Orang asli looking at the partially demolished house at Kg Sg Suil in cameron Highlands which was hit by the land slide.
The Cameron Highlands disaster not only claimed lives and damaged property, it also put the Pahang Mentri Besar and a leading Malay newspaper on a collision course.
DATUK Seri Adnan Yaakob has always been known for his fierce and macho personality. The Pahang Mentri Besar has been walking about like a smouldering volcano of late although some media people in Kuantan say the volcano has erupted.
Adnan is not someone you want to take on. The same could be said about Utusan Malaysia, the powerful Umno-owned Malay newspaper which makes it its business to stand up for Malay interests and issues.
And that is why the open quarrel between Adnan and Utusan Malaysia has been so fascinating to watch – an Umno leader versus an Umno-owned media outlet.
The cause of their hostilities has to do with what could be the scandal of the year, namely the devastation in Cameron Highlands and questionable goings-on behind it.
It began two weeks ago when Utusan Malaysia published a front-page special report claiming that Cameron Highlands was flooded with foreign workers, many of them illegal, and that the authorities were turning a blind eye to it.
Three days later, Adnan responded to the report at a press conference.
He did not exactly deny what had been written but he took exception to the way the report was worded and it seemed he was trying to justify why the farms needed the workers. Unfortunately, he also accused Utusan Malaysia of trying to bring him down.
Just hours after the press conference ended, the heavens opened over Cameron Highlands, the rains came down with a vengeance and, that very night, disaster struck – raging floods, a giant mudflow, five deaths, people injured and property damaged.
It was the second deluge in two years and there was no more hiding from the fact that logging, rampant land clearing and development in Cameron Highlands had been allowed to get out of hand.
The disaster was a national issue because Cameron Highlands’ reputation extends beyond Pahang and its produce feed the nation and are exported as far as Singapore.
A can of worms had been opened. An English daily has since dug deep to expose illegal land clearings the size of Putrajaya and incidents of civil servants under pressure to obey alleged surat kuning (yellow letters), the pseudonym for requests from high-ranking officials from the Pahang Palace.
Utusan Malaysia’s latest salvo was a report of a “mastermind big boss” behind the illegal activities.
At the heart of it all are greedy farmers, complicity on the part of public officials and interference from the top.
Normally, after a disaster of such a scale, the mentri besar of a state would have been on the frontline to inspect the damage and propose solutions. This is necessary to show the public that the government is concerned and wants to prevent a repeat incident.
But Adnan, from most accounts, has not set foot in the highlands since the calamity nor has he called any press conference to address the issue being played out in the media day after day. At one point, reporters had to ambush him for comments during a function graced by the Sultan of Pahang.
Neither has the state executive councillor in charge of environment taken charge of the issue. It was as though Cameron Highlands is some autonomous territory where unscrupulous businessmen can break the law as they like.
The way the authority figures have avoided taking responsibility explains why the once beautiful highlands is what it is today.
Adnan finally came out with a statement on Friday.
He did not deny the rampant illegal land clearings or the existence of illegal foreign workers, but his excuse was that the state did not have the manpower or resources to control the situation. He also downplayed the existence of surat kuning and defended the role of the palace officials.
What struck everyone was his reconciliatory tone. He thanked the media for highlighting the issues and for their ideas. He said he welcomed fair reporting and constructive criticism. It was a very different Adnan, certainly not the fighting cock Kuantan-based reporters are used to.
Adnan has been telling people in Pahang, including some journalists, that he wants to sue Utusan Malaysia.
He is still simmering over the stinging Awang Selamat editorial that criticised him for his attitude, accused him of surviving because of palace connections and that he had overstayed his welcome.
The last time the paper had been so direct with a sitting mentri besar was when it told Terengganu’s Datuk Seri Ahmad Said to go. It was very embarrassing for Adnan but he should find a less confrontational solution.
This is Adnan’s 15th year as Mentri Besar. His predecessor, the refined Tun Khalil Yaakob, made way for him after 13 years at the top. It was a gentlemanly transition, done several months before the 1999 general election.
Adnan is not ready to make way going by his reaction to the Utusan Malaysia editorial. He has grown very comfortable in the job but his state government’s failure in managing Cameron Highlands may make things more uncomfortable for him in the days to come.
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