Continuing his testimony as the first witness, former Sabah chief minister Chong Kah Kiat, confirmed in public for the first time yesterday despite earlier denials, that he quit as the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment on April 13, 2007 over the aborted Mazu (Goddess of the Sea) project in Kudat.

He had assumed the ministerial post after making way as CM to Musa Aman under the then rotation system practiced by the ruling Sabah BN for the chief minister's post.

"I did not see any point in staying in the first defendant's cabinet as I failed to rationalise with him that there was no basis for him to stop my project which is a private one on private land and funded privately," testified Chong yesterday in his suit before Judicial Commissioner Yew Jen Kie during examination-in-chief by his counsel Ansari Bin Abdullah, also PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat) Sabah chief.

Between July and Dec 2006, whenever he met Musa, the latter no longer maintained that it was Umno that opposed the construction of the project, according to Chong.

"After the fatwa issued by the state mufti on July 7, 2006 that the statue would be offensive to Islam, he (Musa) said ‘the statue is near the mosque - that I cannot allow'."

"However, he did call me in Feb 2007 to say that he would consider (re-consider) his decision to stop the project."

Statue will help Kudat to prosper

Chong is suing Musa and three others for alleged "abuse of power" over the abandoned Mazu statue project. Former state secretary, K.Y. Mustafa, the Local Government and Housing Ministry permanent secretary Ujang Sulani and the Kudat Town Board are the second, third and fourth defendants respectively.

Chong is a member of the Kudat Moral Uplifting Society and chairman of the Kudat Thean Hou Charitable Foundation (KTHCF) which initiated the Mazu statue project in early 2005, after he (Chong) "received divine instructions from Mazu - the Goddess of the Sea - through the Taoists, especially mentioning my name, that I should take the lead to put up a statue in Kudat for the good and prosperity of the people in Kudat".

Chong, in his capacity as the chairman of the KTHCF, initiated legal action on Feb 6 last year against the Sabah state government for forcing work to halt on the construction of the statue despite a letter of approval from the Kudat Town Board dated Feb 8, 2006.

Earlier, on Oct 25, 2005, the Kudat Town Board's executive officer Ariff Abdullah had approved TPM Konsultant's plans for the statue.

The souring of ties between Chong and Musa Aman featured prominently in the second day of the hearing in Kota Kinabalu.

Chong told the court that the chief minister called him in April 2007, just before he resigned from the state cabinet, and accused him and the then Member of Parliament for Semporna of "sabotaging" the privatisation of Sipadan Island to a group for 25 years.

Although he was the tourism minister, Chong clarified that Sipadan was not under his ministry but under "a joint committee of the federal and state governments which - ‘to the best of my knowledge' - rejected the privatisation proposal for both Sipadan and Ligitan Islands", a decision which was apparently endorsed by the federal cabinet.

"Then and there, he (the first defendant) told me that my letter of appeal which I wrote to him was rejected," said Chong on his efforts to get the Mazu project going again.

Asked Abdullah, Najib to help

Asked what he did after quitting the state cabinet, Chong said he met with the prime minister and his deputy, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Abdul Razak respectively in April 2007, and sought their assistance to get the abandoned Mazu statue project going again.

He brought along with him the letter of approval from the Kudat Town Board dated Feb 8, 2006 and showed them photographs of various religious sites in Malaysia and abroad where religious sites of different faiths were in close proximity to one another.

"Both the PM and DPM were very understanding and told me that they would advise the CM to lay off my statue project," said Chong. "Nobody raised any objection against the statue of the Sphinx which looks directly across the mosque in Bandar Sunway in Selangor."

Subsequently, Chong lodged a police report against the chief minister, the Sabah Umno head and secretary after friends in Kudat Umno handed him a Sabah Umno circular dated May 7, 2007.

The circular by Sabah Umno secretary Yahya Hussein, according to Chong, "was a desperate attempt to politicise the project which to me has no bearing in terms of religion or race, other than being a private project".

He also complained to former Sabah chief minister Salleh Tun Said Keruak and Kalabakan MP Ghapur Salleh, both Sabah Umno leaders, about the contents of the circular, disclosed Chong. They were in Kuala Lumpur at that time and requested him to fax them the offending circular.

"After several months, in fact on Nov 14, 2007, I was called by the PM to his office in Kuala Lumpur and told the good news that he had asked the CM to allow me to proceed with my statue project and also asked the CM to withdraw the letter written by the state mufti."

Relating what transpired next, Chong said that he was told by the executive secretary of the Kudat Town Board, Ariff Abdullah, on Nov 15, 2007, (the very next day upon his return from Kuala Lumpur), that he had received instructions to cancel the approval given to the foundation for the building of the Mazu statue.

Flew back to KL to meet DPM

"He (Ariff) went to my house that very afternoon. He cried before me. He told me that he was summoned to a meeting chaired by the state attorney-general with other officials of the state government," said Chong.

"He told me that he did not know what to do. He showed me a draft letter that he was instructed to adopt (cancel the approval). I advised him that as an officer, he would have to follow."

The consultants for the project, TPM Konsultant, received a letter of revocation dated Nov 15, 2007 mentioning non-compliance with Section 15 (2) of the Town and Country Planning Ordinance, according to Chong who immediately flew back to Kuala Lumpur to meet with the DPM since the PM was in Singapore.

"I told the DPM that the state government had now withdrawn the approval, citing new grounds, and I have no choice but to seek legal recourse," said Chong.

"Hence, upon legal advice, we took the matter to court. I also forwarded a copy of the police report and three newspaper articles on the revocation to the DPM."

Chong informed the court that legal recourse was the only remedy under Section 16 of the Town and Country Planning Ordinance which allowed for an appeal but did not have an Appeal Board to consider any such application which had to be made within 28 days.

After a motion was filed in court on Dec 2007, said Chong, the local government and housing minister issued a statement on the Mazu statue project.

The statement indicated that there was no objection (to the project) by any side, the revocation had nothing to do with a fatwa, and that the location was not proper.

No alternative site offered

"The little experience that I have in private practice, for as long as zoning is in order, it is an established practice in Sabah that conversion and subdivision have never been a precedent that must take place before development is allowed," said Chong when queried on a memorandum from the Land and Survey Department to the second defendant (the state secretary) which mentioned three mandatory requirements: re-zoning, conversion of land and subdivision of land.

He cited as examples the nearby Kudat Resort Hotel and Penuwasa Sdn Bhd, the shipyard which donated 2.3 acres of its 15-acre property in the area for the building of the Mazu statue. The resort was managed by TPM Konsultant.

Chong denied that he had been offered an alternative site for the Mazu statue project as indicated by media reports quoting the chief minister and in any case, he was not prepared to relocate the project since he "had not done anything wrong".

"Firstly, the foundation was given a proper approval by the local authority. Secondly, I did go back to my society and sought instructions from the Goddess of the Sea.

"I got a written instruction (from the Goddess) that the statue stays at its original site and that if the statue was constructed, the economy not only in Kudat but also the whole state would prosper. Kudat is the poorest place in Malaysia."

"As minister of tourism, I know that this would be the case. The Goddess of the Sea is one of the most popular deities in Taiwan and the southern part of China, from Fujian down to Guangdong to Hainan, Hong Kong and Macau. This is a region of 150 million people."

Second witness for the plaintiff, Kota Belud officer, Mohd Najib Muntok, who was formerly the Kudat Assistant district officer and chairman of the nearby Asy-Syakirin mosque committee, testified that the committee had never objected to the statue project.

Third witness for the plaintiff, Kudat district officer Sebastian Lim, who is also a commissioner of the Kudat Town Board, confirmed Mohd Najib's statement.

Saw CM over withdrawal letter

Chong, in his suit, is seeking a declaration from the court that the first defendant had in giving directions and orders to the other defendants, acted mala fide and/or in abuse of his power as the chief minister and/or ultra vires the Local Government Ordinance and the Town and Country Planning Ordinance.

Chong is also seeking a declaration that a "fatwa" issued by the state mufti on July 7, 2006 - against the construction of the Mazu statute - was unconstitutional as it infringed upon Article 11 of the Federal Constitution; and a declaration that the letter of approval dated Feb 8, 2006 by the fourth defendant, the Kudat Town Board, is valid.

Further, Chong is seeking a declaration that the withdrawal of the letter of approval dated Feb 8, 2006 by another letter dated Nov 15, 2007 by the fourth defendant is null and void.

He did not call or verify the withdrawal letter, which was faxed to his house, with the Kudat Town Board or the Ministry of Local Government and Housing. Instead, he went to see Chief Minister Musa Aman but to no avail.

The defendants are represented by state attorney-general, Roderic Fernandez, who is assisted by Mohd Hanafiah Abd Kassim. Hearing continues on Monday next week.