KOTA KINABALU – Sabah should not bypass Putrajaya when it comes to carbon trading, former DAP senator Adrian Lasimbang opined over the seemingly hasty nature to approve the Nature Conservation Agreement (NCA).
Branding the NCA a scam, Lasimbang voiced his shock upon learning that the main proponent for the deal, Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan, had revealed that the state is keen on conducting carbon trading, even though at the national level, no federal law has been enacted yet to regulate the activity in Malaysia.
“That argument does not hold water, as any carbon deal will have to follow the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, especially the Paris Accord, to which Malaysia is a signatory.
“Any federal-state matter with regards to carbon trading must be dealt with through an internal process.
“Bypassing the national process will render carbon under the NCA non-legal and non-tradeable,” he said in a statement tonight, referring to Jeffrey’s assertion that Sabah may lose the opportunity to reap better benefits from the NCA once a federal law is enacted.
He described the NCA as being illegal, as it did not go through the federal government, and instead a deal was directly clinched with a foreign company – Singapore-based Hoch Standard.
At a federal-state meeting, Jeffrey came to know that the federal government is in the midst of enacting a law on carbon trading.
He also noted plans by Putrajaya to establish a greenhouse body to oversee the carbon credit trading in Malaysia.
This, he said, could see Sabah losing revenue from carbon credits, similar to its oil and gas situation, which comes under the federal purview.
“Being a champion of state rights and Malaysia Agreement 1963, Jeffrey must have plans around how to realise the full potential of Sabah via the newly amended federal constitution that has now granted Sabah equal status in the Federation of Malaysia.
“Sabah is given the right opportunity to put in the correct mechanism to ensure its rights to carbon resources are respected,” said Lasimbang.
He said Jeffrey’s actions were in contradiction with his struggle on defending state rights, seeing that instead of going through the proper channel, the second deputy chief minister signed a deal with a foreign company.
On his lawsuit regarding the NCA, Lasimbang said the court has set February 14 as the date for the mention of his case, adding that it would be held online.
He alleged the NCA did not fulfil several procedures before it was signed and therefore it was not enforceable and illegal.
Lasimbang had given up his political endeavours to return to indigenous rights activism, and is now the president of the Suara Anak Sabah Organisation and also technical advisor of the Jaringan Orang Asal Se-Malaysia. – The Vibes, February 9, 2022
