Umno logging scam: Pahang MB need not pay RM63 mil

UPDATED 3.46PM He need not pay a logging company for breach of agreement. However, the state government will have to settle the payment.

The logging scam, exposed by Malaysiakini in 2003, centred around a 10,000-acre plot of land - about 40 sq km in size - near Pekan. The land, part of the Nenasi forest reserve, was awarded to Umno Pahang in 1998 by the state government led by then Pahang MB and Umno state chief Khalil Yaacob, ostensibly for oil palm plantation.

To make the deal aboveboard, the party was required to pay a RM4.8 million land premium before logging activities could start. Although almost all of the land has been stripped to date, Umno has repeatedly failed to make the payment.