Pahang Umno loses in logging case

Seruan Gemilang Makmur, the logging company that tried to get the Pahang government to honour a court award, claimed victory in a related case against Pahang Umno.

PETALING JAYA: The Kuantan High Court today ruled that logging company, Seruan Gemilang Makmur Sdn Bhd, does not need to pay Pahang Umno in a protracted breach of contract case.

Deputy registrar Sazlina Shafie found that Pahang Umno had failed to prove that it had incurred any damages or loses, according to Seruan Gemilang lawyer Muhammad Aznel Azharudin.

“Therefore she decided against Umno, and the conclusion is that my client does not need to pay a single sen,” Aznel told FMT.

Aznel said that the court also ruled, after hearing five witnesses in the assessment of damages, that Seruan Gemilang had gained no benefit out of the logging contract with Pahang Umno, which was found to be null and void.

He said the court, in disallowing Umno’s claims on damages, also ordered costs, which is yet to be determined, to be paid by Pahang Umno to Seruan Gemilang.

Also appearing for Seruan Gemilang is Dzulkarnian Mohamad, while Pahang Umno was represented by lawyer Toh Seng Soon.

Seruan Gemilang spokesman Lee Sin said today’s decision vindicated his company, which he alleged was put in bad light by misreporting in a mainstream newspaper.

“The report saying we needed to pay was wrong. The chairman of Umno Pahang is the Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob himself; we plead to him to stop playing politics and stop evading from justice. This is not a lawless country and government.”

“Now they have lost again in a comical case where they tried to claim from us what was supposedly owed to us. No matter what you do… every single day, the interest is RM8,000. Just pay us,” Lee said.

It was reported in the New Straits Times that Seruan Gemilang was ordered to pay RM70 million in damages to Pahang Umno as revenue it accrued from logging in June last year.

Hunger strike
In 2003, Seruan Gemilang filed an action against Pahang Umno, alleging breach of contract relating to felling of trees from a parcel of land in Nenasi, Pekan.

Pahang Umno then challenged the suit and lodged a counter-claim, asking for a declaration that the contract was null and void, and that all benefits and profits, amounting to RM1.5 million, be paid.

Pahang Umno also claimed the damages that Seruan Gemilang won through another suit against the Pahang government and the Forestry Department.

Seruan Gemilang’s suit against Pahang Umno was subsequently struck off after it won in a case it brought against the Pahang government.

The Kuantan-based Seruan Gemilang had in 2002 sued the state for breaching a logging contract in which Seruan Gemilang claimed it was issued a permit to clear 8,000 acres of forest in Pekan, said to be owned by Pahang Umno.

In 2007, the Kuantan High Court awarded RM37,127,471.60 in damages with 8% interest per annum backdated to Dec 31, 2000. In total, the amount due to the company was now over RM70 million. The award was retained as the Federal Court denied the state government’s application for leave to appeal against the May 2007 decision.

Since then, Seruan Gemilang had repeatedly attempted in vain to compel the state to pay up, including resorting to holding demonstrations, appealing to the prime minister and even staging a hunger strike.

On Sept 7, shareholders of the company took a two-day walk totalling some 80km to reach the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya. They hoped that Najib Tun Razak would help them to get Pahang government to honour the court award.