Mismanagement turning investors off Pahang, says DAP
Pahang is suffering from a dearth of foreign and local investments due to the poor management of the state by Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob's administration, DAP national vice-chairperson Tan Kok Wai said today.
Pahang is suffering from a dearth of foreign and local investments due to the poor management of the state by Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob's administration, DAP national vice-chairperson Tan Kok Wai said today.
The state government's refusal to comply with a court order to pay at least RM63 million to a logging company for breach of contract, Tan pointed out, was a clear example why investors were steering clear of the state.
He said the Pahang government's refusal to pay the sum since the court order made in 2007 carried "very serious" implications that would impact its credibility, locally and internationally.
"The case will surely put off foreign investors, and also scare off local investors. That's why only two factories have been set up recently, one being Lynas and another in Raub using cyanide," Tan said.
He was referring to the controversial Lynas Advanced Material Plant in Kuantan and an earlier case where Raub Australian Gold Mining Sdn Bhd used cyanide in its operations.
"The two major investments in Pahang are detrimental to the people's health and safety," he added at a press conference he called in support of shareholders of logging company Seruan Gemilang Makmur Sdn Bhd, who today began a hunger strike to press the state government to honour the court order.
Cause for concern
The Pahang government has so far defied the 2007 decision of the High Court in Kuantan ordering it to pay at least RM63 million as compensation in a logging deal to Seruan Gemilang Makmur.
The state government tried to verturn the decision in the Federal Court, but failed.
Following the state's refusal to pay, Seruan Gemilang Makmur two years later, in 2009, filed a second suit, naming Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob (on the right) as a respondent to compel him to order the state government to pay.
The Court of Appeal ruled that Adnan was wrongly named as a respondent, but upheld the decision of the High Court in Kuantan that the state had to pay the compensation.
Tan, who is also Cheras MP, stressed that the federal government needed to step in to make right the situation, claiming that the state government's behaviour had all but turned "genuine businesses" away from Pahang.
"This is a cause for worry. The prime minister must act to ensure the state government honours the court decision. They better honour it before we take over," he quipped, alluding to the possibility of a takeover of federal government by the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition.
