Sarawak Chief Minister's sister ordered to pay natives

 

Joseph Tawie

|December 16, 2011

Fresh from one win over a logging firm, native landowners are now suing the state government and its agents for allowing the encroachment by private entities.

KUCHING: The Kuching High Court today ordered Quality Concrete Holdings, a company owned by Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s sister Raziah, to pay RM160,000 in damages to Numpang Anak Suntai and Iban landowners in Sebangan and Sebuyau areas.

The other defendants were Loyal Billion Sdn Bhd, the Director of Forests, Director of Lands and Surveys and the state government.Numpang and 14 other landowners had, on behalf of 276 Ibans, sued the companies and the government for encroaching into 3,305 hectares of forests which they claimed were their native customary rights (NCR) land.

Quality Concrete, which is owned by Raziah Mahmud, is the main licence holder while Loyal Billion is the contractor.

When the case came before Judicial Commissioner Ravinthran N Paramaguru today, lawyers for the defendants told the court that the Director of Forest had agreed to exclude three areas on the western side of the timber licencee (T/8473), which is within the area marked as NCR.

The defence counsel said that there was no more timber licence granted on any part of the area claimed by the natives as NCR land in a marked map which was attached to the statement of claim.

Both lawyers for the natives and defendants agreed to an amicable settlement on damages.

Case against government to proceed

In their suit, the natives had claimed that their land was damaged as a result of the construction of roads and extraction of timber from the land, which is not a licensed area.

They also alleged that the rivers, which are important for their daily needs, have been polluted by the logging activities.

This had also affected their farms, hunting and fishing ground as well as their cultivated gardens.

The natives wanted the court to assess the losses and damages suffered by the people.

In consenting to the order, Justice Ravindran ordered the second defendants to pay to the plaintiffs RM160,000 in damages.

The judge said the consent order shall not in any way affect the natives’ claims against the Director of Forest, Director of Lands and Surveys and the the state government.

He ordered the payment of RM160,000 to be made to Baru Bian Advocates and Solicitors.

He also ruled that Quality Concrete and the Loyal Billion cannot submit their application for renewal of timber licence over the said licenced area.

Meanwhile, the Ibans suit against the Director of Forest, the Director of Lands and Surveys and the state government over their claims that 3,305 hectares of the forest are part of their NCR land will proceed next.

United Borneo Front allies itself with Sabah and Sarawak based parties

I read the following statement in italics in Malaysiakini.com.

United Borneo Front (UBF) president Jeffrey Kitingan today announced the formation of an alliance with Sabah and Sarawak-based parties, to be known as the United Borneo Alliance, to take on the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) in the coming 13th general election (GE).

Is this supposed to excite Sarawakians? I'm not really concerned about what Sabahans think because I have no connection to Sabah. I can only say what I think about something which concerns Sarawak since I have Sarawak connection.

How is UBF going to benefit Sarawakians? We have so many pressure groups and political parties and Sarawak is still behind the rest of West Malaysia. It's not the quantity but quality of these groups and parties that worry me. If existing groups and parties do their job well, we'll see the State progress. The problem is that members of some of the existing groups and parties are too busy fighting each other. The most recent being the SUPP Chin-Soon Koh rivalry. Few years ago PBDS  had internal problems so massive that it was even deregistered.

You can have more and more of these pressure groups and political parties and it still won't solve Sarawak's problems if existing politicians and NGOs don't do their job efficiently.

Just my two cents worth.

Yellow clad mob defies KLCC injunction

As you know few weeks ago, the Peacefull Assembly bill was passed in Malaysia so now there are restrictions on how Malaysians can exercise their freedom of assembly.

The people that you see in the video were trying to show that they can exercise their right to gather around the big Christmas tree at the very popular KLCC mall without any interference.

Apparently now, you even need police permit for Christmas carol in Malaysia!

I wonder whether the same applies in other countries.

Do let me know if you're not Malaysian.

Taib targetted because polls loom

I think it can also read "Taib sided because polls loom".

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has reportedly questioned the timing of calls from international NGOs for laying graft charges against the Sarawak Chief Minister (CM).

Any bad press that the CM gets will only affect BN's chances in the upcoming election.

Personally, I'm surprised that we're only hearing all these negative reports about the CM now. How he managed to stay as long as he has is anyone's guess.

Anyway,  I'm pretty sure BN will remain in power in Sarawak despite all these calls from local and international NGOs because they've been there for a very long time and people, particularly the natives in rural areas don't know any better. Don't forget, in rural areas, there is little or no access to the internet and the only source of information for most rural folks is government controlled media. In fact in certain parts of Sarawak, I won't be surprised if some of them don't even know who the opposition leader is in Sarawak. There is a very big information gap between the developed and not so developed parts of Sarawak. I'm no expert on Sarawak politics but really you don't have to be one to know that BN will remain in power in Sarawak despite what you might have heard about the CM or those in his cabinet.

SUPP crisis worsens

The current SUPP crisis is not just an embarassment to the main players involved or the party's supporters but also the State.

Politicians like Wong Soon Koh and Peter Chin still don't realise that it's not about them but it's about the rakyat and their needs.

Anyone who still supports SUPP have probably been living under a rock or tempurung because nowadays arguably anyway, most people join politics not for the betterment of the people or State but to promote themselves, their business or the interest of certain groups.

SUPP should take a cue from MCA and Gerakan and do all it can to ensure they don't become so irrelevant that voters ignore them. In fact, they should remember what happened to Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) which got deregistered twice, in 2003 and 2004 and the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) which got deregistered in 2002 before it was brought back to life by the court last year. After PBDS was deregistered, James Masing formed the Parti rakyat Sarawak (PRS) before he locking horns with founder Daniel Tajem.

The sad truth is that if SUPP does get deregistered and Soon Koh forms a new party, there is no guarantee that there won't be a repeat of the Soon Koh-Peter Chin power struggle. It doesn't matter how many parties he forms because as long as everyone is fighting for power and no one wants to give in, the same thing will happen again.

One thing's for sure, this crisis has given voters, in particular Chinese voters in Sarawak something to think about and if SUPP is not careful, they may once again lose the support of the Chinese and quite possibly to DAP. Ironically,  the senior members in SUPP who support Soon Koh are not Chinese. This begs the question of whether Soon Koh can attract Chinese voters if he were to lead SUPP. Peter Chin is Najib's candidate for the job but some may feel that because he is based in West Malaysia he is out of touch with what's happening in Sarawak.

The crisis could also mean a further delay to the general elections since Sarawak is pivotal to Barisan Nasional (BN) retaining power.

Never has there been so much focus on one component party like there has been now.

Unfortunately, it is also publicity BN and more importantly Sarawak could do without.

**This is merely the writer's personal opinion. The writer is not affiliated with any political party or NGO in Malaysia.

Flashmob defies KLCC legal threat

100 people in a flashmob staged a protest against the Peaceful Assembly Bill at KLCC today. This, despite being threatened earlier by KLCC's management with an injunction.. Organisers had called for 1000 but only 100 turned up. The video below was taken less than 1 month ago. It shows people protesting against the Bill at KLCC.

KLCC flashmob organisers warned via Facebook

The Kuala Lumpur City Park Bhd, KLCC Urusharta Sdn Bhd and Suria KLCC Sdn Bhd, have threatened to take an injunction order against the organisers of the Flashmob 1000 Malaysians appreciate Christmas with police permit.

The organisers are inviting at least 1000 people to come to KLCC to appreciate the indoor Christmas tree. This is of course related to the recent successful passing of the controversial Peaceful Assembly bill. The bill limits the ways in which Malaysians can assemble or gather in public places. This event is also held in conjunction with the Global Human Rights Day.

ps: Honestly,  I'm not sure how much political mileage the organisers will get. If anything, it's going to disrupt businesses at KLCC. At the same time, if this trend continues, organisers of such events will start losing  public support. Remember how pumped up everyone was in the early days of Reformasi?

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Malaysian politician is even richer than the Queen of England

Official documents show that the inner circle of Malaysia's Taib family is linked to over 400 companies in 25 countries and offshore jurisdictions –the Taib family's stake in the net assets of 14 Malaysian companies alone is over 1.46 billion US dollars (4.6 billion Malaysian Ringgit) - See list below.

By Bruno Manser Funds (Swiss NGO)

Research by the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) has uncovered the vast dimensions of the Malaysian Taib family’s illicit assets. According to the Swiss organization, the inner family circle of Malaysian potentate Abul Taib Mahmud has a stake in over 400 companies around the globe and holds illicit assets worth several billion US dollars.

Abdul Taib Mahmud ("Taib") has been Chief Minister, Finance Minister and Planning and Resources Management Minister of Malaysia’s largest state, Sarawak, since 1981. He has been long criticized for corrupt practices and abuse of office but Malaysian authorities have failed to take action against him, despite an ongoing investigation by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC). Taib is a key supporter of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

In Malaysia alone, Taib, his four children, eight siblings and his first cousin Hamed bin Sepawi have a stake in 332 companies worth several billion US dollars. The Taib family's share in 14 large companies’ net assets alone has been calculated at 1.46 billion US dollars (4.6 billion Malaysian Ringgits). The three largest Taib family-linked companies are the 84% Taib-owned Cahya Mata Sarawak (net assets 2.4 billion Ringgits), the 25% Taib-owned Custodev Sdn Bhd (net assets 1.6 billion Ringgits) and the at least 35% Taib-owned Ta Ann Holdings Bhd (net assets: 1.4 billion Ringgits).

Cahya Mata Sarawak is a construction conglomerate listed on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange (KLSE 2852) that has benefited massively from a cement monopoly and from untendered public contracts awarded by the Taib-led Sarawak state government. Ta Ann Holdings Bhd (KLSE 5012), which is chaired by Taib’s first cousin, Hamed Sepawi, is an internationally active logging company. Since its foundation in the 1980s, Ta Ann has been granted more than 675,000 hectares of logging and plantation concessions by the Taib government. Privately-held Custodev Sdn Bhd is a Sarawak-based property development company. Achi Jaya Holdings (net assets 550 million Ringgits), which is wholly owned by the Taib family, holds a monopoly over log exports from the timber-rich state.

"We consider these corporate interests of the Taib family to be illicit assets", said BMF director Lukas Straumann today. "There are many clear indications that Taib has abused his public office to build a corruption and fraud-based billion-dollar empire."

"We are shocked to see that the Taib family has so shamelessly enriched itself while the people of Sarawak have to struggle with widespread poverty and an appalling lack of infrastructure and government services."

 

 

Apart from Malaysia, the Taib family also has stakes in at least 85 companies in 24 countries and offshore jurisdictions, namely Australia (22 companies), Bermuda (1), the British Virgin Islands (7), Brunei Darussalam (1), Cambodia (1), Canada (9), the Cayman Islands (1), Fiji (3), Hong Kong (7), India (2), Indonesia (3), Jersey (1), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1), Labuan (1), New Zealand (5), the People's Republic of China (2), the Philippines (1), Singapore (2), Sri Lanka (1), Thailand (2), the United Arab Emirates (1), the United Kingdom (4), the United States of America (6) and Vietnam (1).

 

 

The Bruno Manser Fund is calling on anti-corruption and anti-money-laundering authorities worldwide to investigate the Taib family’s business activities and freeze Taib family assets in their countries.

Business leaders and corporations are advised not to conduct business with Taib family corporations for legal and reputational reasons.

 

ps:  Assuming this is true, it's very shocking indeed because many Malaysians still live below the poverty line and some are Sarawakians.

Malaysia's controversial Peaceful Assembly Bill passed

I've decided to just post videos obtained from youtube rather than comment much about the issue. A picture paints a thousand words.  Now Malaysia has freedom of assembly with limitations. 

It'll be interesting to see whether any other country (apart from North Korea) has a similar law with regards to this and whether the new law will in fact promote peaceful assembly.

Malaysians will never forget this day. Members of the legal fraternity don't march on the streets of KL for no reason you know. This is pretty serious stuff.

Malaysian to be hanged in Singapore for carrying heroin

I feel sorry for the guy because I'm also Malaysian but everyone knows that Singapore has the death penalty and almost always enforce it.

This talk of him being illiterate matters little because once you're found to be carrying drugs, you're liable. As I mentioned in my previous post about the 14 year old Australian, Singapore did hang an Australian few years ago despite the appeals of various parties. I don't know whether our government will appeal but I won't be surprised if they don't or if Singapore rejects our appeal if our government does appeal because Singapore is firm about this. This part of the world is known as the 'Golden Triangle' because drug trafficking is huge here so the laws are strict and ignorance is no excuse. There is an online campaign to get as many people as possible to sign some petition so he can avoid the gallows but I think it won't work because few years ago Nguyen Tuong Van

tried the same thing but failed.