Pengiran Dr Haji Ismail bin Pengiran Haji Damit

Bandar Seri Begawan - In The ongoing high-profile trial involving a former Minister of Development charged with graft, a witness yesterday testified in High Court that the former minister had called a "special meeting" to help TED Sdn Bhd gain approval for a Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL).

The meeting was attended by some departmental officers "of a fairly junior rank" to address the appeal in respect of a TOL for industrial land, former administrative officer Pg Hj Tejudin Pg Puteh said.

He told the court that, "from (his) opinion", the meeting called by the minister on June 28,1994 to consider TED's TOL application was "not a TOL Committee meeting".

YAM Pg Indera Wijaya Pg Dr Hj Ismail Pg Hj Damit, the former Minister of Development, is alleged to be the person responsible for approving TED's TOL application for an area extending up to five acres at the Mulaut Industrial Site.

"Has there been any other occasion to your knowledge where the minister has called such a meeting, that is, not a TOL Committee meeting, but a meeting with departmental officers to deal with an applicant's industrial TOL land appeal?" the prosecution asked.

PgHj Tejudin replied, 'As far as I remember, when I (was) still in service in the Ministry of Development, this (was) the only meeting (of such manner) that I have attended."

He also told the court that he "never knew" of any other meeting of a similar nature while he was on leave during that time.

Pg Hj Tejudin also testified that TED'S TOL application followed a different procedure whereby approval was given before the land was allocated.

Asked which "normally" came first, Pg Hj Tejudin replied that, as far as he can remember, the allocation of land is usually dealt by the Land Department and the Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD) before a TOL is approved.

During cross-examination by the defence, the witness told the court that from his understanding a TOL Committee meeting has no fixed date for meeting, but very much depends on the Permanent Secretary's wish to call for such a meeting.

According to Pg Hj Tejudin, a TOL Committee is a mechanism for acquiring opinions.
Pg Hj Tejudin is expected to continue giving evidence in the High Court today.

Meanwhile the Borneo Bulletin reported that the sixteenth witness, Pg Hj Tejudin bin Pg Puteh, an Administration Officer at the Ministry of Development when the former development minister was allegedly involved in corruption, continued with his testimony in the High Court trial yesterday.

Pg Hj Tejudin, when asked by prosecution team leader QC Andrew Macrae during examination-in-chief, said the meeting that was called by the then-minister to address TED Sdn Bhd's appeal for an increase in the industrial TOL Land area was attended by officers of "fairly junior ranks" from relevant departments such as the Land Office and the Town and Country Planning Department. It was not a TOL Committee meeting, he added.

He also told the court that he had never come across a meeting called by the minister with departmental officers to deal with an applicant's industrial TOL Land appeal.

In questioning the witness, the prosecution's case was that the normal procedure for an industrial TOL Land appeal was to be allocated first and then approved, whereas TED Sdn Bhd's appeal for a total of five acres was "decision first, then allocation" of the appealed industrial TOL Land site.

The prosecution also discussed a document signed by Pg Hj Tejudin on the number of TOL granted in industrial sites, business sites and in the category of 10 acres or above for agriculture, livestock and farming for the four Brunei districts.

Citing the tables or the document of areas granted for industrial TOL Land sites, the prosecution stated that the biggest grant was made to Pehin Kapitan Cina Dato Lim Teck Hoo of TED Sdn Bhd for five acres in Mulaut. Pg Hj Tejudin is expected to continue with his testimony today.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Write comment

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment