Feeling pressured by the representative of the company, Madagascar Southern Petroleum Company (MSPC), Jean signed an open-ended lease for five million Malagasy ariary a year (£1,420)...Jean now claims his paddies are ruined; a metal drilling bore and concrete slab sits on his rice field and the surrounding brown earth is churned into dry clods...Hui's MSPC is a subsidiary of Hoifu Energy Limited, a multi-service company based in...Hong Kong...the ONE [Office National pour l'Environnement]...questioned the company about..."grave failures committed by MSPC with regard to environmental legislation in force." One experienced government official says: "The worksite, from an environmental perspective, was a dump. It was in the worst condition that I had ever seen."...But MSPC's Director General, Li Yin, denies there are problems and rejects ONE's allegations. "All our group's activities in Madagascar, whether in the field of oil and gas exploration, distribution or in others, are those regulated by laws and permitted by conventions and agreements in which the national and local governments are co-signatories and partners...No controversial issues with the Government have ever come up," Hoifu said, adding that the director of Gold is "a very close business partner" who is "free, independent and can acquire real properties and chattels as it is allowed by the national and local laws and customs of Madagascar." "Non obstante our group's heavy investment in Madagascar, neither our group nor its directors has drawn monetary benefits from the group's activities," says Hoifu.