Country Heights to bring Borneo Heights arbitration to Singapore

KUCHING (June 27): Country Heights Holdings Bhd (Country Heights) is planning to seek arbitration in Singapore over the forfeiture of land under its subsidiary Borneo Heights Sdn Bhd (Borneo Heights) by the Sarawak state government.

This was revealed by its non-executive chairman Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor after its 40th annual general meeting on Wednesday.

“We have submitted this for arbitration, which will take place on neutral ground in Singapore.

“The process has been postponed to early February next year,” he said, according to a report by New Straits Times.

In March last year, Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said that Borneo Highlands Resort was now wholly owned by the Sarawak government after the legal battle with Country Heights concluded.

The resort was developed by Country Heights in a joint venture with the Sarawak Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA) on Sept 20, 1994.

The state government had set aside 2,071ha of land for the development of a holiday resort in Borneo Heights, Padawan, via the joint venture.

Under the title conditions, the land must be used as a holiday resort and its development completed by September 1999.

However, on Nov 2, 2020, the Sarawak government terminated the concession given to Country Heights after the latter failed to fulfill the agreement to develop the resort after more than 10 years.

In 2021, the state government forfeited three of the parcels – Lots 48, 49, and 51 – where no development had taken place, bringing it back under its control.

Lot 50, which had been developed into residential lots and sold by Borneo Heights, was not forfeited.

Borneo Heights and Country Heights subsequently filed a suit seeking a declaration to annul the order of forfeiture.

On March 7, 2024, the Federal Court dismissed the company’s application for leave to appeal against an order made by the Sarawak Superintendent of Lands and Surveys to forfeit three parcels of land that were meant for the development of Borneo Highlands Resort.

Mohd Anwar added that the group had invested over RM100 million in the project over the past 28 years and is determined to recover a substantial amount of its losses through the arbitration proceedings.

Country Heights founder and adviser Lee Kim Yew claimed that so far, the company had not received any compensation from the Sarawak government for the forfeited land.

“According to the Federal Constitution, all forfeited land must be compensated.

“Despite this, we have not received a single cent. Shareholders have raised concerns about the lack of compensation over the past two years,” he said in the New Straits Times report.

“Both parties — Country Heights and the Sarawak government — need to settle this matter to build international confidence, as a public-listed company must fully comply with business law,” he added.

The New Straits Times however noted that neither Anwar nor Lee indicated if the Sarawak government would accept the group’s arbitration proposal.