Kota Kinabalu: Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) Information Chief Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan has strongly rejected the allegation by Umno Sabah Information Chief Datuk Suhaimi Nasir who accused Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor of abusing his power in the Sabah Forest Industries (SFI) issue.
Nizam said the accusation was not only malicious but also reflected ignorance of the law and a desperate attempt to spread slander ahead of the State election.
“The RM1.4 billion civil suit mentioned by Suhaimi is a civil proceeding still ongoing at the Kota Kinabalu High Court and not a criminal conviction,” he said.
He explained that Sabah Attorney-General Datuk Brenndon Keith Soh had stressed that the allegation was “not only frivolous and vexatious but also baseless” as it involved litigation still in progress between the relevant parties.
“The State Government will present a comprehensive defence and is confident that the truth will prevail once the legal process is concluded,” he said.
Nizam further emphasised that the real roots of the SFI issue stemmed from the Warisan administration in 2018.
“The fact that Suhaimi and his associates are trying to conceal is that the actual SFI crisis originated during the Warisan government in 2018.
“The failures and losses of SFI were caused by the previous administration, not by the government led by Hajiji,” he said.
He added that GRS has consistently stated that SFI is a private company in which the State Government only holds a two per cent share.
“All salary and operational matters are governed under labour laws and fall under the responsibility of the employer, not the State Government,” he said.
According to Nizam, Suhaimi’s statement was a cheap attempt to instil fear among the people and divert attention from Umno’s long-standing failures to protect the interests of the Sabah people.
“Slanderous politics will not build Sabah. Hajiji and the GRS administration remain committed to the principles of transparency, integrity and accountability to the people,” he said.
Nizam expressed confidence that the people of Sabah are mature enough to judge who truly works for the State and who merely spreads lies for personal political gain.