'Close one eye' MP back in the news
Malaysiakini.com
Nov 20, 2006
Soon Li Tsin

Denying that he has acted out of bounds, Jasin MP Mohd Said Yusof expressed disappointment that certain parties have made him look like a bad guy again.

“They made me look like I over-reacted. I did not,” he told reporters when approached in the Parliament lobby to comment on a News Straits Times report today.

It said Mohd Said may be in trouble again after a police report was filed against him by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), claiming he had obstructed its personnel from carrying out their duties.

The police report alleged that, on Oct 3, Mohd Said had interfered in a case involving illegal logs seized by MMEA at the Sungai Linggi jetty.

According to the complainant, he walked into the Maritime office at Kuala Sungai Baru about an hour after the seizure and raised “a fuss over the matter”.

He allegedly told the officials "don't tell me I have to fight with Maritime now" after pointing out that he has had a dispute with the Customs department previously.

Mohd Said was said to have handed over his name card after failing to meet with an MMEA officer.

Responding today, he stressed that he merely wanted to ask why the boat was not allowed to dock at the jetty for inspection by a more authoritative body, the Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB).

“Only the MTIB has the right to inspect the size of the sawn timber. Customs have always contacted MTIB, but this time the MMEA took matters into their own hands. What’s this? They can’t just chase the boat away and leave them like that,” he said looking annoyed.

He said the matter had been raised more than a month ago in Parliament with the Prime Minister’s Department, but that he did not receive a response.

“I don’t understand why this issue is being brought up now. It’s like the ‘close one eye’ issue that was blown out of proportion the last time,” he said.

He also clarified that the MMEA has not contacted him and that he did not know about the police report until he was asked for comment.

“The police have not called me to give a statement or anything. If I have done anything wrong, surely they would have contacted me by now,” he added.

Mohd Said hit the headlines when he reportedly asked the Customs Department to ‘close one eye’ to a seized shipment of illegal timber handled by his company. 

Soon after he alleged that Royal Customs and Excise Department had auctioned confiscated luxury cars as ‘special deals’ for friends and contacts at palaces and government departments in order to please the buyers for specific reasons or to curry favour to get ‘Datuk’ titles. 

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