“The other reason has to do with questions I raised regarding the meeting minutes Guan Eng declassified last Tuesday. Now, Phee knew what I knew, that point numbered 3.3 (i) was a complete fabrication and did not reflect the DoE’s true position on the factory. Afraid that the public would catch on, he cooked up a fairy tale, telling everyone that he never heard of the DoE’s letter to MPSP”
THE THIRD FORCE
The administration of Lim Guan Eng seems bent on telling lies despite my sincerest efforts to propagate the truth. Just yesterday, one of the Chief Minister’s exco’s impressed upon newsmen that the hue and cry surrounding the illegal factory in Kampung Sungai Lembu was the result Dr. Norlela Ariffin’s failure to furnish a letter (below) issued to her by the Department of Environment (DoE).
The exco in question is none other than Phee Boon Poh, who, on the 11th of August 2017, triggered a discovery by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) into his role in obstructing the course of justice. According to a well-placed source, Phee issued two directives to the Seberang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSP) that prevented the local authority from tearing the illegal factory down.
For the record, the owner of the factory is a man named Edmund Gan Eu Lee, whose links with Phee will be made public very soon. Suffice to say, Edmund’s factory processes sawdust to generate activated carbon for use in water purification and filtration systems. Unbeknown to many, a large portion – if not all – of the sawdust that lorries deliver to the factory are waste products that originate from companies owned by Edmund himself.
Anyway, on the 6th of May 2015, Phee attended a meeting with MPSP to discuss matters related to the factory. During the meeting, he was made aware of a decision by the council to tear the factory down. If indeed the legality of the factory was the council’s only concern, he could easily have worked something out to see to it that the factory got legalised.
But he didn’t.
As it turned out, the council had its hands tied following a DoE visit that found the factory to be an environmental hazard. Phee was told that the DoE would only compromise if the factory employed a closed burning system with the capacity to prevent toxic fumes from polluting the air. But the exco member knew that such a system would cost Edmund a lot of money and involve very extensive renovations.
As a result, Phee decided that the factory need not abide by the DoE’s recommendations and told Edmund to proceed with the existing burning method. To prevent MPSP from tearing the factory down, Phee told the council not to interfere and kept the directive secret from everyone in the state assembly.
That explains why he pretended not to know about the DoE letter I made public last Tuesday. He wanted to convince Malaysians that had he known of the letter, he would have done villagers in Kampung Sungai Lembu right by shutting the factory down. But that isn’t the only reason he lied.
The other reason had to do with questions I raised regarding the meeting minutes Guan Eng declassified last Tuesday. Now, Phee knew what I knew, that point numbered 3.3 (i) (below) was a complete fabrication and did not reflect the DoE’s position on the factory. Afraid that the public would catch on, he cooked up a fairy tale, telling everyone that he was not aware of the letter the DoE sent to MPSP.
To prove to you he lied, I refer you to answers he provided during a state legislative assembly sitting (below) held six days after the DoE revealed its findings to MPSP. In his reply to Dr. Norlela, he stated – in no uncertain terms – that “the DoE conducted studies on the 9th and 10th of March 2015 and found….that the premise (the illegal factory) lacked specific facilities to control atmospheric pollution due to the burning of sawdust.”
Now, read the above and tell me – does it sound like a reply from someone who “wasn’t aware a DoE letter existed?” Is it not queer that Phee is asking Dr. Norlela to provide the very same information he provided her two years ago?
Not only did he lie, his reply (above) clearly demonstrates why point numbered 3.3 (i) in the aforementioned minutes is a complete fabrication. In other words, the DoE never once said that the factory did not pollute the atmosphere. But isn’t Guan Eng capitalising on the fabrication to convince Malaysians that the factory did not pose a health hazard to the people?
Need I say more?
To be continued…
