steadyaku47

Monday 28 September 2009

The Timber business...as done in Pahang!


Eurocopter EC 155  



The State of Pahang has a quota of about 20,000 to 30,000 acres for timber concession per year. The bulk of this is taken by Sultan Ahmad Shah. But again I am ahead of myself….…how much revenue is the State getting from companies operating logging concessions in that state? Without going into what stumpage value is, what clear felling is, what residual value technique is, value of standing timber, Selective Management System, trees below cutting limit and trees above the cutting limit – I am going to simplify matters in this way. 


There are two ways to compute this:

·      Competitive bidding system: Average bid price for logging concession per hectare  -  RM 19,100.00

·      Based on fixed royalties: It would be RM 16,278.00.

This Sultan pays between RM$200 (Two Hundred Ringgit) to RM$2000 (Two thousand Ringgit) premium per acre. Let us just say that again because it is hard to believe that you can get that kind of ‘discount”…between $200 to $2000 per hectare. Since he became Sultan he has been given close to 100,000 hectares of timber concession in Pahang….and that is a lot hectares.

On these figures alone that means Sultan Ahmad Shah has deprived the State of Pahang out of approximately RM150 Million of Revenue. That is a whole lot of money!

I am not going to go into how much money he made from the 100,000 hectares given to him. Suffice to say that that is also a whole lot of money!

But is all this enough to finance his lavish lifestyle?  No way Jose! For starters this Sultan has a personal Eurocopter EC 155  - a long range medium lift helicopter capable of carrying up to 13 passengers – a VIP corporate transport costing US$10 million! This Heli is maintained by………you fill in the blanks!

The damage done by these logging activities have caused the Rakyat in Pahang much suffering from flooding. In the Sungai Lembing flash floods of 2001 - where Sultan Ahmad Shah has 17,000 acres of logging concession - hundreds of houses were flooded. The displacement of wild animals from their natural habitat goes without saying. Despite this happening the State Government   has continued to give him logging concessions close to Taman Negara in Jerantut and also in one of the world’s oldest rainforest area of Rompin. Suffice to say that sustainable forest management principles to ensure the maximization of social, economical and environmental benefits to Pahang are not a consideration that this Sultan actively pursues. The responsibility of implementing the State Forest Management Plan which sought to “ secure the orderly taking, renewal and conservation of trees in accordance with the principles of sustained yield” lies with the State Forest Director. I do not see the State Forest Director being able to work independently of the Sultan’s oft-repeated plea “Please Sir…I want some more”.

Even small areas in Kuantan district belonging to University Islam Antarabangsa have been cut by Sultan Ahmad Shah’s nominee. This constant encroachments of kampong Areas for legal and illegal logging has often resulted in villagers becoming upset – akin to going  ‘mengamuk’ -  because their  Ketua kampongs could do nothing to alleviate the problems caused by these loggings. Recently this was highlighted by TV9 together with the problem the authorities had in trying to construct a 13-kilometre road to ease the problems of the village folks because the timber lorries were moving in and out of the area “like nobody’s business!”





 The measly amount of money donated by this Sultan from his timber business to the villages is laughable but then he does need most of it to pay off his gambling debts - and the balance is not even enough to pay for his expensive toys.

The avarice of this Sultan has resulted in him being in direct competition with Amanah Saham Pahang (ASPA). ASPA used to own massive logging concession – close to   one million acres of timberland and had dozen of sawmills and timber complexes. But ASPA is no match to the Sultans and his ‘business partners’ who even siphoned out the logs belonging to ASPA – so much so that all of ASPA sawmills and timber complexes have had to close. This has meant the loss of jobs within ASPA and the demise of a once viable business entity in the state that was once capable of issuing 2000 to 3000 free shares per year to some of Pahang’s Rakyat through Kumipo. Now days ASPA cannot even issue dividends!

This Sultan is able to continue doing this with the collusion of the Menteri Besar. While kickbacks given by the Rakyat is considered as rasuah – the same kickbacks given by the Sultan to the Mentri Besar are “kurnia” and therefore deemed legal.

Guys this is pretty heavy stuff I am writing now…have to take five and maybe continue esok. Sorry lah!

12 comments:

  1. Pahang is a bankcrupt state. Its a pity that all the problems lead back to UMNO and the Royal family.

    I have a strong affinity to Pahang through my years growing up in Kuala Lipis. I came back to work in Pahang in early to mid-90's and left again until today. I have a lot of good friends in Kuala Lipis, Padang tengku, Bukit Betong and Benta. All thse unpleasant news about the state sadden me a great deal.

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  2. Gosh .... you are really a dangerous man to BN/UMNO and the royalty, and yet to the top civil service.

    You kept their dark secret well and revealing bit by bit.

    Is this a contra to the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) to "Malaysia Today" web-site.

    Anyway, just like the way its coming.

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  3. I was told that the former MB and now Governor of Malacca also has a hand in the timber grab....... two hands and not one please.
    Well, these privilege lot must be having a gala time, and what do we call such people? Penyamun, perompak, lanun. bahlul etc etc ...the king and I.

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  4. Remember to wash your hand properly with disinfectant after all the poking of the assholes you've done! Haha...enjoy your good work!! fine piece of expose'!! thanks for the enlightenment!!

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  5. This is terrible.

    What evil lurks in the hearts of men.

    I dont want to take the moral high ground here , dont talk about the BeeEnd or Pakatan politicians, even I myself, if I am tempted with and offered hundreds of thousands of hectares of timber concession for free, i prob would also grab like mad.

    So its not the person whom we must judge. If tested, I'll bet 99.9% of us would fall short and succumb also.

    Its the SYSTEM that needs changing, so that no man should ever ever b in a position where he can b tempted.




    sunwayopal
    http://www.myrealestate.com.my

    ReplyDelete
  6. dat's probably 1 of the reasons why Msia cannot be more advance than sinkapor altho Msia is rich in every other aspect ... including rich in corrupted politicians & watnots ... surely he regrets opening his mouth for out came the wriggly crawlies!

    we used to visit our aunt in benta & dropped by lipih nong nong ago ... her family has since uprooted to kepong.

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  7. Hi pinsysu...just about to go to sleep - its almost 1am over here - when your email came through..yes I remember Benta...but as you said that was a long long time ago. Thanks for taking the trouble to read what I write...it makes it worth my while to do so...regards and good night.

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  8. HH,

    Sungei Lembing has never seen its river been polluted since the time when timber logging concessions were given out and the timber logs being felled.

    Come monsoon season, the whole town will be flooded, and it has become a yearly affair.

    It was reported that the Penghulu was also a descendant of the Royal Pahang family but was ousted due to clan rivalry in historical past.

    The present Sultan will have his hands full as to generate streams of income from other sources such as Datukship awards, timber concessions, land ownership..

    The first few kilometers of Kuantan beach along the coastal area also belongs to the Sultan. The once upon a time Merlin Hotel now stands virtually a depleted piece of abandoned concrete building left vacant as a result of failed management of Pahang's PASDEC project.

    Yes the former MB, now the 'King' of Malacca had also had his hands full in full collusion with the Pahang Royal family. It was rumored that during the renovation work of the MB's residence in Jalan Teluk Sidek, the contractors found stacks and gunny bags of cash being hidden on the ceiling !

    God knows when the Sultan will stop pilfering the State's finances thru' his addiction to casino gambling habit in London or maybe in Australia.

    Sigh...... the poverty-stricken anak Pahang.

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  9. The Regent of Pahang, i.e. future Sultan, is following the footsteps of his father.

    He has his own palace built on top of the hill and another newly renovated one, just downhill of Telok Cempedak, fully specked with flood lights at night.

    During his free time he will play around with his toy, the helicopter cruising over the sky.

    All this at the expense of raykyat's tax money. That's why they are so grateful to BN government.

    Vote for BN !!! Says the Sultan to his subjects.

    Adnan Yaakob cannot never be like the late Rahim Bakar. He will just ampun and ampun all the way to the palace.

    And MSM will script profusely about the goodness and virtues deeds carried out by the Sultan during his birthday celebrations.Pages and pages would be contributed by his cronies, the Datukship awardees etc.

    And UMNO Muslims will say it's seditious to slander the royal family, despite the truth of what had been said about the Sultan's wayward gambling habits in the London casino.

    TDM knew about this, that's why both of them were such good buddies.

    Just wonder when will the Muslims in Pahang are going to wake up and say enough is enough?

    I guess none and they will continue to wear blinkers and close an eye to their financial spillage.

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  10. Dear Hussein,

    Thank you for your courage to expose the blatant pilfering. I read each piece with sadden heart, yet I am hopeful that through all the revelations of past wrongs, Malaysians will dare take a stand. Kudos to you and many others like RPK, Haris, Azhar Harun, Lim Kit Siang, Haris Ibrahim, Lim Eng Guan etc... show your courage in fighting for good governance, equality and just society.

    Keep on writing. Cheers

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    ReplyDelete
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