KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government will not submit to threats from people releasing secretly recorded videos insinuating corruption, says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor (pic).
He said certain groups were using the issue to create confusion and destabilise the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government.
Reiterating the government's stand on the mining licensing issue, he said it had only issued prospecting licences but had yet to approve any mining concessions.
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"No mining licences were issued ... only for prospecting," he said in a statement Thursday (Dec 5) following a new batch of five video clips of a businessman purportedly discussing mineral licensing matters and insinuating the bribery was involved.
"Following the release of the latest video clips, I want to reassure Sabahans that the mineral resources of this state remain preserved and carefully managed for their future," he said.
He added that the group involved in the licence application had sought permission for a huge swathe of land covering nearly 405,000ha (one million acres) including totally protected forest areas, water catchments, and areas reserved for rehabilitation.
"When their application was unsuccessful, some video clips were spread as an effort to threaten the state government.
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"(They made) allegations that assemblymen were asking for bribes or committing wrongdoing related to this issue, (which are) baseless.
"The act of recording a video that has been edited and (spread in this manner) was done with bad intentions.
"Their threats in the form of criminal extortion are an act of desperation ... to defame the good name of the government and affect political stability," he added.
Hajiji stressed that the state had never issued a mining licence to any one party, and any claim that such a permit had been given was untrue.
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He said the prospecting licences were only for exploration and geo-mineral data collection.
He said prospecting was the first step of the process before any mining lease application could be considered.
"Unfortunately, this issue has been turned into political propaganda by certain parties (with) malicious intent to create confusion and destabilise (the state)," he said.
