Should Malaysia consider a law that prohibits the Royalty(sitting Ruler, spouse and family) from business activities?
It is 'DIFFICULT' for Law Enforcement, and even governments who RESPECT the Royalty - and do not want to HIGHLIGHT wrongs in the business they own or control. Some 'cunning' business persons or entities may involve members of the royalty in their business activities for "wrong purposes' - expediting approvals, removals of obstacles like compliance requirements, EIAs, etc - as many public officers., out of respect to the royalty, may end up being 'flexible'...even avoiding strict requirements of law.
So, maybe the Conference of Rulers and Rulers can also consider stop their involvement in business activities whilst they are King,Sultan, ... Nobody would want the King or Sultan to be called up for investigation, or even prosecuted for offences committed by business entities they own or are part of...
There have been several royalty linked projects that have raised human rights issues, environmental concerns,..
Two months ago, “Pure Green Development Sdn Bhd” submitted an environmental impact assessment (EIA) to develop an oil palm plantation in the forests of the Kuala Nerus district in Terengganu.
And this project raised eyebrows.
Apart from the impact on the forests, concerns were raised in the EIA about potential flooding and effects on water supply during droughts.
Another piece of information also surfaced from the EIA - Pure Green belongs to Tengku Baderul Zaman, who is the brother of Terengganu ruler Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin.
Baderul holds a 30 percent stake while Tan Khian Huat, Tam Piak Hock and Tam Tian Ting hold the remaining shares.
The EIA also revealed that the sultan, who owns a different firm, is clearing the adjacent forest.
Two forests are involved - the Belara forest reserve and the adjacent peat swamp forest to its west - both located in Mukim Pakoh.
What’s brewing in Belara?
According to the Terengganu Forestry Department in 2016, the Belara forest reserve originally spanned 4,589ha.
The adjacent peat swamp forest is 2,229ha. The total area of the forests is 6,818ha.
However, the Belara forest reserve has been shrinking for the past seven years due to the degazetting of its forest reserve status and new logging projects.
At the same time, the adjacent peat swamp forest is at risk due to Pure Green’s proposed plantation project.
On Aug 17, 2017, the Terengganu state government gazetted to remove the forest reserve status of three forest parcels in the Belara forest - numbered PT 10175, PT 10176 and PT 10177 - and convert them into agricultural land.
As a result, the remaining main block of the Belara forest reserve was “chopped” into four smaller blocks, and its total area was reduced by 47 percent to 2,432ha.
Cutting down forests without plan
The degazettement has also paved the way for future logging operations in the Belara forest.
In 2020, a company called Cahaya Ikhtiar Sdn Bhd obtained permission from the Environment Department (DOE) to cut down about 800ha of forest on Lot 10176.
Malaysiakini found that Cahaya Ikhtiar is an oil palm plantation company. Its sole owner is the Terengganu ruler.
According to Forest Tracker published by Rimbawatch, DOE approved at least two EIA reports from Cahaya Ikhtiar for logging activities by the end of 2020.
The areas involved were less than 500ha and did not require public consultation. - Malaysiakini, 4/9/2024
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