Bank Negara must act on Kelantan’s own ‘1MDB’, says Husam


Amin Iskandar

KELANTAN appears to have its own 1MDB scandal in the making, Salor assemblyman Husam Musa said today as he urged Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to act on an unauthorised green technology company that had signed a deal with the state government.

Climate Protectors Sdn Bhd and the Kelantan government in January inked a deal for the country’s first carbon credit trading scheme involving one million acres of forest land.

But Husam questioned why the state was still in the deal when the company had been red-flagged by BNM for operating without approval. Climate Protectors was placed on the central bank’s financial consumer alert list on June 23 as an unauthorised company.

Kelantan Menteri Besar Alma Yakob on June 26 announced that the carbon trading project was official despite BNM’s warning days earlier.

“Bank Negara should not only issue a warning to consumers but be more proactive against such schemes,” Husam, who is also Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) vice-president told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

The deal is for 30 years and will see profit-sharing between the state government and the company. The amount of land involved covers about 25% of Kelantan’s total land area.

On its website, Climate Protectors said the deal aims to reduce emissions caused by forest clearing while enhancing carbon stocks in forests.

Scientific calculations, valuations and verification reports will be carried out by independent scientists to determine the carbon stocks in the designated area, it said.

After the deal was signed in January, however, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the agreement did not comply with the terms on carbon trading set by the United Nations.

The minister said all states should get their information about ‘reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) programmes from the federal government.

Husam questioned whether the Kelantan menteri besar took BNM’s warning lightly and expressed worry about what the deal meant for the state.

“If the deal on the one million acres cannot be revoked, then we are compromising 25% of Kelantan,” he said. – July 4, 2017.


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Comments


  • Husam is right...support

    Posted 8 years ago by Roaring lion chong · Reply

  • The Malays should wake up by now and stop the blind loyalty to umno

    Posted 8 years ago by Roaring lion chong · Reply

  • The Malays should wake up by now and stop the blind loyalty to umno

    Posted 8 years ago by Roaring lion chong · Reply

  • Why no respond from Kelente gomen? But people of Kelente dont understand carbon credit trading scheme, even people in KL dont understand. So as far as PAS in concerned, no need to bising2 about it. Better keep quiet.

    Posted 8 years ago by Ab meeda · Reply

  • Kelantan may be governed by a bunch of ulamas but not the kind of people with knowledge on UNCCC to generate carbon credits. If you are an alim you at least should know how to manage properly. Jumping the gun to announce that you can implement "big projects" without technical due diligence review of the project fundamental requirement is pretty "bangang" I would say.

    Posted 8 years ago by Ben Gapowey · Reply