YAM Pengiran Indera Wijaya Pg Dr Hj Ismail bin Pg Hj Damit

Bandar Seri Begawan - Former Administrative Officer from the Ministry of Development, who is the 16th witness for a high-profile case involving a minister facing graft charges, was called to the High Court yesterday to give evidence.

During the time of his employment as an administrative officer, Pg Hj Tejudin Pg Puteh was responsible for processing applications for Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL) received from the Land Commissioner from the Land Department.

He prepared a summary of each application to ensure that the relevant information required had been submitted and that each application fulfilled the basic requirements before passing on the application for the Permanent Secretary to approve or deny.

Pg Hj Tejudin said that ad hoc TOL Committee meetings were usually held with representatives from the Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD), Land Department, Public Works Department (PWD) and the Survey Department to approve an application or appeal for a commercial TOL.

In these meetings, Pg Hj Tejudin acted as the coordinator, whereas the Permanent Secretary was Chairperson. Any decision made during the TOL Committee meeting was conveyed to the Land Commissioner via a memorandum," he said.

The former administrative officer recalled that he processed a memorandum in January 1991 related to an application from Pehin Kapitan Cina Dato Lim Teck Hoo on behalf of TED Sdn Bhd. This application for a TOL was for 2.45 acres in Kg Mulaut.

Pg Hj Tejudin said he remembered signing a memorandum on April 29, 1991 on behalf of the Permanent Secretary to inform the Land Commissioner at that time that TED's application "could not be approved".

Upon instructions from the Permanent Secretary, a TOL Committee meeting was held on July 9, 1991 to reconsider TED's application.

Although the meeting concluded that TED's application could not be approved, the Land Officer for the Brunei-Muara District advised Pehin Kapitan Cina Dato Lim to forward an appeal in writing for consideration of a TOL for land covering 1.3 acres.

He confirmed that he received a "reference" from the Land Commissioner, who forwarded to Pg Hj Tejudin an appeal letter from TED to maintain the original TOL land application for 2.45 acres. Pg Hj Tejudin said he received a memorandum on February 12, 1992 bearing the official seal of the Ministry of Development.

He was then informed by a "Dato Salleh" on March 10, 1992 that the Minister of Development at that time, YAM Pg Indera Wijaya Pg Dr Hj Ismail Pg Hj Dank, did not raise any objection to the TOL application from TED. The Land Commissioner was subsequently informed of the decision.

From the minute prepared by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) Hj Taib Hj Jeludin dated June 15, 1994, TED was said to have sent another letter to the minister to appeal for a TOL for an additional 3.7 acres.

The PRO requested from the former administrative officer more information regarding the applicant's status. Pg Hj Tejudin replied to the request, "The Land Commissioner had not yet extended the application for additional area to the Permanent Secretary as the additional area requested overlapped with other TOL land."

The former administrative officer also emphasised to the PRO that the prior approval given was for 1.3 acres of TOL land, with additional approval to extend the TOL to cover a total of 2.5 acres, subject to the remaining area available.

According to Pg Hj Tejudin, this matter was once again brought up by the minister of development, and another meeting was arranged for June 28, 1994 to discuss TED's application to extend its TOL.

As far as I remember, the minister said that TED had plenty of businesses and operations, so a land with the area of 1.3 or 2.45 acres is not enough," said Pg Hj Tejudin. He added that the minister expressly allowed TED's appeal to extend the TOL application of land from 1.3 acres to five acres.

Pg Dr Hj Ismail is currently facing trial at the High Court for having allegedly corruptly granted government projects to TED amounting to $100 million.

The trial continues today. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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