Sabah to proceed with carbon credit deal with S'pore company, says Jeffrey Kitingan

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah's controversial Nature Conservation Agreement (NCA) for carbon credit sales is proceeding, says Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

"That has been settled (and) everything is moving forward," said the Deputy Chief Minister I when asked about the revision on the agreement with Singapore-based Hoch Standard Pte Ltd to implement the NCA.

To a question if Sabah Attorney General Datuk Nor Asiah Mohd Yusof was satisfied that Hoch Standard had fulfilled all legal requirements to implement the NCA, he said: "it was not an issue."

Kitingan, who is also state Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Minister, confirmed that a pilot project for the NCA would be implemented at the Nuluhon Trusmadi Forest Reserve in interior Sabah.

He was speaking to reporters after representing the Chief Minister to launch the Heart of Borneo International Conference at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) here on Wednesday (Aug 23).

Nor Asiah, when asked if Hoch Standard had fulfilled all legal requirements, replied: "We are still in the midst of discussions."

During an online talk on Aug 12, Kitingan alleged that a move by some civil society organisations to take the NCA issue to court was aimed at derailing the deal.

Kitingan, who was also the chairman of the Steering and Management Committee for the Implementation of the NCA, said the Oct 28, 2021 NCA deal with Hoch Standard was still under implementation to meet various international requirements.

Hoch Standard has since been taken over by the British Virgin Island-based company Lionsgate.

The NCA deal involves management of carbon credit sales of two million hectares of forest reserves for a period of 100 years.