Saturday, May 31, 2014

Surrender of Labuan: June 9 ruling on preliminary issues

mySarawak | 29/05/2014 | 0 Comments

KOTA KINABALU: The High Court here yesterday put off to June 9 this year to deliver its decision on preliminary issues before the trial proper of a suit filed by a local businessman over the surrender of Labuan to the Federal Territory on April 16, 1984 against former Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh.
Justice Chew Soo Ho set the date to give his verdict on the issues raised by Harris through his counsels, Trevor Maringking and Yunof Maringking, under Section 33 Rules 2 and 5 of the Rules of Court 2012.
James Albanus @ Richard, who undertakes research on social and political issues in Sabah and Malaysia, had filed the suit against Harris on March 7, 2012.
He is seeking a declaration from the court that Harris on his part has acted unlawfully in the surrender of Labuan. He is also seeking damages, injunctive relief, costs and interest.
In his statement of claim, James pointed out that while researching the creation of Labuan as a Federal Territory in 1984, he discovered that the surrender of Labuan to the Federal Government was unlawfully carried out following an interview with Tan Sri Simon Sipaun.
He said that from the interview with Sipaun, who was previously the State’s acting State Secretary in 1983, he discovered that the defendant (Harris) had not sought the opinions, feelings and concerns of Sabah citizens, including he himself.
James claimed that the defendant had not undertaken a referendum in respect of the Labuan decision either among the populace and citizenry of both the Sabah state and Labuan island. He also said that the defendant (Harris) had acted unilaterally and individually without compliance with the relevant constitutional safeguards and the well-being of the citizenry of Sabah state.
As a result of the defendant’s rash and unconstitutional action, James claimed the state government of Sabah and its citizenry suffered unquantifiable financial and social loss at the material time and for generations to come.
He said he would rely on information obtained as a result of his research and interviews with Sipaun and also rely on Section 2 of the Labuan Order in Council 1946 during the trial of this action.
Harris had also filed a counterclaim of RM50 million for defamation against 59-year-old James who hails from Kampung Biau, Papar.
James was represented by counsel Nurul Rafeeqa Afdul Mutolip.

Labuan suit - May 5

Labuan suit: May 5 hearing on issues raised by Harris

by Suraini Andokong. Posted on May 1, 2014, Thursday

KOTA KINABALU: The High Court here yesterday fixed May 5 this year to hear preliminary issues raised by the defendant before the trial proper of the suit brought by a local businessman against former Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh over the surrender of Labuan to the Federal Territory on April 16, 1984.
Justice Chew Soo Ho set the date after Nurul Rafeeqa Afdul Mutolip, counsel for plaintiff James Albanus @ Richard, requested for more time to file their reply on the preliminary issues raised by the defendant, Harris, through his counsel Trevor Maringking.
Chew held that since the issues raised are legal issues which could or may determine the whole case, the court will hear the issues before the trial proper.
In the defendant’s (Harris) application on the preliminary issues, Trevor said that they are seeking determination under Section 33, Rules 2 and 5 of the Rules of Court 2012, and the three issues raised are:-
(1) Whether the plaintiff (James) has the locus standi to bring up this action, having regard to his prayers or the remedies that he seeks against the defendant (Harris)
(2) Whether the defendant had personally and/or unlawfully surrendered Labuan to the Federal Government in 1984?
(3) That, in event the answers to both questions are in the negative then the plaintiff’s action against the defendant should be dismissed with costs.
Trevor rationalised that this application was made in order to save court’s time for all parties.
In the suit filed on March 7, 2012 by the plaintiff (James), who undertakes research on social and political issues in Sabah and Malaysia, he is seeking a declaration from the court that Harris on his part has acted unlawfully in the surrender of Labuan. He is also seeking damages, injunctive relief, costs and interests.
In his statement of claim, James pointed out that, in researching the creation of Labuan as a Federal Territory in 1984, he discovered that the surrender of Labuan to the Federal Government was unlawful following an interview with Tan Sri Simon Sipaun recently.
He said that from the interview with Sipaun, who was previously the acting Sabah State Secretary in 1983, he discovered that the defendant had not sought the opinions, feelings and concerns of Sabah citizens, including himself.
James claimed that the defendant had not undertaken a referendum in respect of the Labuan decision, either from among the populace and citizenry of both the Sabah state and Labuan island.
He also said that the defendant (Harris) had acted unilaterally and individually without compliance to the relevant constitutional safeguards and also the well-being of the citizenry of Sabah state.
As a result of the defendant’s rash and unconstitutional action, James claimed, the state government of Sabah and its citizenry suffered unquantifiable financial and social loss at the material time and for generations to come.
He said he will rely on information obtained as a result of his research and interviews with Sipaun and would also rely on Section 2 of the Labuan Order in Council 1946 during the trial of this suit.
Harris had also filed a counterclaim of RM50 million for defamation against the 59-year-old James, who hails from Kampung Biau, Papar.

Labuan Corp backs Harris' bridge proposal

Published on: Saturday, February 15, 2014 Daily Express

Labuan: Labuan Corporation (LC) is keen on former Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh's offer to build the "Labuan Bridge" but wants the bridge to be only between here and Pulau Daat which is less than half the sea distance from Menumbok and where the Council's jurisdiction ends.
LC Chairman-cum-Member of Parliament Datuk Rozman Izli said this half length bridge would be less costly to implement, less complicated and be readily commenced without having to wait for Sabah's approval.
And when the Labuan Daat link is already in place Sabah could still decide whether it needed the other half of the bridge and have it connected to Menumbok or Mempakul.
What Rozman said was in accordance to Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor who had remarked on his maiden visit here as a Minister last May that the bridge, if implemented, would be on a "trade-off-basis" meaning the private investor will finance the construction of the bridge and highway (in Sabah) in return for reclaimed land right and collect tolls at the bridge and highway.
Rozman would not disclose further details saying discussions with the potential investor were still on and many matters had yet to be finalised. "It is just that too many people had been asking about Harris proposal and this is the development."
The sea channel between Labuan and Sabah is wide and about 13km.
Earlier studies had indicated that building a full length bridge spanning across the channel connecting Labuan to Sabah may cost about RM5 billion.
However, the proposed link between here and Daat cover a shorter sea distance and the cost would be much lesser depending at which point of Labuan the bridge would commence. A retired Marine officer told Daily Express the distance between Tg. Aru beach here to Daat is 4.5 nautical miles while from Tj Taras it was merely 2.5 nautical miles.
With the less-than-half bridge in place, the sea distance between Labuan and Menumbok would be shortened. It would become possible for ro-ro ferries to operate on shuttle service basis without service users from Sabah and here having to do advance bookings.
Ferry services are important for the island's economy and tourism. Some 300,000 vehicles use the ro-ro ferries yearly.
The ferry terminal at Daat being new could be better planned to provide first class facilities and with the relocation of the terminal from here congestion in the town area may be eased to some extent.
Pulau Daat (271.96 hectares) is the largest of the six islands Labuan.
The others are Kuruman, Rusukan Kechil, Pulau Papan and Burung.
Daat is earmarked for an Entry Point Project (EPP) as a site for a RM4 billion mega integrated petroleum complex but after several MoUs signed in 2012 with Sarawak O & G company, Suria Offshore Hub & Borneo Oil and Gas venture to build a tank farm and other projects, the planned complex slipped into doldrums with the main investor from China withdrawing.
Since then, the island had been lying idle with some preliminary work having been completed and illegal settlers relocated. The Daat project was reported to have created 3,000 job opportunities.
According to some quarters having a bridge up to Daat may not be the "smartest idea" but without choice. One advantage was that such a connection would not require approval from Sabah.
Though Sabah had been in support of the bridge proposal, it never had been as enthusiastic about it like Labuan. Labuan had been clamouring for the bridge since 1997.
The obvious reason for Sabah's muted support on the project was that the bridge would result in Menumbok being "bypassed".
The economy of the village depended on the ferries and some speedboat owners in Menumbok services to Labuan and other points.
Not long ago, Harris through Shandong Laigang Gaya Sdn Bhd (a joint venture between Gaya House led by Harris and China-based Shandong Laigang) had submitted a mega economic development plan for Labuan.
The overall development plan which would take 20 years to complete was reported to cost RM60 billion.
The proposed bridge between Labuan and Menumbok was one of the components of the submitted package, the others were an integrated entreport and a Marina city.
No cash payments were required from the Government but land swap for the projects to be built. Some 8,500 acres of submerged land would be required for the full implementation of the projects.

Harris sued for giving away Labuan 28 years ago

Published on: Thursday, March 08, 2012

daily express

Kota Kinabalu: A local businessman has filed a suit against former Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Mohd Salleh over the "surrender" of Labuan to the Federal Government 28 years ago, which resulted in the island becoming a Federal Territory.
James Albanus @ Richard, 59, of Kg Biau, Papar, filed the suit through counsel Marcel Jude Joseph on Wednesday.
Albanus, part of whose business is undertaking research on social and political issues in Sabah and Malaysia, is seeking a declaration that Harris, who was the sixth Chief Minister from 1976 to 1985, on his part had acted unlawfully in the surrender of Labuan in 1984, damages, injunctive relief, costs and interest.
In his statement of claim, Albanus claimed that during Harris' (the defendant) tenure as the Chief Minister of Sabah, the territory of Sabah was drastically reduced by the surrender of Labuan to the Federal Government.
In 1984, as a resulted of an action taken by the defendant, Labuan became a Federal Territory on April 16, 1984, the second after Kuala Lumpur.
Albanus claimed that the creation of the Labuan Federal Territory was undertaken by the defendant in an extremely hasty and hurried manner without seeking any public opinion or consultation, especially from the citizenry of the State of Sabah and/or the citizenry of Labuan island.
Albanus also claimed that in researching the creation of Labuan as a Federal Territory in 1984, he had discovered from one Tan Sri Simon Sipaun, at that juncture the acting State Secretary of Sabah, that the defendant had not sought the opinions, feeling and concerns of Sabah citizens including himself (plaintiff), that the defendant had not undertaken a referendum in respect of the Labuan decision either among the populace and citizenry of both Sabah and Labuan;
Also that the defendant had acted unilaterally and individually without compliance with the relevant constitutional safeguards and also the well being of Sabah citizenry.
As a result of the defendant's rash and unconstitutional action, the Sabah State Government and the citizenry of Sabah suffered unquantifiable financial and social loss at the material time and for generations to come, he claimed.
Albanus said he would among others rely on the information obtained as a result of his research and interviews with Sipaun through e-mail, recently.
Meanwhile, Albanus told the media after filing the suit that he believed one of the main reasons why Sabah is not financially well off as a State was because of the surrender of Labuan, which was undertaken by the defendant.
"In undertaking the transfer of this territory, he did not make a proper study and obtain the views of the people of Sabah including myself.
I have come across of information provided by a very important person which has confirmed what I had suspected but unable to prove all along i.e. the transfer was done rashly and there are many unanswered questions.
"It is for this reason and for the people of Sabah that I am taking up this suit against Tan Sri Harris Mohd Salleh," said Albanus.

1. third ferry in Labuan

Now 3rd ferry joins Labuan route

Published on: Wednesday, May 28, 2014 http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=89779

Labuan: The third ferry operator for the Labuan-Menumbok sector launched its maiden voyage from the island to the mainland, Tuesday, at 5.30pm.
Despite its minimal fanfare, with capacity of 500 passengers and 100 vehicles, its Putrajaya 1 sailed off with full load.
According to owner of the vessel Dunia Serimas' Managing Director Mej (K) David Ling, the ferry would run six round trips daily.
"This is good news because with our presence, we are able to meet demand of commuters and transporters, especially during peak seasons," Ling told Daily Express.
He said the launching of the service was in time for the climax of the Kaamatan Harvest Festival which falls on May 30 and 31.
Putrajaya 1 was built by Sarawak-based shipyard Asal Jaya, and Sabah Main Link as the operator.
With this new ferry, it brought the number of operators to three - Labuan Ferry Corporation (LFC) and Juta Bonus.
They respectively run Wawasan Perdana and Kimanis 1.
Though they were each given schedule to run six round trips daily.
Due to under capacity during off peak season only four trips were operated by them.
Juta Bonus is also owned by Ling's stable of companies involved in ferry transportation.