KOTA KINABALU – Sabah Legislative Assembly Speaker Datuk Kadzim M. Yahya has cleared Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan’s mistake when he declared that Singapore-based company Hoch Standard has a paid-up capital of US$10 million (RM44.5 million) in the state’s controversial carbon-trading deal.
After reviewing the explanation, Kadzim found that the sum claimed by Jeffrey was the total investment value and not the paid-up capital.
“I have received a complaint via a notice of motion from the Sri Tg and Elopura assemblymen to refer Jeffrey to the Rights and Freedom Committee for allegedly making a misleading statement on the US$10 million paid-up capital by Hoch Standard during the state legislative sitting on December 8, 2021.
“I have requested an explanation on the confusing statement and documents to support the statement, and Jeffrey provided the reply on April 27.
“After looking into the documents and explanation, I have decided that Jeffrey made the statement without any intention to mislead the house,” he said during the assembly sitting today.
Therefore, he did not refer the deputy chief minister to the committee but instead had instructed him to issue a clarification on the matter in a letter of apology to the speaker’s office.
Kadzim proceeded to read the apology and noted he had accepted the written apology and recorded it in the Hansard report.
In the apology, Jeffrey clarified that the sum mentioned was the company’s total investment value.
“So, I wish to convey my open apology in the state legislative assembly for causing confusion pertaining to the paid-up capital of Hoch Standard Pte Ltd. I did not intend to mislead the House.
“When I made the statement, I was certain that the information was correct and referred to the paid-up capital of the company,” the written apology reads.
Assaffal P. Alian (Tungku-Warisan) meanwhile said Jeffrey should have been present at the state legislative assembly when the written apology was read out, or he should have read it himself. – The Vibes, July 18, 2022
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