Court Hears On TOL Given To Leading Contractor
By Ignatius Stephen

Bandar Seri Begawan - Controversial pieces of land given to a leading contractor was the main point yesterday in the ongoing $11 million corruption case against an ex-minister and a leading contractor.

In the dock facing multiple corruption charges were Brunei's former Development Minister Pengiran Dato Dr Haji Ismail bin Pengiran Haji Damit, 58, and Wong Tim Kai, who controlled Ted Sdn Bhd, one of Brunei's most successful contractors.

Yesterday two relevant charges were focused before Chief Justice Dato Mohd Saied.

They were that the minister influenced civil servants under him to Ted's appeals for temporary occupation licence of land (TOL) at Mulaut Industrial Area in 1991 and 1992 and again in 1994.

The court heard that Ted Sdn Bhd made a number of applications for TOL land and had asked for five acres for their business operations on August 1993 and in October 1993.

They had sent reminders to the Land Office about their appeals for five acres as they had been offered 1.3 acres, which was insufficient for their needs.

They had been required to relocate from three locations and had asked for five acres to accommodate their business operations.

The 17th prosecution witness Awg Haji Ohazalin was cross examined by a Senior Counsel from Malaysia, Balwant Singh Sidhu.

The witness confirmed that the Land Office had not sent documents to the Town and Country Planning Department according to their files.

The Land Office had also not replied to the two letters of August and October 1993 from Ted Sdn Bhd subsequently.

Ted Sdn Bhd had in April 1994 sent a written application to the minister requesting that they look into their request for TOL, which had been ongoing since 1990.

After that the minister had called for a meeting with the relevant department on June 18, 1994 and directed that five acres of TOL be allocated to Ted Sdn Bhd as per their request, which the minister found was justified.

At the meeting the minister also called for a review of the policy on allocation of Industrial TOLs according to the needs of the applicants.

The two were first charged in February last year and the case has been ongoing ever since.

Pengiran Dr Haji Ismail was the Sultanate's Development Minister and a member of the cabinet. A number of major projects were carried out in quick succession under him which transformed the face of the country.

But in May 2001 he was dismissed and some time later he and Wong, who headed Ted Sdn Bhd, a leading civil and building contractors, was also charged that shocked the country.

The former minister faces 17 charges and Wong 14. They could be jailed 10 years and fined $30,000 if found guilty.

Both the minister and Wong are pleading not guilty and some of Malaysia's star lawyers were engaged as defence counsels.

But in court yesterday some did not appear. Hearing continues. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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