SAPP President, Datuk Yong Teck Lee and his party henchmen are going for ‘character assassination’ in a bid to finish him off politically and tarnish his image, said former deputy Chief Minister Datuk Tham Nyip Shen.
But he was confident that they will not succeed as they are only spreading lies; furthermore he (Tham) is no longer involved in any political party.
Responding to allegations hurled at him by Yong and his SAPP colleagues, the former SAPP stalwart and a former confidant of Yong said the latter was not only a desperado but also vengeful as he (Yong) reckoned that he (Tham) was to blame for his (Yong) defeat in Batu Sapi.
Tham also said that Yong and SAPP were churning out allegations and but conveniently side-stepping issues that he had raised, so as to cloud the situation and confuse the public.
Tham said the main issue now was that he had been reliably told on many occasions that there were people who received large sums of money after promising FMU (Forest Management Unit) deals to some people in Sandakan.
“I was shocked when told by some Sandakan businessmen that despite the payments in promise of FMU approval, they got nothing in the end. These people are my friends and I was forced to clarify that I had nothing to do with the FMUs,” said Tham.
Tham said Yong should be the one to clarify the matter.
“But Yong and his henchmen have nothing better else to say than to vent their anger at me, but they have conveniently forgotten that they had stirred up the hornet’s nest when they mentioned me in the FMU controversy,” said Tham in a statement issued here Sunday.
“Even then when I first issued a statement on Oct 12, without mentioning any names, I had clarified that I was not part of the (FMU) controversy!
“I had also said that the FMUs if implemented correctly will be successful. I had also stated that as Ministers in the Cabinet at that time, we were discouraged from asking about the FMU issue at that time.
“What I also cannot understand is that out of 10 FMU approved by Yong, one went to Sabah Foundation and the others to mostly non-Sabahan companies. And of these at least five have failed,” he explained.
Tham said he did assist an association of more than 50 furniture factory owners, in and around the KKIP area, to apply for an FMU under KKIP Forest Sdn Bhd, as the owners were worried about getting insufficient supply of timber and at competitive prices for their furniture factories once the forest is operated by private companies.
He added he did approach Federal Ministries for assistance because he believed that if properly managed, the FMU is viable, and that his briefing by the Forestry Department, goes to show that he wanted a clearer picture of the situation before lending his support.
“Sabah furniture manufacturers would surely deserve an FMU rather than a company (from outside Sabah) whose officials cannot differentiate the forest from the wood,” charged Tham.
“My efforts merely show my consistency in supporting a good policy. As to whether I had benefited personally – I hope Yong and his henchmen can provide the public with the evidence,” he added.
Tham said it was more hilarious than anything else that Yong had claimed that he (Tham) wanted an FMU concession for himself, describing the allegation as “how low Yong would stoop to malign his once political comrade.”
“No one, but Yong himself, had the opportunity to scrutinise the backgrounds of the companies that were awarded the FMU concessions,” he asserted.
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