RAZIAH GRABS MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR FOREST FOR JUST RM 250!

Kuching
Sunday, 26th September 2010

Despite numerous revelations has been made by Sarawak Report but until now no action has been taken by Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). What type of information does the MACC need until Taib Mahmud can  be charged? Surprisingly, for any report made against the Pakatan lawmakers, even from the ad-hoc blog  like what happened in Selangor, they will spring into action.... MACC, PLEASE WAKE UP. THE RAKYAT ARE LOOKING AT YOU!

In an act of breathtaking meanness and greed the multi-billionaire Taib family are seeking to deprive impoverished Ibans of one of Sarawak’s last remaining hardwood forests, for a paltry compensation of just RM250 per family.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Report has received exclusive new leaks which indicate that the Chief Minister himself stands to personally profit by a million times that amount (an estimated RM250,000,00) in corrupt backhanders from the deal.

Raziah Mahmud and Quality Concrete Holdings

This latest illegal raid on Native Customary Rights Land is being carried out by Quality Concrete Holdings Berhad, a company part owned and directed by the Chief Minister’s own sister, Raziah Mahmud. The Taibs, one of the richest families in Asia, have already started harvesting the timber, which is worth millions of US dollars, even though the majority of the villagers are refusing to accept the deal.

“We have been threatened that if we oppose this claim we are going against the government and opposing development” explained one protester, “but why does the government act like a common thief in this case and how much development can we achieve for RM 250?”.

The threatened area is a small range of hills near Sebangan not far from Kuching, consisting of 3,305 hectares of forest. The surrounding region has already been devastated by state-sponsored logging promoted by the Taibs in the 80s and 90s.

However until now it was not considered economic to tackle the raised ground, which has been farmed and hunted for generations by 16 villages of Iban dwellers.

The villagers explain that the area is carpeted by hundreds of thousands of tall trees, some of it valuable primary jungle containing hardwoods that are now painfully scarce. The Secretary General of the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA) Nicholas Mujah, who comes from the community, says that there are up to 700 tons of Belian, Meranti, Bulyan, Selangan, Kapur, Kempas, Tekam, Resak, Lon, Penyau, Ruan and Engkaban available per hectare. These all command top prices in the world market, although the logging of such rare timber is now internationally condemned.

The area is also a refuge for some of Sarawak’s remaining wildlife and birdlife, much of which has been wiped out by the Taibs over the past 30 years.

Corruption and conflict of interest

The Iban owners of the forest say they are happy to conserve the wood for future generations and to conduct sustainable logging for their needs. However, the aging Chief Minister, who has already earned billions out of corrupt logging deals seems to have been unable to resist the prospect of grabbing more money by cutting it all down.

In this case, like so many others, he has used a relative, his sister Raziah Mahmud, to conduct the plunder. Raziah is a shareholder and paid Non-Executive Director of Quality Concrete Holdings, a public company largely owned by the family of Tiang Ming Sing and Tiang Ming Kok (the Chairman and Managing Director). She is therefore directly profiting from her connections with the Chief Minister, who hands out all timber licences.

The CM’s cut will be at least MR250 million - Exclusive new Revelations

However, following new leaks, Sarawak Report is now able to further reveal an even more shocking form of corruption involved in the deal. Top timber company insiders, have exclusively confided to Sarawak Report that before issuing any timber licence the Chief Minister always demands an extra secret cut, to be paid upfront into one of his offshore bank accounts.

The insiders say that Taib traditionally demands a rate of RM 100 per ton of timber. However, in this latest case the sum is likely to be substantially larger given the value of the hardwoods at the Sebangan reserve.

According to the whistle-blowers, the Chief Minister calculates his cut by getting State Forest Department officials to assess how much timber is available in each concession.

So, if the 3,305 hectare Sebangan forest contains 700 tons of wood per hectare, this would mean that, at conservative estimates, Taib will have bagged just under 250 million ringgit from issuing the licence. That is well over $80 million dollars at current exchange rates and is almost exactly a million times the amount being offered to the Iban families who rightfully own the land!

Sarawak Report would therefore like to ask Quality Concrete to confirm if they have yet made such an up front payment or if they are paying part up front and part later, which is sometimes the arrangement, or whether they are claiming that on this occasion they have been for some reason let off the payment?

Robbing his people blind

Such miserable deals have been the pattern by which the Chief Minister has deprived numerous communities in Sarawak of billions and billions of ringgit-worth of timber and made himself one of the richest men in Asia. Instead of going into promised development the money has gone into Taib’s foreign bank accounts, leaving the people of Sarawak among the poorest in Malaysia, despite their rich natural resources.

Strong-arm tactics – lies and thugs

In this latest case the Taibs are again attempting to abuse their control of state officials and adopting strong-arm tactics to force the unwilling villagers to hand over their forest, firstly through misrepresenting the terms of their licence.

The truth - Raziah's conditional licence expires in two months!

Quality Concrete have in truth, only been issued a conditional year-long Occupation Certificate to log the timber, for the very reason that this is Native Customary Rights (NCR) Land.

This certificate has been issued under Section B of the Forest Ordinance, which specifically means that Quality Concrete need to achieve the consent of the Iban landowners before commencing any logging.

However, Raziah and her business cronies have of course done no such thing, because they know that such consent would either be withheld or would only come at a reasonable price for the land! They have instead sought to imply that they are fully licenced to strip the forest.

No warning and no permission asked

”Nobody warned or consulted us about anything” explains Sadun Ason, the Headman of Kampong Ensika, one of the affected communities. “The first I knew of it was when a villager called me to say he had seen logging equipment being shipped up river by boat on 11th July. We then immediately called the Pengulu, who astonishingly said he knew all about it and told us that there is nothing we can do to protest as the whole matter is perfectly legal and we have no rights!”

Traditional meeting - community representatives discuss the crisis

The 16 villages involved are rightly suspicious of this Pengulu. Taib undermined democracy in when he removed the right of longhouses to elect their own headmen and Pengulus and started to appoint these ‘representatives’ himself.

He pays them a miserable monthly salary to keep them loyal, nevertheless, these characters usually still come from the local community and are accepted by the residents.

However, in this case a new Pengulu was appointed a few weeks before the issuing of Razia’s logging licence. He is a PBB member from an outside town. The headmen are naturally furious he kept them in the dark about Quality Concrete’s plans and the previous Pengulu has also testified against such behaviour and joined their protest.

“If there is anything that relates to the joint ownership of the forest the Pengulu should discuss the matter with the headmen and likewise the headmen would talk to their villagers. All these resources are shared resources and it is not right for the Pengulu to make a decision, especially such an important decision on his own”, says Ason emphatically. “Rightfully the Pengulu and headmen should be the ones to protect the forest, but we end up fighting him”.

Deceitful tactics by the loggers and their official backers

The villagers have tried to blockade the site and have demanded proper information and paper-work from Quality Concrete, but Raziah and her co-directors have been characteristically unforthcoming. Outrageously they have also started driving a road into the territory and harvesting valuable timber in the process.

At a meeting organised by the police on 2nd July, officials from the Forestry Department and Land Survey Department showed their bias by meeting first separately with the representatives of Quality Concrete and their lawyers along with the suspect Pengulu.

The officials then came out and claimed to the villagers that the land was not gazetted and claimed there was no evidence the area was NCR land. However, Sarawak Report has obtained evidence proving this claim was untrue. In fact the Land Registry’s own records show that the land has been gazetted since 1956 and is indeed Native Customary Rights Land. The licence Quality Concrete has bee given is subject to any NCR claims. Meanwhile, internal documents from the Forestry Department also show that officials have now instructed Quality Concrete not to encroach on the vast majority of the area contained in the provisional licence unless and until the dispute has been settled.

Gazetted since 1956 - this proof of NCR status came from the Land Registry!

Sarawak Report has copies of all these documents, however in typical fashion the officials on the ground, working with Raziah Taib and Quality Concrete and their lawyers have attempted to conceal these facts from the villagers.

Bullying into submission

Meanwhile the timber company and Pengulu have been working hard to browbeat and divide the community into submission. They have gone around all the longhouses offering MR25o ‘compensation payment’ to each family prepared to sign away their rights to the forest and MR800 to each headman. This may be a laughable sum, but Taib has kept his people financially poor for a very good reason – it makes them easier to rob of their natural wealth.

On 13th August a group of 11 villagers including three of the 16 headmen were transported in Quality Concrete’s own vehicles to Sibu, where they were given a reception and dinner and then asked to sign documents in the absence of any legal representative. They were not given copies of the documents to bring back, but they were told that they have now legally signed away their rights to the forest.

Dirt poor - this family took the money - Will the RM 250 compensation 

uplift the living standard of this family?

These headmen have now gone round other long houses and persuaded a number of the desperately poor villagers that, since they have no choice in the matter (not true), they had better take what money is available to them.

A minority of the villagers have now been persuaded to go to the nearby town of Sebuyau and sign away their claims for a mere MR250. They had no legal representative and have been offered no copies of the documents they signed – most are illiterate.

“The worst thing about it is that it has divided the villages in such a terrible way”, says Numpang Suntai who has been helping coordinate the protests. “Some are so browbeaten and poor they feel they must accept the money, but the others know that in the long-term the consequences will be terrible for us. We look at neighbouring areas where this has happened and we know we will suffer. We won’t have any wood, our land will be taken, the wildlife will be gone, the water of the river will be affected and the fish will all die. We will be hungry. Our life is tough and we have no real income, so we depend on the forest”.

Aware of the consequences - Numpang Suntai, local campaigner

Numpang dismisses the idea that there might be jobs and development. “There will be no jobs at all, they use Indonesians to cut down the forest and Indonesians to work on the palm plantations. They only offer MR7 a day to work on palm plantations and we can’t live on that. The Indonesians find it worth it, because of the exchange rate for them”.

A fit leader for Sarawak?

Taib of course believes that he will triumph in this matter. The fight for Sebangan’s final forest has reached a critical stage, which he, his sister and their timber company collaborators have experienced many times before. They have all the finance, the official backing and of course, access to intimidation as well.

The villagers are already fearfully expecting the arrival of the notorious logging company ‘thugs’, the strongmen who so often come to intimidate local communities who hold out against them. Meanwhile, the Pengulu and the logging company legal teams are misleadingly informing the protesters that because some people have now signed it will be impossible to stop the logging.

Campaigning on landrights - PKR's office in Kuching

However, signs are that people are waking up to the Chief Minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud. It will be interesting to see whether the new information revealing the true extent of Taib’s personal profit from this raid - his MR250 million cut - will alter the dynamics of this particular forest battle.

Sarawak Report will also be forwarding the inside leaks from the Land Survey Department and Forestry Department to the protestors’ newly acquired legal team, headed by Baru Bian in Kuching.

Baru, who is Sarawak’s top human rights lawyer and the PKR leader in the state, has started to win significant court victories against Taib in the local and federal courts .

Agent for Change - Baru in campaigning dress at his desk

Taib’s last grasp?

This scandalous new case will join over 200 other native land rights cases on his desk, all of which directly challenge the Taib family’s devastating plunder of the state.

Most importantly, the Chief Minister will soon face the electorate with a record that no politician on earth would wish to have to defend.

This article was copied from Sarawak Report.

Mupok Aku

AGI IDUP AGI NGELABAN

Exclusive – Taibs’ Foreign Property Portfolio

Kuching
Monday, 21st June 2010


Canadian properties worth in excess of a hundred million dollars

Twin glass towers and a swish shopping complex at Preston Square in downtown Ottawa form just part of an enormous foreign property portfolio controlled in Canada by the family of Sarawak Chief Minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud, according to our exclusive investigations.

These buildings alone are worth at least one hundred million dollars and generate a healthy rental income from some of Canada’s top corporations, including Xerox, Adobe and Sun Life, who rent office space and retail outlets. Numerous Canadian Government Ministries are also listed at the building.

Preston Square Ottawa – office space and shops The Preston Square development lies at the centre of the major Canadian property empire run by the developer Sakto, which was founded in the early 1980s by Taib’s college-aged son Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, his daughter Jamilah and his brother Onn Mahmud. It continues to be managed as a ‘family business’ by his now son-in-law, a Canadian, Sean Murray.

Commercial Skyscraper – Ottawa’s ‘Xerox Tower’ Complex. Sun Life and Adobe are some of the companies to rent space in this prestige property in Ottawa Taxpayers in Sarawak are entitled to ask how the Chief Minister’s modest 20,000 Malaysian Ringgit a month official salary has managed to help generate a property empire worth so much. It is also well known that the Taib family own further considerable assets in Malaysia and elsewhere.

Dozens more buildings in Canada alone

Adjacent to the Preston Square commercial complex, Sarawak Report has further identified a luxury, multi-story residential building, also constructed by the Taibs and let for rent since 2006. The family have named the building The Adelaide, an Australian city popular with Taib Mahmud and his late wife Laila.

Luxury Living - The Adelaide (left)

Sakto publicity boasts that these ”stylish urban rentals are lavishly equipped” with ”all the elements of contemporary flair” and assure clients that ”all units share the ease of abundant parking and the beauty of Preston’s Square manicured setting”.

Arrogant Admission

We bring these revelations in the wake of the elderly Chief Minister’s admission last week that the Bumi remain ”poor and in difficulty”. In this way, he explained, they can be relied upon to stay ”humble” and continue to vote for Barisan National (BN) at the next election. Many in Sarawak have questioned why the Chief Minister has done so little to improve the lives of his people during his thirty years in power and where the profits of decades of timber and oil extraction have been spent. Sarawak is Malaysia’s richest state in terms of natural resources and yet remains home to some of its poorest people.

Exclusive revelations show Canadian Government and top corporations rent from the Taibs

Sakto Development Corporation was set up in August 1983, according to official Ontario records, two years after Taib Mahmud took power. The Directors were Taib’s brother, Onn Mahmud, Taib’s son Mahmud Abu Bekir (aged just 20) and Taib’s daughter Jamilah, both still students. Three months later Onn also established Richfold Investment Limited in Hong Kong. He did so on the same day that another company, Regent Star Company Limited, was incorporated with a mutual director, Kin Kwok Shea, at the same office address. It was Regent Star Company which was identified by the Japanese Tax Authorities in 2007 as having received 32 million Malaysian Ringgit in kickbacks from Japanese timber exporters over the preceding seven years covered by their investigation. The Japanese shipping cartel is known to have been making such payments since the early 1980s, amounting to a total of hundreds of millions of ringgit.

Impressive Investments

Sakto publicity claimed the company invested heavily in its first year(1983), “acquiring over 400 residential units” according to its previous website.

One of the Taib residential properties
Financial records also show that the company invested over $7 million Canadian Dollars during the first twelve months of its activities, $4.5 million of which was raised from its shareholders. In Canada shareholders are allowed to remain anonymous. By the end of its first decade (in 1993) Sakto’s Financial Report shows the company had assets of just under $40 million Canadian Dollars. Those acquisitions were backed by over $25 million in interest-free shareholder loans, for which “repayment terms had not been established”. Additionally, Sakto had received a further $3 million in non-interest bearing loans, $1.5 million of which was “payable to a company related to a shareholder”. Among the developments Sakto invested in was the construction of what the company described as a “Class A Office Tower”, completed on schedule and within budget in November 1989. Known as 333 Preston Street, this building houses the company’s current headquarters.

Sakto Financial Report 1993

Aquired in 2000 - Government Offices

During the 1990s, the company claims it ”continued shaping [its] property portfolio through acquisitions and disposals of various assets” and since 2000 it has been involved in some of Ottawa’s biggest property deals. These included the news making purchase of over a quarter of a million square feet of commercial space in the flourishing high-tech business district of Kanata and other buildings for over $31 million Canadian Dollars. Much of this property was later sold on to a ’nominee’ company, however Sakto continues to lease and manage the buildings, apparently on behalf of the new purchasers.

Getting Bigger – Commercial Plaza Expansion The company has recently completed the building of a second phase of its Preston Street Commerce Plaza complex, which includes a second 16 story tower block and a large commercial centre. The Sakto website boasts that the centre represents “the very definition of Class A business space”.

Uncle Onn Mahmud (Taib's brother) Directed the company with Jamilah until 2004

Sean Murray, the current Director of Sakto, is a Canadian of Irish Catholic extraction. Records show he became involved in Sakto’s affairs in 1987, having reportedly met Jamilah Taib at University. After marrying Jamilah, a process that involved his conversion to Islam, Sean Murray took over as a Director of a number of the Taib property interests, however there is no indication that he has become an actual shareholder. Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib ceased to be listed as a Director of Sakto some years ago, however Onn Mahmud, Taib’s brother only resigned as a Director in 2004.

Aged 23 Jamilah Taib became Director of Sakto Development Corporation (between studies) then President

Society Family

A number of Sean Murray’s family members are now employed at Sakto, which they describe as a family business. Some of Canada’s biggest commercial names rent space at their commercial and office properties, as well as numerous Canadian Government Ministries.

Major Shopping Mall – includes Chapters Bookstore

Now prominent members of Ottawa’s social elite, Sean Murray and Jamilah Taib are frequently photographed at society occasions and listed as donors to the city’s National Gallery of Canada. Functions at their lavish Rockcliffe mansion have included fundraisers for the top Canadian school, Ashbury College and for multiple Irish charities, including the Catholic St Patrick’s Home and the Ireland Fund of Canada.

The couple drew considerable attention when they recently moved into their new house, recorded as being the second most expensive private home in Ottawa and costing them over $9.6 million Canadian Dollars. Guests have been known to joke that it is so vast that different wings must have different post codes.

Sean and Jamilah - Ottawa's Golden Couple Political Connections

The couple, separately and through Sakto, have also been regular donors to the Ontario Liberal Party. This has included contributions totalling $6,000 to Premiere Dalton Mcguinty’s campaign budget in 2003. In 2007 it was announced that eleven Ontario Ministries were relocating into Sakto’s Preston Square building. ”Bringing together 11 ministries at Preston Square, in the heart of our community, will make our government more accessible to the people of Ottawa and more cost-effective”, explained Yasir Naqvi, MPP for Ottawa Centre. The offices were officially opened by Dalton Mcguinty himself in April 2008.

Pink Palace – Jamilah’s ‘tacky’ Ottawa Mansion From trees to tower blocks

Sarawak Report’s exclusive revelations are likely to draw fierce criticism from Canadian environmentalists and human rights campaigners, who have highlighted the devastation caused by unsustainable logging in Sarawak. Over US$25 billion worth of timber has been exported from the state as a result of the rampant, unsustainable logging promoted by Taib Mahmud and the former Chief Minister, who was his uncle. Less than 3% of the original rainforest remains and many of its indigenous peoples are now destitute as a direct result.

High-Tech - another Sakto acquisition

What is now clear is that Sakto’s position as one of Canada’s top development companies is closely linked to the Taib family’s questionable wealth and to tropical rainforest devastation. Canada’s booming property market of past years has exponentially increased the value of those investments, leaving the Taibs (but not the people of Sarawak) even more fabulously wealthy than before.

Mupok Aku

This Report was originally published by Sarawak Report

AGI IDUP AGI NGELABAN

Baru Bian Advises Sarawak's natives To Stand Up For Their Rights

KUCHING

Thursday, 23rd January 2010

Sdra Baru Bian-Sarawak PKR Head

Baru Bian is a renowned Sarawak lawyer who has recently been appointed Sarawak chairman of the People's Justice party, PKR. His law office in Kuching, the state capital, is representing well over 100 land rights cases filed by native communities against the Sarawak State Government. Baru, who is a member of the native Lun Bawang community, grew up as the son of a pastor in Sarawak's interior. He studied law at the Mara Institute of Technology in West Malaysia and completed his studies in Melbourne, Australia. Baru is a father of three children and lives with his family in Kuching.

Recently, Sdra Baru Bian was interviewed by by Lukas Straumann / BMF. I would like to ask for apology from  Lukas Straumann / BMF for publishing the interview at Bukittunggal without their/his permission.

Here is the interview between Lukas Straumann / BMF ( BRUNO MANSER FUND ) and Sdra Baru Bian conducted in January 2010.

BRUNO MANSER FUND (BMF): Baru Bian, almost 50 years after independence, Sarawak's rural  inftructure in many ways remains underdeveloped, and a considerable part of the rural population is leading a life close to or even below the poverty line.What has gone wrong with Sarawak's rural development?

BARU BIAN: I think there are several reasons for this. Firstly, I believe that the federal government has neglected Sabah and Sarawak. After 47 years as part of Malaysia, Sarawak has a poverty rate comparable with some of the poorest countries in Africa. Sarawak and Sabah are the richest in natural resources within Malaysia, yet we rank among the four poorest states. It is obvious that the federal government has concentrated the country's development onWest Malaysia and has neglected Sarawak and Sabah, in spite of the fact that we are a state that produces petroleum and liquid natural gas and are rich in timber and land.We only receive five percent of the royalties from petroleum, and hence a huge share of our wealth is siphoned off toWest Malaysia. This had, in fact, been one  of the fears of the native leaders when they were asked to become part of Malaysia in 1963.

 

BMF: Does this mean the native leaders' worst fears have come true?

BARU BIAN: Yes, that has now become reality.We are living under another form of colonialism, whereby the colonial power is inWest Malaysia. This neglect by Kuala Lumpur constitutes the first point. The second point is that Kuala Lumpur considers Sabah and Sarawak to be separate states and not to be part of Malaysia. Thirdly, our local leaders are not bothered because they are under the dictate of Kuala Lumpur.

"Sarawak and Sabah are the richest in natural resources within Malaysia, yet we rank among the four poorest states. A huge share of our wealth is siphoned off to West Malaysia. We are living under another form of colonialism whereby the colonial power is in West Malaysia."

BMF: In the 1980s, industrial-scale logging was brought into the interior in the name of development. Today, Sarawak's formerly rich timber resources are almost depleted. The native communities have had little benefit from logging.Where did the profits end up?

BARU BIAN: It is public knowledge that most of the profits went to timber tycoons who are involved in the timber business and to certain individuals – the political leaders who issued the licences. The revenues of our timber resources are all being siphoned off overseas and are not being brought back to Sarawak.

BMF: Some political observers are suggesting that Taib Mahmud has made himself into one of the richest men of South-East Asia during his 28 years as Chief Minister of Sarawak. Do you think this is plausible?

BARU BIAN: Yes, I think it is public knowledge that he is extremely rich. I remember an article written by Doctor Andrew Areia from UNIMAS in the Aliran magazine in 2008, and he talks about billions of dollars.

"It is public knowledge that most of the profits from logging went to timber tycoons who are involved in the timber business and to certain individuals - the political leaders who issued the licences. The revenues of our timber resources are all being siphoned off overseas and are not being brought back to Sarawak."

BMF: Can you tell us what Taib's and his family's main routes to enrichment have been?

BARU BIAN: Basically, they are involved in various companies which are awarded contracts by the government. That is one route. And another route is through the issue of provisional leases and imber licences to companies with which they have links, and these leases and licences are then sold off to investors for huge sums.

BMF: Where has the money gone?We have heard rumours that Taib transferred large sums overseas and that he owns real estate in the United Kingdom, Canada and other countries.

 

BARU BIAN: I have nothing to add to that because I have no knowledge about it, but it appears that that is where the money went. A few months ago, there was a report that one of the daughters owns one of the most expensive homes in Canada.

BMF: Will there be calls for restitution in the post-Taib area? In Switzerland, we can look back to the case of former Philippines dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, whose assets in Swiss banks were restituted to the Philippine government.

BARU BIAN: Personally, I think we must look into a restitution process in the post-Taib era. If his wealth is found to have been obtained unlawfully and illegally, then the law must take its course, and I think this will require a very strong resolve on the part of those who take over. It is a matter of political will. The Philippines did it, Indonesia did it, and I see no reason why we shouldn't do it. The ordinary people have been suffering and have been short-changed by Taib Mahmud.

"Taib Mahmud acquired immense wealth and riches at the expense of the  ordinary people. I think we must look into a restitution process in the post-Taib era. If his wealth is found to have been obtained unlawfully and illegally, then the law must take its course. The Philippines did it, Indonesia did it, and I see no reason why we shouldn't do it in Sarawak."

BMF: Even though Taib Mahmud's grip on power in the state remains firm, his days as Chief Minister appear to be numbered.What will his legacy to the state of Sarawak be? How will history judge Taib Mahmud's years in power?

BARU BIAN: I am trying to look at it from an ordinary Sarawakian's point of view. To a certain extent, there are a number of development projects that have been carried out. The latest one is the huge state assembly building that cost us millions. The question here is really why did we need a new building if the old one is still OK, and this is the people's money? From the Dayak perspective, in particular, we think that we have been politically divided and this was intentionally engineered by Taib Mahmud in order to weaken us. Today, we have five parties which the Dayaks are divided over. That is how we perceive him at the end of the day. Thirdly, he acquired immense wealth and riches at the expense of the ordinary people.

"From the Dayak perspective, we think that we have been politically divided and this was intentionally engineered by Taib Mahmud in order to weaken us."

BMF: Moving on to another subject, the Bakun dam, which is close to completion.What, for you  personally, is the lesson learned from the Bakun experience?

BARU BIAN: Our people, the natives, should not be easily hoodwinked by the government when the government says that a project is good for them. They must examine it properly, obtaining an expert opinion on whether it is really good for them. If the project is viable and good for the people, we have no objection. At the same time, the people's interests and future must be better taken care of by the government. So they must not be in a worse position than before. Although the project was carried out in the name of development, a lot of the natives in the region are now in a worse position than previously.

 

BMF: Transparency International has labelled the Bakun dam a 'monument of corruption'.Would you agree with such a statement?

BARU BIAN: From what we know, I definitely agree with it. It is very obvious that the cost of the project cannot be justified by comparison to the benefits we might get from it.

"From what we know, I definitely agree with labelling the Bakun dam a 'monument of corruption'. It is very obvious that the cost of the project cannot be justified by comparison to the benefits we might get."

BMF: Last year, the state government's plan for another twelve new dams in Sarawak became public.What is the rationale behind these dam plans?

BARU BIAN: The government says we need the power and talks of selling the power to Brunei. But I doubt this. I am quite suspicious and don't think we need so many dams in Sarawak. I really question the value of these projects and whether it is possible to send the power that is produced to West Malaysia, as we have been reading about.What I am afraid of is that they may use this as an occasion to invoke a provision of the land code and extinguish native rights in the courts for public purposes. Once that is done, the native peoples will not be able to challenge the legality of the extinguishment of their rights. The only remaining issue will then be how much compensation they are to receive. So, once the area is gazetted, the contractor or the company in charge of the project would start clearing the land and felling the timber. The contractor could get a few millions for the timber alone. That is what happened in the Bakun area.

BMF: So, basically you are saying the dam projects are a pretext for taking away the native lands. 

BARU BIAN: Yes, that is the bottom line, because there is no need for these dams. Even years later, they can forget about the dam and use the land for other purposes, without the natives having any opportunity to object.

"The state government's plan for twelve new dams is a pretext for extinguishing native land rights in the watersheds of our main rivers, in the name of a public purpose. There is no real need for these dams as we

have enough power in Sarawak."

BMF: A number of native communities are troubled by the dam plans and with the way they are apparently being kept in the dark about the progress on the projects.What will these dams mean for the native communities?

BARU BIAN: To dam their rivers marks a real disruption of their traditional way of life. It is the destruction of their land and their history. It would eventually be the destruction of their whole source of livelihood. Their very existence and livelihood is being threatened.

BMF: Why is the Sarawak government seeking such a close partnership with China for the construction of these dams?

 

BARU BIAN: Perhaps one of the reasons is that the Chinese have experience of building some of the biggest dams in the world, such as the three gorges project.

BMF: Do you see a geopolitical interest on the Chinese government's side?

BARU BIAN: I have no idea about that, apart from the fact that the Chinese contractors and the people who are involved in this locally may have some connection with the Chinese government. I have no proof of political motives.

BMF: Will the dams be funded with loans from China?

BARU BIAN: The funding for these projects is not being publicly disclosed. This is the way things are being done here.

BMF: Do you see a danger of Sarawak having a long-term state debt to China with the realization  of such economically questionable mega-projects?

BARU BIAN: If the dams are funded with Chinese loans, we will have obligations for quite some time paying these loans back to the Chinese government. In the meantime, the people involved in these projects will already have been paid with the commission for the dam.

"If the twelve new dams are funded with Chinese loans, we will have obligations for quite some time paying these loans back to the Chinese government. In the meantime, the people involved in these projects will already have been paid with the commission for the dam."

BMF: After much criticism, let us turn to the future. If the opposition wins the next state election, what is your alternative development model for the state of Sarawak?

BARU BIAN: If our opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, were to win and beat the government, we pledge to correct all these things that are not right. Top of the agenda comes the transformation of the land policies – not only the native land rights but also land questions affecting all the people of Sarawak, because the Chinese population is also affected by the renewal of leases. There are Chinese non-natives who need land too. Land is a necessity for people to survive.

"If our opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, were to win and beat the government, we pledge to correct all these things that are not right in our state. Top of the agenda comes the transformation of the land policies –  only the native land rights but also land questions affecting all the people of Sarawak, including the Chinese population."

BMF: What role will the native communities play in this development?

BARU BIAN: Opening up the rural sector for development is the next step. The main idea is to empower the rural population, with its vast tract of land, which constitutes our assets.We want to empower the rural population to engage in true development, based on agriculture. For this to happen, we would open up the way to rural development by building roads. Amenities must be provided. To achieve this for the people, we are prepared to fight for the oil and gas royalties.With that money alone, we could do plenty of things for Sarawak.

"We want to empower the rural population to engage in true development, based on agriculture. For this to happen, we need to improve the rural infrastructure, in particular by building access roads to the remote rural

areas."

BMF: Justice party leader Anwar Ibrahim has displayed his willingness to renegotiate Sarawak's  share of the oil revenues.Will you remind him of this promise if he comes to power in the next general elections?

BARU BIAN: Yes, we will most certainly remind our Pakatan leaders of their undertaking and the promise made to Sabah and Sarawak to channel a minimum of 20 percent of the oil and gas royalties to Sarawak, which the present federal government is refusing to give.

BMF: How will a new government deal with the complex issue of native customary rights?

BARU BIAN:We propose that a land commission be set up, headed by a native with knowledge of the adat, the native rights system, which will investigate and confirm rights and then issue titles.We will use the Philippines' model for resolving the native land issue

"We propose that a land commission be set up, headed by a native with knowledge of the adat, the native rights system, which will investigate and confirm rights and then issue titles. We will use the Philippines' model for resolving the native land issue."

BMF: The Malaysian indigenous peoples' coalition, JOAS, has called for a moratorium on new plantations in Malaysia. How will you deal with the valid plantation and logging licences issued for the native communities' customary lands?

BARU BIAN: This is very simple. I will look at the terms and conditions of the licences and leases. I believe that all the licences and leases have clear provisions expressly stating that they are issued subject to native customary rights: notwithstanding that, land may be categorized as state land and native customary rights may still exist. The problem is really that the government, the licensees and the leaseholders are not willing, or courageous enough, to implement this provision. It's contained in the terms of the licence already. So there are ways and means of dealing with this. In fact, the land commission, like in the Philippines, would be in a position to do that. They would not nullify the licences and leases immediately.

BMF: What are your infrastructure development plans for the rural areas?

BARU BIAN: The main thing for me is the roads, the communication aspect of development. If you look at Sarawak, most of the rural areas are only accessible by air, river or jungle trekking. So creating road access is the most important issue. Secondly, the needs of the people must be placed in the foreground. For example, gravity water systems and flush toilets must be introduced in the villages. Power must come in as well. Many villages are still using generators, which is too expensive because they are run by diesel. In place of that, I am thinking in terms of hydropower, small mini-hydropower plants close to the villages, which are very cost effective and reliable. These are the main things that can empower the rural people to change their whole living environment. And, from there, new farming techniques can be introduced.

"We must place the peoples' needs in the foreground, improve the road network and move over to a decentralized rural power supply based on mini-hydropower plants which are very cost effective and reliable."

BMF: Does this mean you are championing decentralized development and are recommending a move away from mega projects in favour of being close to community needs?

BARU BIAN: Yes, for that to work, the roads must be in place. From there, the road continues on to education. Improving the education system and creating access to education and knowledge in the rural areas is extremely important. School libraries and internet access etc. must be made available to all rural people. I tend to think that Taib Mahmud's government deliberately left out our people so as to keep the natives dependent and to weaken us economically and politically. This then ensured that we stayed on the receiving side without having independence.

"I tend to think that Taib Mahmud's government deliberately left out our people in order to keep the natives dependent and to weaken us economically and politically. This then ensured that we stayed on the receiving side without having independence."

BMF: How will you deal with the growing call of the international community for the conservation of Sarawak's tropical rainforests?

BARU BIAN: I am strongly in favour of that, and it is still possible. I think, if a government is free from corruption and focuses on the needs of the people and the need to protect the environment, a government must have a policy and a stand on this issue. This is a global concern, and we must take it on. I look forward to proper management of the forests, and we must achieve clean rivers and sustainably managed forests again. This is what I experienced in my childhood in the interior. I have seen this transformation in South Korea and Japan, and it has been done there successfully. Because the government has taken a firm stance on forest and timber policies.

"I am strongly in favour of the conservation of Sarawak's tropical forests, and this is still possible. This is a global concern, and we must take it on. I look forward to proper management of the forests, and we must achieve clean rivers and sustainably managed forests again. I have seen this transformation in South Korea and Japan, and it has been done there successfully.

BMF: After over twenty years, the Penan communities in the Baram are still struggling for their rights and against logging.What does the Penan struggle mean to you?

BARU BIAN:We should really look at the Penan's claims and grievances and resolve them respectfully. From the legal angle, on the basis of the principle of common law, they do clearly have rights over the land, and I want to agree with them. The Penan's land claims are only a problem if you look at them from a company perspective, because the companies think in terms of profits and business, and perhaps the government had the misconceived idea that the Penan have no rights.

BMF: Do you see a chance of reconciling the Penan's land claims with a sustainable management of the natural resources?

BARU BIAN: I think that, if we can avoid greed, this is not a big issue because that is in line with the conservation of the environment and the land, which is good for everyone.We can log the forests and have a timber industry but we must do so with all these issues in mind. Other countries have successfully managed these industries, so we can do it too.

"This current government must be changed. Give us, the opposition, the opportunity to be the state government for one term, and I can assure you that the entire policies currently in place will be changed. All the problems the native communities are facing are linked to the present policies of the government."

BMF: What is your personal message to the Penan?

BARU BIAN: My personal message to the Penan is: hang on there, stand up for your rights and fight for them. Of course, this is my message not only to the Penan but to all natives. The fastest and easiest way of achieving a result is through political transformation. This current government must be changed. Give us, the opposition, the opportunity to be the state government for one term, and I can assure you that the entire policies currently in place will be changed. All these problems they are facing are linked to the present policies of the government.

BMF: Baru Bian, thank you very much for this interview.

 

You can read the interview in pdf format at Bruno Manser Fonds

 

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Bau Police Station "Forbidden City"-Another PKFZ Scandal By Barisan Nasional Government

12th January 2009. Bau Police Station was worst hit by flood on 12 January 2009. The police station was flooded because of the corruption practice by BN representative in selecting the site and also due to poor planning (incompetent) of government servants involved in the project.

Saturday, 5th September 2009.

On my way back from Serikin this afternoon, I saw the contruction of the retaining wall for Bau Police station flood mitigation project was still in progress.Out of coriousity I went to the construction site to see the construction work . Being the train Safety Officer myself, going into the construction site without wearing a proper PPE and without escort is a serious safety violation and if caught can be excluded from the area immediately but for the sake of tax payers monies, I took a risk. Upon reaching the conntruction site, I parked my poor Kembara by the roadside. Equipped with my Sony Ericsson digital camera, I managed to take few photographs of the construction work without any problem.

The level of the road to the police station is being raised to avoid flood -Poor Planning and corruption practice by BN Politician

Is this Pehin Taib 13th Dam?

Since its completion, the new Bau Police Distric has been hit by flood for so many times. Many believed the problem was due to the corrupt practices by the Barisan Nasional politician for choosing the wrong site, and secondly due to the incompetent government officers that involved in the project.

The first of its kind in the world!

Because of a corrupted politician and the incompetent government officer, the government has to spent RM 34 million of the tax payers monies (eventhough it was estimated earlier at RM 31.9 million).

Once completed, the RM 34 million retaining wall that sorrounding Bau police station will becoming the only police station that is guarded by more than 12 feet height concrete wall in the world. Thus will make Bau Police Station as the “ Forbidden City" of Malaysia .

This is not Bakun nor Taib 13th Dam!

Gigantic Flood Mitigation Wall..this was where our monies gone to!

To cover-up Barisan Nasional blunder,Douglas Ugah, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, told the reporters when visited the project yesterday said :

“This project is costing RM34 million and is expected to be completed by end of November. I am very pleased with the project that went ahead of schedule proving that Bumiputera contractors are capable of doing a very good job. This project would be able to protect Bau town from flash flood at highest rate of rainfall in 100 years – 300 milimeter” .

Bukit Tunggal would like to Congratulate all the Barisan Nasional Politician for their brilliance in siphoning off the tax payers monies...just like their mentor Tok Uban. Let’s wait for the MACC to investigate this yet another BN blunders in Sarawak.

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