An opposition leader today lodged a report with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) calling for an investigation into a multi-million ringgit logging scandal involving Umno Pahang and former Menteri Besar Khalil Yaacob.

DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang said the report was filed this morning at the ACA's headquarters in Putrajaya by the party's national publicity secretary Ronnie Liu.

"We asked the ACA if they were investigating the Pahang logging scandal but the officials were not forthcoming on the matter," he said when met after his meeting with two ACA senior officials this morning.

"I told the officers that (Liu) would lodge an official report after our meeting so that the ACA would have no excuses not to investigate into the matter," he related.

Lim said Liu's statement would be based on several malaysiakini reports on a controversial logging concession believed to be worth RM100 million that was awarded in 1998 to the ruling party by the Pahang state government under Khalil's leadership.

Whose land was logged?

It was learnt that logging on the vast 10,000 acres plot - about 40 sq km - had begun even though Umno Pahang had not paid the RM4.8 million land premium despite four rare extensions by the state land office.

The legitimacy of the party in logging the land is now under question as the district land office in Pekan - where the site is located - has confirmed that the land still belongs to the state government.

The deal has also caused consternation as it allowed a logging company to harvest a large tract of land exceeding the limits set by the national forestry policy. To date, 70 percent of the land has been logged.

Lim said the ACA should look into two key issues relating to the multi-million ringgit deal.

The first is a possible conflict of interest situation resulting from the granting of the concession to Umno Pahang when the state leader is also a member of the same party.

The second issue relates to the permission given by Umno Pahang for a Kuantan-based company, Seruan Gemilang Makmur (SGM), to start logging the land although the party had not paid its premium.

It is uncleared who has pocketed the proceeds from the 7,000 logged acres.

High-level corruption

In a press statement last Saturday, Liu had urged the ACA to launch an investigation into the matter as malaysiakini's series of reports on the logging scandal suggested high-level corruption within Umno Pahang.

Liu also questioned why the Pekan district land office had failed to take stern action against the party despite its failure to pay the premium but instead allowed SGM to go ahead with timber extraction activities.

When contacted later, Liu said he could not confirm whether he had successfully lodged the report.

According to him, ACA officials told him that he was prohibited from making press statements on the matter under the Prevention of Corruption Act.