissed speculations about the chief minister attending his open house but skipping ones hosted by PBS president Joseph Pairin Kitingan and Upko president Bernard Giluk Dompok.

Mositun claimed Musa was on leave and was unable to attend the other open houses which were held much earlier than his.