Sanusi plans to sue Saifuddin over REE, Marris issues

SIK - Caretaker Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor plans to haul Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution to court over the latter's statement on the rare earth elements (REE) theft and Malaysian Road Record Information System (Marris) fund issues.

Sanusi said a letter of demand (LOD) has been served to Saifuddin via email, last night (Thursday) and the letter would be served to Saifuddin by hand, today.

"I'd like to inform that I have filed the LOD and sent it to Saifuddin over two alleged defamations. My lawyer has emailed him (the LOD) tonight (Thursday), and tomorrow (Friday), we will serve the letter to him by hand.

"If he does not respond to the LOD within the given period, we will file a lawsuit against him," he said at the 'Taujihat Pimpinan: Munajat Perdana at Dewan Al-Hana, here, last night.

Sanusi said the matter must be corrected through legal action.

"(We) must sue! We can't let Saifuddin off the hook as he had accused me of being the REE thief. He also accused me of using the RM1.6 billion Marris allocation which should have been used for road maintenance, but was (allegedly) used for something else.

"He gathered the wrongdoings of a previous Umno menteri besar before 2014 and put it on my head even though I didn't know anything. He thinks he is the only one who knows how to attack people," he said.

Previously, it was reported that Saifuddin revealed that Sanusi was fined RM500,000 last year, allegedly for committing REE theft in Kampung Chong, Sik.

In his talk on July 15 at the Madani Unity Roadshow and Kedah unity machinery launch in Guar Chempedak, Saifuddin claimed that the fine was issued on Oct 4, last year by then Kedah Lands and Mines director Datuk Mohd Fauzi Mustaffa to Kedah Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) chairman Sanusi.

The next day, Sanusi in a press conference in Bandar Baharu denied the allegations made by Saifuddin and explained that MBI was not fined for such offence, but it was because the relevant agency had held the land permit of the forest in the area where the theft happened.

He also clarified that a third party was actually the one being fined for trespassing and stealing REE.

Meanwhile, Sanusi also said there was no misuse of the Marris allocation as what Saifuddin alleged.

The remaining Marris allocation of RM259 million which was unspent was in the state government's fixed deposit and it was reported in the financial statement and audited by the National Audit Department.