‘Elephant lady’ takes on Sabah Foundation

She was transferred after her report on the deaths of 14 elephants in the Gunung Rara Forests Reserve where encroachment and illegal felling allegedly took place.

KOTA KINABALU: A former top official of the Sabah Foundation (Safond) is taking on the group in Court over her exit from its employ precipitated by the deaths of 14 Borneon elephants in Gunung Rara Forests Reserve last year which brought into the open alleged encroachment and illegal felling in the area.

Masturah Sulaiman, 45, apparently made Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd (RBJ), the Safond subsidiary where she was Environmental Manager since 2004, unhappy with her report on the elephant deaths.

As Environmental Manager, Masturah also headed the Environmental Impact Assessment Unit, later renamed the Forest Resources and Environmental Unit.

She is suing Group Manager of RBJ, Gregory Mosigil, the first defendant; Senior Group Manager of the Human Resource and Corporate Services (Group) of Sabah Foundation, Rosmawati Lasuki, the second defendant; and Administration and Finance Manager of RBJ, Li Fui Yee, the third defendant.

Masturah, who is now attached to the Forestry Department, said in a media update that the suit was filed through Messrs Chee & Co on Friday.

She’s taking the position in her suit that she only knew about the elephant deaths, ten initially, through a local newspaper report dated Jan 30, 2013. The ten animals were found at the Forest Management Unit (FMU) 23, a Sabah Foundation concession area in the Gunung Rara Forests Reserve, 130 km from Tawau.

The area where the elephants died was managed by RBJ, she said, “and as the Environmental Manager, I ought to have been notified of the deaths of the elephants but no one from RBJ or Safond informed me about it”.

Masturah said that upon learning of the deaths of the elephants, she immediately wrote to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to get more details on the tragedy.

The WWF, in their reply, disclosed that they had already reported the elephant deaths to Safond, the Sabah Forestry Department and Sabah Wildlife Department on 15 Jan, 2013, two weeks before the newspaper report.

“I immediately proposed and suggested, inter alia, mitigation measures,” she said.

“However, instead of incorporating the professional suggestions in the operational routine, I was transferred to the Conservation and Environmental Management Division (CEMD) within 24 hours on 30, Aug 2013.”

She later learnt, upon making inquiries, that her transfer was “part of restructuring efforts at Safond where six divisions were being closed down”.

Following her inquiries, she was given a memo dated 21, Oct, 2013 asking her to explain “who had informed the media on the alleged encroachment and illegal felling in Gunung Rara Forest Reserve” where the elephant deaths occurred.

Masturah is pleading in her suit that she finally tendered her resignation on 22 Nov, 2013 due to the actions of the three named defendants.

She is claiming damages for conspiracy to injure, exemplary and aggravated damages, costs, interest and any other relief that the Court deems fit and reasonable.