Joseph Tawie
Land in Sarawak comes directly under Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and the recent refusal by a state department to sanction a federal ministry project has stoked curiosity.
The Department of the Land and Survey which is allegedly ‘freely’ issuing provisional leases (PLs) on native customary rights (NCR) lands for large scale oil palm plantations in Sarawak has apparently refused to sanction a similar federal project by the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities.
According to a puzzled senior officer, who declined to be named, a recent meeting between the two parties had to be aborted after the state Land and Survey Department refused to allow the ministry to help natives plant oil palm on their NCR land.
“During a meeting last week to discuss applications from the native landowners for such a scheme, officials from the Land and Survey were strongly against the scheme involving NCR land.
“They said it is difficult to identify whether the land is NCR land or a state land.
“This is puzzling because the Land and Survey Department easily issue provisional leases to huge oil palm companies for them to plant oil palm on NCR land often without the knowledge of the landowners,” the senior officer told FMT.
The official said that the Land and Survey Department claimed that identifying NCR land was difficult.
“But the other officers argued saying identification of NCR land was not difficult as the Tuai Rumah (longhouse headmen) have the authority to determine such lands.
“But the Land and Survey Department officers refused to give in, so the meeting was aborted,” added the senior officer who added that the meeting was also attended by officials from the State Planning Unit, Ministry of Agriculture and the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.
However, those present agreed that the matter should be brought to the attention of Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu Anak Numpang, who is the Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture.
“The meeting wanted Jabu to discuss the issue with Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, who is also the Minister of Resource Planning and Environment,” said the officer.
The Department of Land and Survey is under Taib’s ministry.
900 applications
Taib’s government policy is that “all untitled lands including NCR land belong to the state”.
The meeting was supposed to discuss some 900 applications involving some 5,000 hectares of land from NCR land owners for the smallholding scheme. Each applicant should be entitled to have a subsidy of RM7,000 per hectare up to a maximum of five hectares.
This subsidy is to be used by the applicants to finance land clearing, planting and planting materials.
The subsidy plan which started some time ago was for the replanting of oil palm by small holders.
The Sarawak’s Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture had applied for such a plan to be extended to Sarawak in order to plant oil palm in native customary rights land under the NKEA programmes.
The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities had agreed to channel the funds amounting to millions of ringgit through MPOB which acts as a supervising agent to ensure the success of the scheme.
But the MPOB has limited manpower, so it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Sarawak Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture to undertake the programmes.
The aim of the subsidy plan is help the natives of Sarawak to plant oil palm on a smallholding approach as part of an effort to eradicate poverty among the rural dwellers.
It is also part of the NKEA (national key economic area) programmes to enhance the higher income of the people.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS COMMENT TO ANY MEDIA, BLOG, ONLINE NEWS TO CREATE AWARNESS TO THE RAKYAT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND HELP.
ANY POLITICIANS, from ruling govt or the oppostions the obj is get into power, collect wealth? cronies & their familys? citizens, public left behind for the rest of life? Public pays the price! To me if the government is done a good job ONLY if each & every citizens could be able at least fullfill the NEEDS (Keperluan) in economics terms is good enough, if the WANTS (Kehendak) fullfill then i can say the government is done a excellent job.
The country has strong economics resources ! , worth of trillion of ringgit, where the money goes? by right this money must goes to the public not POCKETS! it is sad that the public is not aware of all the hidden agenda of govt, Today around 86% citizens earns below the average, a shame! WHAT needs another 55 years to soundle RAKYAT’S money !.
The income gap is from hunders to hunderds of thousands of ringgit a month !, The public interest is taken away, the CRONIES & THEIR FAMILYS interest is taken in any decision.
the NEEDS is basic term in economics for humans, well the WANTS is extra wish better luxurious life. In any Government objective the NEEDS & the Public Interest in policy in any final decision by govt, not govt interest which goes to small group of people!
Public Interest, NEEDS, & issues & problems faced by public is important agenda to government, if THE PUBLIC INTEREST, WELFARE, NEEDS, ISSUES, & PROBLEMS CAN BE SETTLE, THAN I SAY IT IS ” EXCELLENT JOB.” AN EXCELLENT GOVERNMENT ON EARTH, RIGHT.
Dear RAKYAT, news readers, read more foreign, International news, jounals, review to gain knowledge,on Economics, governments, new devolpments, compare with ours in order to improve.
International Economic Development Council, Review, Journals, Institutions,……….
AN AVERAGE CITIZENS EXPECTATIONS OF GOVERNMENT !
Comment by raajneeti — August 19, 2012 @ 12:03 AM |
BN/UMNO, every day, year after year, decade after decade, they never run the country for its success and advancement, everyday just politicking to sabotage the Opposition and at the back, do more deals, projects for $$$. Just the opposite of German Angela Merkel, or UK’s Cameron or Japan’s Noda. These BN/UMNO criminals should have been shot years ago. Not another day! Zero Tolerance NOW! I see clearly and judge fairly from a neutral, distant Country that’s fully democratic.
Comment by alan newman, new zealand — August 17, 2012 @ 9:01 PM |
The greatest Shame on Taib, PBB, SUPP, A disgrace exploding, and most stinking. You still have the decency to hang on and to show your face in public? You are traitors to the people. You are lower than the lowest animals, sucking the blood of your own people who elected you. Blatant daylight robbers. Just wait and see what God has in store for you.
Comment by alan newman, new zealand — August 17, 2012 @ 9:00 PM |
PM & CM trumpeted on: Caring gov’t !! when natives have no proper roads, drinking water or electricity!! While all his cronies live in palaces. In NZ, we have tar-sealed roads, networked all over the country!! These politicians are an insult to our intelligence, even a child can see. At this stage, we’ve reached the brink. Let’s call on God to deal with them. Been too bad for too long. I heard Taib visited NZ recently, he never dared reveal his arrival or departure. You know what would happen in a truly democratic country, at the least: Spat on and thrown rotten eggs.
Comment by alan newman, new zealand — August 17, 2012 @ 8:57 PM |
Taib’s share shock in Royal Mulu Resort
Posted on November 26, 2010
By Sarawak Report
Sarawak Report can reveal that the Chief Minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud, has a major personal shareholding in Sarawak’s highly controversial Royal Mulu Resort, a project that has received huge injections of cash from the State. This means that, as both Chief Minister and Finance Minister, Taib has authorised the diversion of large sums of public money straight into his own pocket.
As State Resources and Planning Minister, Taib was also responsible for the forced acquisition of a large area of Native Customary Lands from the indigenous Berawan tribe to build the resort, for which the tribespeople received virtually no compensation. Our evidence therefore further exposes him for having authorised this land-snatch for his own direct benefit.
His shareholding is in a company that was incorporated as recently as November 2007, Mesti Bersatu Sdn Bhd. This in turn has a 50% shareholding of the Taib/Mahmud family company Kenyalang Cergas, one of the main shareholders of Borsamulu Resorts Bhd (BRSB). BRSB was handed the ownership and lucrative management contract for what was once a state-owned National Park, thanks to a series of decisions by Taib’s own government starting in 1991. The management contract is paid for by the taxpayer!
The other major beneficiaries and shareholders of the Royal Mulu Resort are members of his family, including his sister Raziah, her third husband Robert Geneid and the family of his late brother Arip Mahmud. Taib Mahmud has personally accused the Berawan people of being “greedy” for refusing to hand over their lands for ‘development’. Their peaceful protests in the 1990s were brutally put down by army and police and their leaders were imprisoned. Deprived of their territories, these communities are now impoverished and hungry and few people, apart from the Mahmud family, will have difficulty in discerning where the true greed lies.
This time it’s on record
The significance of this official confirmation of the Chief Minister’s own shareholding lies in the fact that Taib has normally sought to disguise his acquisitions and shareholdings in an attempt to avoid widespread allegations of corruption. He habitually uses members of his own family to hold shares on his behalf. Thus, the names of his many brothers and sisters, his late wife, his four children, nieces, nephews, cousins and in-laws are prominent as key shareholders in most of Sarawak’s important businesses.
Insiders have also told Sarawak Report that the elderly Chief Minister has employed a number of other devious methods to keep control of such companies until he is able to extract his wealth and invest it secretly abroad. These methods include forcing his nominees to sign undated resignation letters and share transfer forms, which he can use at any time to force their removal and employ somebody else as his front man or ‘nominee’!
Likewise, Sarawak Report has copies of US documents showing that shares which were publicly registered as belonging to family members were in fact secretly ‘held in trust’ for the Chief Minister himself.
Chief Minister’s name is in black and white in the Register of Companies
Mesti Bersatu Sdn Bhd therefore forms a notable exception, in that Taib declares his financial interest in black and white in Malaysia’s Company Register. It is likely to have been an oversight on his part and a sign of his growing confidence that he can do what he likes in Sarawak and get away with it.
He is registered both as a Director and a Shareholder of Mesti Bersatu and holds 400,000 shares out of the 2,300,000 total shares issued for the company. The other shareholders are his late brother Arif’s three wives (condoned under the Muslim faith) and two grown up daughters. At RM 1.00 per share, Taib’s shareholding represents an outlay of 400,000 ringgit.
The company is registered as having ‘No Operation’ at it’s Kuching address, but in fact owns half the shares in Kenyalang Cergas Bhd, which was set up in 1992 as a direct Shareholder of the Royal Mulu resort. The other Directors and Shareholders of Kenyalang Cergas are Taib’s sister Raziah and her current husband Robert Geneid, who were behind the original development of the resort and act as the main directors of the company. Crony timber tycoons the Yaw family, the owners of Samling, have also put money into the project, along with the architect from Singapore. Crucially the Sarawak State Government has also taken up an interest in the venture and has usefully pumped in large sums of life-saving injections of cash from the taxpayer over the years. That involvement was of course thanks to Taib Mahmud.
All thanks to Taib!
Raziah and Robert Geneid reportedly came up with the plan to develop Mulu, which is famous for its caves, in the early 90s, when Raziah was still married to her 2nd husband. In 1991, thanks to Taib Mahmud the Chief Minister, a decision was made by the Sarawak State Government to alienate land acquired in the National Park for a pitiful sum of RM 80 per acre from a local headman to their new family company the Royal Mulu Resort. The Geneids had no money or hotel experience, but Taib’s brother Arip, who had made money from another family venture Achipeligo Shipping (which has now developed into a separate major scandal over the allegations of billions made in timber kickbacks) invested in the venture.
Given that the Chief Minister had alienated profitable state land into the hands of his unqualified sister and brother, the project was from the start corrupt. Even more corrupt has been the continuing support by the state of Sarawak, through the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation, of what has turned out to be a lamentably unprofitable venture. In the name of ‘developing tourism’ the SEDC has been paying what appear to be astronomical ‘management fees’ to the Geneids and their co-shareholders for running their own hotel investment!
This generosity has turned what would have been a disastrous investment and a failed venture into a major money-spinner for Raziah and Robert (the son of an Australian fruit-vendor) who appear to have turned the resort into something of a family forest playground, judging from family facebook sites. Indeed few actual tourists go there and most tourist guides warn visitors that the small sized National Park has long since been stripped of its wildlife by the effects of Taib’s logging activities in all the surrounding areas.
It is also, of course, thanks to Taib that awkward complaints by the local population have been so firmly suppressed by the full force of the state and police. Thus, while the Geneids party in luxury (arriving at their holiday hideaway via a specially-built airstrip that involved blowing off the top of a sacred mountain and taking more of the land that belonged to the natives), the local people have received none of the benefits of the much-trumpeted ’progress and development’.
The Berawan tribe have now returned to court to fight the company’s forced acquisition (thanks to Taib’s government) of yet more of the NCR lands for a second extension of the resort as part of a deal to develop it further, in collaboration with the US-owned Marriott Hotel chain. So far they have received no compensation or recognition of their claims from Taib, despite the fact that previous governments did recognise their ownership of the land.
The Marriott Hotel chain appears to have no shame in participating in this deal, having already collaborated with Raziah Mahmud in developing the Marriott in Miri, again thanks to favours and land alienated by the government of Abdul Taib Mahmud.
However, Unesco which attributed World Heritage status to the site in 2000 has already signalled its own deep concern about the situation at Mulu. Its 2008 report into the management of World Heritage Sites states that the Chief Minister’s plan to flood great areas of Sarawak with dams will also affect Mulu and the report further raises concerns about reports that ” the benefits of tourism and World Heritage designation are not available to the indigenous groups. If these reports were confirmed” the report states “this lack of engagement of local communities could threaten the effectiveness of management and impact the integrity of the property”. The UNESCO report requires reassurances by 2010, which can hardly have been forthcoming.
Furthermore, UNESCO, which in 2000 listed Mulu as a World Heritage site has already raised the management of the park as an issue of concern. In its 2008 report into the management of World Heritage Sites it states that the Chief Minister’s plan to flood great areas of Sarawak with dams could impact on the site and further states that the “lack of engagement of local communities could …impact the integrity of the property”. The report requires reassurances by 2010, which can hardly have been forthcoming.
Local poor are dependent on tourist tips
Despite the usual bragging about ‘progress’ from AbdulTaib Mahmud, the ‘development’ of Mulu has predictably provided no compensation and little in the way of jobs for the local people. The Berawan are apparently banned from being guides in the park they know so well. In return these people have lost their lands and livelihoods and no longer have their hunting grounds. The Geneids and their government partners have therefore provided virtually nothing for the people who they have displaced, many of whom are starving hungry.
The once nomadic Penan of the area have likewise lost their hunting grounds, due to Taib-sponsored logging all around the actual park (which is on high ground and therefore does not have very interesting trees) and they are now living in shanty settlements on the fringes of the Berawan lands. Far from enjoying the fruits of modernisation they survive from making baskets for the few tourists who come to look at them from the resort hotel. So poor was the standard of housing provided by the Geneids in this ‘progress and development’ scheme that one such tourist himself put up the money to pay for the removal of mosquito-breeding swamps from beneath the settlement’s main longhouse, which had been a major discomfort and health hazard.
So how much has the Sarawak State paid to the Taib family to run Mulu?
Nevertheless, the taxpayer is still being forced to pay substantial sums to the Geneids in the name of ‘developing tourism’, for managing their own venture! The big question is exactly how much has Sarawak invested in this project that is now being taken up by the Marriott? Sarawak Report has ascertained that in 2007, the same year that Taib Mahmud openly acquired his shares in the company, a new contract was drawn up whereby the State was to pay even larger sums into the Borsamulu Resort Company, of which he was now publicly an owner.
Sarawak Report has been informed from reliable sources that the agreement was for Borsamulu’s management subsidiary to be paid RM 50 million a year for 50 years by the state. This means that the State of Sarawak has agreed to pay the Geneids and indeed the Chief Minister himself, RM 50 million a year to manage their own investment until the day they die! We therefore ask the Government of Sarawak if they will please confirm this figure and explain on what grounds they think they can condone such corruption?
Clearly these figures should be made public as it is the right of the people of Sarawak to be informed of the total sum of public money that has been poured into the Geneid’s forest playground since its inception in 1993 and they should also know how much more it is committed to spend.
Marriott Hotel
Sarawak Repot would also like to enquire of the Marriott Hotel Chain whether this continuing support by the Sarawak taxpayer forms part of their ’incentive’ for taking up a joint venture with the Geneids at Borsamulu Resort and also whether the company holds any ethical standards regarding human rights and the environmental impact of their activities? If so, how does their involvement in Borsamulu equate with these standards?
Marriott’s new business partners in their joint venture with Borsamulu Resort include the Chief Minister of Sarawak and his family, the State Government of Sarawak and the logging giant, Samling, recently condemned in an investigation into illegal logging by the Norwegian Government. Since Marriott are re-launching the resort under the auspices of eco-tourism and the Chief Minister and his family can only be described as one of the worst environmental menaces alive on this planet, we would like to ask Marriott how they are planning to deal with this contradictory arrangement?
We would also like to enquire if Marriott can reveal the true identity of another of the major shareholders of Borsamulu, Widervale Assets Limited? We assume that in the course of doing their due diligence into the joint venture eco-tourism project they have identified the owner of this company, however in an instance of extreme irregularity it is not registered on the Malaysian Company Register, despite such a significant holding in a prominent state government-backed concern!
Given that Marriott Hotel Group’s promotional material regarding their planned acquisition of Mulu in 2011 claims confidence in the “eco-tourism potential” of the Royal Mulu Resort, Sarawak Report would finally like to ask on what criteria the Marriott Hotel Group judges ‘eco-tourism’? Their new business-partner, the Chief Minister of Sarawak, has sponsored the destruction of a huge segment of the Borneo rainforest, destroying the landscape of the whole of Sarawak. He authorised the logging of thousands of square miles of virgin rainforest surrounding the tiny Mulu National Park, eradicating most of the wild-life of the region, including inside the Park itself. In the process the local people and native forest tribes have been nearly starved into extinction and left to rot without a shred of compensation. Their protests have been put down by armed police.
We would therefore like to ask the Marriott Hotel Group how they intend to explain and justify these circumstance to their visiting ‘eco-tourists’ and indeed to concerned onlookers at UNESCO’s World Heritage Commission? — By Sarawak Report
Comment by Irene Kana — August 16, 2012 @ 8:31 PM |
Taib: All your base are belong to us! hahahahahaha
Comment by gopher — August 15, 2012 @ 5:10 PM |
Some bad news to share:
1.There is now an outbreak of chicken pox in Kuching.
2.Since most Sarawakians have been vaccinated, only infants and old people are risk.
Why is this happening? Only one REASON: Illegal Immigrants are NOW in Kuching.
They could be bringing other COMMUNICABLE diseases into Kuching or other parts of Sarawak.
Please be warned !
Comment by Take care — August 15, 2012 @ 3:11 PM |
THIS IS ONE OF THE BN PROMISES REMAINING TO BE FULFILLED
THE BAD NEWS IS THAT KUCHING HAS BEEN INVADED BY ILLEGALS & DISEASES LET IN BY UMNO BN!
WE ARE ALSO LET DOWN BY TAIB PBB BN WHO FAILED TO PROTECT US FROM THE ILLEGAL INVASION DESPITE OUR CONTROL OF IMMIGRATION!
USE OUR IMMIGRATION POWERS TO SEND ALL ILLEGALS TO KUALA LUMPUR- MALAYA ON 31 AUGUST OR 16 SEPTEMBER SO THEY CAN CELEBRATE MALAYAN INDEPENDENCE DAY AND SABAH SARAWAK COLONISATION DAY!
Comment by ANTI-MALAYAN COLONIALISM — August 16, 2012 @ 9:40 AM |
Is Taib ‘controlling’ entry of federal projects?
What question is this?
In Sarawak, Taib controls EVERYTHING.
The THIEF Minister controls EVERYTHING!!!
Comment by Ah Pui — August 15, 2012 @ 2:27 PM |
YES, BUT CAN’T YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE?
We are not disputing that Taib controls land use and land grabs in Sarawak but UMNO Malaya controls Sarawak as a territory.
Taib is resistant and blocks to UMNO plans to take direct control as in Sabah. He is the dog in the manger who does not want to share the loot with UMNO.
This indirectly but temporarily blocks UMNO. But when he goes UMNO will walk in!
We as Sarawakians the rightful owner of our country have lost that control. Our Sarawak is no more than a colony as it was before 16 Sept 1963!
We can only gain control when we free our country from Malayan colonial domination and rule.
Comment by ANTI-MALAYAN COLONIALISM — August 15, 2012 @ 3:58 PM |
Tahi ini bukan orang, sudah jadi monster !!!
Comment by Mike- Johor — August 15, 2012 @ 11:24 AM |
WHY SHOULD TAIB SANCTION ANY FEDERAL PROJECT?
Is Taib ‘controlling’ entry of federal projects?
All “Federal Projects” are a direct threat and in road to Taib and cronies’ selfish interest and monopoly of the onshore “land” economy and a threat to Sarawak.
Although Taib PBB BN serves UMNO BN colonial domination and control of Sarawak, like it or not he is the only effective block to UMNO agenda of taking over Sarawak politics as it has done in Sabah. That does not mean we do not oppose Taib’s game plan of looting more of Sarawak resources.
Taib may block UMNO to preserve his monopoly on power and control of Sarawak but he will not go the next step to stake Sarawak out of Malaysia as he will also be out of power in a short time. So he needs UMNO backing to stay in power although personally his time is short.
He has not been able to secure his successor from his own family by failing to groom either of his sons not anyone for the matter because of his selfish grip on power.
We all want a better Sarawak free and independent from foreign domination and UMNO colonial rule. How to achieve this is the most difficult part.
Sabah and Sarawak political activists have joing with the Malayan HINDRAF movement to form a “third force” to gain leverage on the Sabah Sarawak state rights issues. They intend to reveal their plan in 16 September “Malaysia Colonisation Day”. It will be interesting to see the public response.
Whatever it is this is the first time Sabah Sarawak and Malayan politicians have got together to promote our interests NOT “Malayan federal interests”.
On the minimum level it will further raise public awareness and firm up many people’s desire for Sabah and Sarawak to achieve independence.
Comment by ANTI-MALAYAN COLONIALISM — August 15, 2012 @ 10:45 AM |
HE HE HE…Finally the Dayaks now learning the true scam behind Konsep Baru…
Konsep Baru basically:
POKOK SAWIT – DAYAK PUNYA
BUAH SAWIT, DUIT SAWIT – BN KRONIES PUNYA
HAAAA….DAYAK KEEP THE POKOK BUT NOT THE BIG PROFITS….???????
HAAAA….DAYAK KEEP THE POKOK BUT NOT THE BIG PROFITS….???????
HAAAA….DAYAK KEEP THE POKOK BUT NOT THE BIG PROFITS….???????
Ini Macam Kah Konsep Baru…??? Mana tidak Dayak kuat rugi Ooooo…
Dayak sudah kasi tanah NCR free-of-charge nadai sewa…yet BN took lion share of oil palm profits….
WAKE UP DAYAK WAKE UP
KONSEP BARU LET ME REPEAT:
BUAH SAWIT, BIG PROFITS – BN KRONIES PUNYA
POKOK SAWIT – DAYAK PUNYA
HAAAA….DAYAK KEEP THE POKOK BUT NOT THE BIG PROFITS….???????
BUAH SAWIT, BIG PROFITS – BN KRONIES PUNYA
POKOK SAWIT – DAYAK PUNYA
HAAAA….DAYAK KEEP THE POKOK BUT NOT THE BIG PROFITS….???????
BUAH SAWIT, BIG PROFITS – BN KRONIES PUNYA
POKOK SAWIT – DAYAK PUNYA
HAAAA….DAYAK KEEP THE POKOK BUT NOT THE BIG PROFITS….???????
__________________________
Jabu blows top over claims about Salcra
Malaysia Kini, Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Jabu, who chairs the state-run agency, loses his cool over claims of its opaque financial management.
Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu, who is defending the Layar seat for the eighth consecutive term, has evaded allegations that the management of the Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra) is not transparent.
He countered that the opposition was “jealous” because the agency had paid out more than RM400 million in dividends to landowners.
“We are answerable to the government. We are not answerable to people who shout on the street,” said Jabu after he filed his nomination form at the Betong district office.
He was referring to PKR supporters who had shouted “Reformasi” during the nomination process this morning.
“What can they prove that they have given to the landowners? What can they prove? Let them shout,” he said.
Pressed to comment on complaints from some landowners that Salcra has never provided them with its financial statements, the veteran politician lost his cool.
“That’s what you say, that’s what you say!” he said, raising his voice and staring at the journalist who posed the question.
Whistleblower website Sarawak Report had alleged that Salcra’s performance has been dismal under the leadership of Jabu, who is its chairperson.
It said Jabu’s promise of a bumper payout of “a record RM74 million in profits” to native landowners was an election gimmick to hide the failure of Salcra.
Sarawak Report reasoned that RM74 million in profit for 48,000 hectares of oil palm plantations – equal to RM1,541 a hectare – was “simply pathetic”, compared with other plantaion companies such as IOI that made a profit of RM13,347 a hectare the same year.
The website highlighted suspicions that Jabu had squandered Salcra’s earnings.
Participants in Salcra schemes are mainly rural Iban folk who have signed over their native customary rights to their land to the Salcra management.
However, Malaysiakini has been receiving complaints about the absence of financial statements, as well as about dividends paid at the management’s whim.
Opposition warned again
Jabu also repeated his warning to opposition canvassers from Peninsular Malaysia not to cause trouble in Sarawak.
“But I’m quite worried because I saw what happened during the Sibu by-election… the unhealthy political elements of the opposition,” he said.
“Don’t try to jeopardise what has been going well here. They just come here for two weeks during the election. After they go back, the Sarawak people will have to bear the burden left by them, which was demonstrated in the Sibu by-election.”
He reiterated that Sarawakians would not hesitate to take action to defend their social harmony if threatened by the opposition.
“Please try to respect us… the multiracial and peace-loving people of Sarawak have their own patience, but once the threshold of patience is worn out, they will naturally defend their integrity,” he said.
Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who had accompanied Jabu to the nomination centre this morning, echoed the statement.
He said the police have been deployed to maintain peace and order, but that no report of untoward incidents has been received so far.
____________________
‘Jabu’s oil palm scheme ripping off the natives’
Malaysia Kini, 2 April 2011
Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu’s promise a bumper payout of a “record RM74 million in profits” to native landowners is an election gimmick that hides the actual failure of the state-run agency Salcra, says whistleblower website Sarawak Report.
It charges that Jabu’s profit figure amounted to an “abysmal” 10 percent of earnings reported in the open market that year.
“Judging from his performance as chairman of Salcra (Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority), it would be unwise to hire Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu (right) to run a fruit stall, let alone place the livelihoods of tens of thousands of families under his control,” said the website.
It charged that the figure, announced in admist the Sarawak election fever, looked “dismal” when placed under scrutiny.
Jabu, as reported in Star on Dec 1, 2010, said “the dividend this year was more than double of last year’s and would be paid to some 20,000 landowners in two phases the first 50 percent between January and February and the second by July 2011.”
In 2009 a Miri-based Dayak NGO had similarly slammed Jabu over a dividend payout in 2008, revealing that it was the first payout in 10 years.
Sarawak Report charged Jabu with squandering Salcra’s earnings contrasting the minister and his family’s “conspicuous wealth” and his “extremely large house” (left and below) with the fate of Salcra’s native investors.
Salcra, charges the website, has failed to meet the most basic standards of accountability. “No one has a clue where all that money has gone,” it said.
Salcra profits one-tenth of market
Putting Salcra’s declared payouts under the microscope, Sarawak Report reasoned that RM74 million in profit for 48,000 hectares of oil palm plantation was “simply pathetic”.
“By comparison, just look at the figures provided by IOI (Corporation Bhd) in its 2010 Annual Report to see the sort of money that Jabu should really have been earning and announcing in dividends.
“IOI says that its operating profit last year amounted to RM 11,448 per hectare.
“Yet if we look at Jabu’s dividend of RM74 million and divide that by the 48,000 hectares he is in charge of, we arrive at a truly miserable profit of RM1,541 – one tenth of the commercial profit,” it said.
The report charged that the figure, considering Salcra promises to pay out 100 percent of its profits earned, could not be that low even considering various operating costs.
The payout last year as even worse, amounting to RM729 per hectare compared to IOI’s RM 13,347 per hectare that same year.
It also questioned Salcra’s yield of 14 to 15 tons per year to IOI’s 25 tons a hectare.
“If this was a commercial outfit the shareholders would have long since called an emergency general meeting and demanded the immediate dismissal of such an abysmal performer as Jabu,” the website said.
“However, instead (Chief Minister) Taib has kept on his deputy, who has enjoyed years of luxury in return for keeping the Ibans of his area on the side of BN.
“As a result those Ibans, who should have done well from their profitable crop, have suffered excruciating hardship, while BN politicians lecture them on being patient as they wait for ‘development’,” it said.
Jabu failure or thief?
Sarawak Report added that all this begs the question what happened to all the money that Salcra should have earned.
“Is (Jabu) the worst manager in the world or has he stolen the money?” it asked.
It lamented that as landowners of the scheme, the natives who had signed their land over to Salcra’s management had no channels to question the running of the scheme.
According the website’s enquiries with landowners, many had not received dividends “for years” and that when they did the quantum was meagre.
Salcra, it says, pays out dividends “at the whim and at (Jabu’s) own political convenience” and that it has not provided its shareholders, the owners of the NCR land used for cultivation, a single audit report over the past 35 years.
“Needless to say the landowners themselves have no representation on the board or within management or any way of gaining any information whatsoever about the finances of the business in which they are supposed to be partners.”
A raw deal
According to the website, the scheme entails the state government offering NCR landowners formal titles to their customary lands, on condition that they agree to join the Salcra state-run palm oil plantations.
“This means they are forced to allow their land to be taken over and managed by Jabu in return for their supposed ownership of it and a promised share of the proceeds.
“What kind of land-ownership is that?” it asked.
“The victims of this pernicious corruption, the poor NCR landowners, may not have been given the normal rights and protections of ordinary shareholders in public companies by the corrupted Taib Mahmud.
“However, many of them do have votes. It is for this reason that Jabu has been doing the rounds of the longhouses in his constituency over the past week, handing each family RM500 to buy their votes,” said the website.
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Jabu under fire over NCR scheme
By Tony Thien, Malaysia Kini, 28 Apr 2009
A Miri-based Dayak NGO has taken Sarawak’s most senior Dayak minister Alfred Jabu to task for ‘once again shortchanging the community’ through one of the state government’s most praised native customary land development schemes commonly known as ‘Konsep Baru’ or new concept.
It cited the latest incident which involved the Iban communities from Rumah Belili and Rumah Ranggong situated at Ulu Niah, Miri Division.
Borneo Resources Institute Malaysia (Brimas) executive director Mark Bujang said last Thursday, Jabu (right) handed out a total of RM436,708.20 in dividends and bonuses to 226 participants of the Ulu Niah NCR Joint Venture Project.
At first glance, he said, the total amount seems reasonable if the payment of dividends and bonuses are for the year 2008, but upon checking with the participants, it was learnt that this is the first time in 10 years that the JV project has paid out dividends or bonuses.
“If we were to make the assumption that the dividends and bonuses are divided equally among the scheme participants, each participant would receive about RM1,932,” he added.
Divide that by 10 years, he said, each participant would only get RM193 per year. This, he added, is a far cry from the government’s promise that the scheme would uplift the socio-economic status of the Dayaks.
Snek Bagat, one of the residents of Rumah Ranggong, said: “I was looking forward to receiving the dividends and bonuses from our investment (in the JV project). But I was shocked to find out that our investment only yielded 50 cents per month after 10 years. Not enough to buy a cup of coffee.”
Why the sudden need to do so?
Meanwhile, Bujang questioned the need to hand out dividends and bonuses after 10 years. “Why does the government and the JV company have a sudden interest with the NCR landowners after they have been neglected all these while?” “Is it because that the community of Rumah Belili and Rumah Ranggong are suing the private investor BLD Resources Sdn. Bhd. for not keeping its end of the bargain?” he asked.
Previously, in 1999, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between BLD Sdn. Bhd (sister company of BLD Resources), Sarawak Land Development Board (SLDB) and the NCR landowners at Ulu Niah, where Rumah Belili and Rumah Ranggong were the participating longhouses, to develop the Ulu Niah NCR land based on the ‘konsep baru’ scheme. Jabu and the then Sarawak Minister for Housing Celestine Ujang handed out the 10 percent upfront payment worth RM294,990 in 2001.
However, in 2008, a resident of Rumah Ranggong, Changgai Dali was sued by BLD Resources for allegedly trespassing into BLD’s plantation. When Changgai and his longhouse folks disputed this they discovered to their horror that their NCR JV project was cancelled – reason given was the government made a mistake saying the land is NCR.
Commenting on the dividends and bonuses received, Changgai said: “We thank Jabu for handing out the dividends and bonuses to us, but we are not happy with the amount.” “How come after all these years, this is all we get? Jabu not once mentioned the status of our land during the ceremony. When I asked Jabu if he could withdraw the provisional lease of the company, he replied that he does not have the authority,” he added.
Problems in other schemes
In another case, Jabu also handed out dividends amounting to RM52 million to 16,480 participants for the year 2008 in another NCR land development scheme managed by another state government agency, the Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra), where Jabu is also its chairman.
According to an article sourced from a blogsite, Anilnetto.com, Salcra should have netted profits amounting to RM292 million for 2008 taking into account the price of oil palm that year. Jabu announced that another RM22 million had been set aside for loan repayments.
The article went on to say that the net balance after dividends and loan repayments should have amounted to RM218 million, or RM13,240 per participant. The article questioned Salcra on where the balance of the money went. The article went on to state that even if 50 percent is withheld to allow for reinvestment and replanting, that would still amount to RM109 million or RM6,620 per participant to be accounted for.
In another NCR JV scheme in Suai, Miri Division, the Penans from Kampung Ugos threatened to withdraw from the said scheme launched by Jabu himself in 1998 if the state government agency the Sarawak Land Development Board (SLDB) did not disclose transparently the official documents, records, JV agreements and statement of accounts of the company.
The Penans also complained that they do not know how SLDB arrived at the amount of dividends paid which is exactly RM500,000 and they do not know which private investor company is in the JV. Some of the scheme participants have died not knowing what will happen to their land and their investment.
Comment by Teddy Gumbang — August 15, 2012 @ 9:57 AM |
Baru tahu kah? Dari mula sudah! Itu kerana kelemahan Federal dihadapan State leaders? Fixed Deposit!
Comment by Edward, M — August 15, 2012 @ 9:45 AM |
The thief minister, being the grand thief in Sarawak although a proxy of UMNO will never approve any big scale or mega projects undertaken by Federal if such projects do not benefit his family or cronies or proxies.
One case in point, the thief minister did not initially approve the land for a new General Hospital which shall now be sited at Petra Jaya when the Ministry of Health’s offer to take over the failed Samarahan Specialist Hospital project was short of RM140 million which Taib Mahmud had wanted and had shared with George Chan. The Health Ministry was under pressure to cut back on other smaller hospital projects in Sarawak because it had “exceeded” its budget when buying over the Samarahan Specialist Hospital.
Comment by Mata Kuching — August 15, 2012 @ 6:16 AM |
Agree with you. IJN HUS as they call it, has lost it usefullness. Alot of obsolete equipment around. Even staffs are taken from SGH. But people from Petra Jaya are happy that there will not be any 2nd hospital for them because the proposed site has been use to accomodate the JKNS office block. So those at PetraJaya you are all happy to be sardinecanned at SGH if you or your relatives are sick. Because if Taib or any of his cronies are sick they do not need hospital umum because they will go for home visit or icu at normah or even luar negara. So you all at Petra Jaya…keep on giving your votes to BN….so that forever you will congested yourselves at SGH.
Comment by PerampasTanah — August 15, 2012 @ 1:21 PM |