Ties that bind: Sarawak and Adelaide

BY 

DAHLIA MARTIN,

 18 SEPTEMBER 2013

Adelaide has had strong Malaysian ties from its early days – it was, after all, founded by William Light, an illegitimate son of Penang’s founder Francis Light. Some speculate that William’s mother was Siamese or Malay.

One South Australian Premier, Don Dunstan, had a Malaysian wife, and oversaw the establishment of Adelaide and Georgetown as sister cities.

Malaysian-born politician Senator Penny Wong calls Adelaide home.

But there is one connection between Malaysia and the South Australian capital that has increasingly attracted criticism.

The Student Representative Council (SRC) at the University of Adelaide has organized a rally for this Thursday at the institution’s Taib Mahmud Court – a courtyard named after the man who has been Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Sarawak since 1981.

The SRC is hoping to persuade the University to put more distance between itself and Taib, an alumnus of the University and a recipient of an honorary doctorate from there. He is understood to have donated over half a million dollars to the University.

The SRC, on a Facebook page it has established to promote the campaign, refers to this money as “blood money.”

Taib has been accused by activists of overseeing the destruction of Sarawak’s remaining rainforests. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called this destruction “probably the biggest environmental crimes of our times.”

Indigenous people whose livelihoods depend on the local environment have especially suffered under Taib’s rule. In 2009, a Cabinet Task Force revealed that women and girls from the Penan tribe had been raped by loggers. It noted the particularly marginalized position of the Penan tribe, and recommended a number of reforms – including increased self-determination for the Penan people – be implemented.

Four years later, none of the rapists have been brought to justice, and little has changed in the way of the lot of the Penan people.

Meanwhile, Taib and his family have continued to amass a fortune overseas – with Adelaide being the so-called “hub” of Taib’s foreign property portfolio (Taib’s family owns the Adelaide Hilton through Sitehost Pty Ltd).

The SRC first passed a resolution calling for the renaming of Taib Mahmud Court in 2011. The next two years saw some behind-the-scenes negotiation on this front, but in 2013, the SRC decided it was time for a new approach, to help demonstrate to the University how unhappy students would be at learning of the University’s links with Taib.

“The SRC felt it had to increase awareness of this issue amongst students first,” said SRC Ethnocultural Officer Yasmin Martin.

“Taib Mahmud Court is a popular rendezvous point, but most people don’t know who Taib Mahmud is – and more importantly, what he’s done.”

A Facebook page was swiftly created, with the assistance of student Lizzie Taylor. Lizzie had a few months earlier travelled to Tasmania, and seen firsthand the destruction that Ta Ann – a company headed by a first cousin of Taib’s which has logged much of the rainforest in Sarawak – was doing there.

Yasmin authored a letter to Vice Chancellor Professor Warren Bebbington asking that Taib’s honorary doctorate be revoked and that the courtyard named for Taib be renamed.

She describes the letter she received in response as “disappointing.”

“The letter cited a ‘written agreement’ as a reason that the courtyard could not be renamed,” said Yasmin.

“It also explained that honorary doctorates were awarded to individuals who had done a service, and since Taib was Chief Minister of Sarawak, it was appropriate for him to be the recipient of one.

“The letter did not address any of our concerns regarding the allegations of corruption and human rights abuses that was listed in the letter I sent.

“The response was basically nothing can be done.

“But I’m not convinced that the University has explored all or any avenues with regards to our requests, and I’m not convinced they take the allegations against Taib seriously.”

Unperturbed, the SRC’s Ethnocultural Department has continued with its campaign in a variety of ways. It has begun collecting videos from students urging the University to dissociate itself from Taib, and posting these videos on its Facebook page.

It also recently organized an event where activist and Sarawak Report founder Claire Rewcastle, who is also the sister-in-law of Brown, Skyped in to talk about her firsthand experiences with Taib’s administration. The event also heard from South Australian state politician Mark Parnell, who has previously called for the University to cut its ties with Taib, as well as Tasmanian environmentalist Jenny Weber.

“The rally on Thursday will go a long way in raising awareness amongst students as to just who their University is honoring,” said Yasmin.

“However, the SRC’s position on the University’s relationship with Taib is clear. We do not feel at all comfortable with Taib using his relationship with the University of Adelaide to establish credibility on the international stage, and we will continue our campaign until that stops.”

Disclosure: Yasmin Martin is related to the author of this piece.

Dahlia Martin is currently doing her PhD on motherhood and Malay Muslim identity at Flinders University.

http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2013/09/18/ties-that-bind-sarawak-and-adelaide/

Scandal of SALCO – How Taib Plans To Make Billions From Bakun. Exclusive! 16 Feb 2012

Scandal of SALCO – How Taib Plans To Make Billions From Bakun. Exclusive!

16 Feb 2012

Displaced families, who have received so little compensation from Bakun, may be interested to learn how Taib and his own family are planning to make billions for themselves out of the hydro-electric dam, based on an investment of just RM2.00!
We can reveal that SALCO (Sarawak Aluminium Company Sdn Bhd), the company that has been handed a licence to build a vast smelter in Simalaju, powered by cheap electricity from the dam, is secretively entirely owned by the Taib family company, CMS.
So far, they have only issued two shares for the company, worth a mere one ringgit each!
Scandalous SALCO scam!

Controlling interest - SALCO is run out of the Taib building, Wisma Mahmud

Our revelation sheds light on a classic money-making scam, that is still in its early stages for the Chief Minister, but where the planned outcome is plain to see.
It depends on a blatant willingness by Taib to abuse his political influence, in order to divert public money into his own pocket and on the apparent willingness of the multi-national company Rio Tinto Alcan to invest in a corrupted project.
At the centre of the ploy, is the company Sarawak Aluminium Company Sdn Bhd, which has always been officially presented as a ‘Joint Venture’  between the giant multinational, Rio Tinto Alcan and CMS, after the two companies signed a so-called Heads of Agreement in 2007 to explore the possibility of investing in the smelter project.

Government support - invaluable for a company with just RM2.00 investment!

In 2008 this supposed joint venture received a manufacturing licence from the Malaysian Federal Government’s Industrial Development Authority and it also established a Memorandum of Understanding to open negotiations with Sarawak’s energy authority, SEB, over access to the electricity.
Ever since, the planned SALCO aluminium smelter has been placed at the top of Taib’s proclaimed SCORE agenda for developing the potential of the Bakun Dam.

SALCO - is this really who we are?

And, whenever the project is referred to, whether in press releases, statements by ministers, interviews by CMS executives or, indeed, on SALCO’s own website (above) it has always been clearly suggested that the company is 60% owned by Rio Tinto and 40% owned by CMS.
Likewise, the licences and agreements granted by government agencies have further implied that SALCO represents a serious joint financial investment backed by the multi-national.

Heads of agreement between Rio Tinto and CMS's Richard Curtis - with Chief Minister (and Chief Shareholder) Taib Mahmud centre stage in a deal designed to net him a fortune!

However, our company research reveals that in fact SALCO consists of just two shares, issued for a mere one ringgit each, both owned  by a company called Samalaju Aluminium Industries Sdn Bhd.

Just two shares at one ringgit each

We can further demonstrate that this Samalaju Aluminium Industries Sdn Bhd is in turn entirely owned by another company named Samalaju Industries Sdn Bhd.

Samalaju Aluminium Industries Sdn Bhd is owned by Samalaju Industries Sdn Bhd

… and this Samalaju Industries Sdn Bhd is 100% owned by CMS!

One ringgit per share

Earlier this week a spokesman for Rio Tinto Alcan in the company’s Montreal headquarters conceded to Sarawak Report that as yet the multi-national has no direct investment in Sarawak:
“There is not much news to report in terms of the Joint Venture”, he said and he stressed that the aluminium manufacturing giant would not buy into the SALCO project “unless the price is right” for the electricity:

“We are actively participating in the negotiations for the power purchase agreement for the feasibility studies to commence”[RTA spokesman]

Since the Taib family company CMS has itself no credentials as an aluminium manufacturer it seems extraordinary that the State of Sarawak and Federal authorities have nevertheless given its 100% subsidiary SALCO the licence and go ahead to start manufacturing!

For Taib and his family side-kick Robert Geneid this 'important meeting' had a personal significance. If they can flog 60% of SALCO to RTS they should make billions of ringgit.

However, for CMS there is all to play for. The RTA spokesman confirmed to Sarawak Report that the multi-national is indeed interested in the proposed 60% stake in SALCO, as long as it can negotiate the large amounts of cheap electricity it wants.
Given that, as predicted, the Bakun Dam has created a glut of electricity in the state, even with just two of its eight turbines in action, and given there are few other customers in sight, it is likely to succeed.
This means that the stage is now set for Rio Tinto Alcan to buy over a 60% stake in SALCO!  Its the deal that Taib and his latest top family side-kick Robert Geneid have been frantically trying to pull together, holding ‘important meetings’ (Borneo Post) with Rio Tinto in Kuching just last month.
Who wins?

Promoting SALCO - so much political support!

Think of the potential profit for the main shareholders of CMS, if Rio Tinto Alcan moves in to take a 60% stake of this giant aluminium smelter project!
These shareholders, of course, are firstly Taib’s own long dead wife Laila, followed by his four children.
In total, as has been detailed many times on this site, the Taib family own at least half the company and all the top management positions – so plenty of bonus opportunities there as well!
Remember, Taib has so far invested just RM2.00.  Yet this factory is expected to absorb an enormous RM7billion in construction costs and it is then expected to produce at least 550,000 tons of aluminium a year, worth an annual RM2.4billion to Malaysian GDP. This could be extended to a full capacity of 1.5 million tons!

Getting in there - Australia has been happy to promote Rio Tinto's bid to work with Taib in Sarawak

So, why would CMS, with such a project under its control, hand over 60% of it to Rio Tinto Alcan for less than a commensurate price?
In fact, once a nice cheap electricity deal has been cut with SEB (run by Taib’s cousin and proxy Hamed Sepawi), CMS will be in a position to make a fat multi-billion ringgit profit out of their tiny two ringgit investment in SALCO!
And, further down the line, consider what a 40% stake in such a venture would be worth should Taib and his family eventually decide to sell it off!  They could even decide to cash in early and sell off their holding for a few billion up front – after all they only invested RM2.00!
Indeed, such RM2.00 companies have been the method by which corrupt politicians in Malaysia have exploited their positions for years, passing huge contracts and concessions into these empty shells, so that they can then be sold or the work sub-contracted to a real working concern.
But, this project is on a scale of its own!  The question is, why does Rio Tinto Alcan, a supposedly respectable multi-national, think it is appropriate to become involved?

Off repeated lie - "we are a joint venture between RTA and CMS"!

The losers
The losers are just as easy to identify.  To start with, Taib failed to tender the project, so the State of Sarawak stands to get no realistic premium from the licence.  Likewise, with the rock bottom price for the hydro electricity, SEB is likely to make very little with which to improve its services and infrastructure.
As usual, other construction companies have found themselves squeezed out of the opportunity, but will probably end up sub-contracting for CMS.
Then consider the Civil Service pension funds, which were forced by ministers to invest billions in the Bakun Dam project to keep it afloat, because private investors were too wary.  The promise of rock bottom prices for the resulting hydro-power does not provide much prospect of any reasonable return on that investment, which means civil service pensioners will lose out!

Noxious - the Pressmetal plant in Mukah has provided no jobs for the locals, but it has taken their land and poisoned their fields and their health

And what of the local people in the area?  They are already living in terror of the arrival of the plant, because of the worrying levels of pollution already being experienced by the people of Mukah, who are affected by the existing Pressmetal aluminium plant.
Aluminium manufacturing can be a highly toxic process, unless carefully managed, and the people of Mukah, who have of course lost much of their NCR land to the plant that now looms over them, are suffering health problems and their plants are dying.
And what about the possibility of jobs for such people?  Well, unfortunately, it appears they are not suitable.  Rio Tinto Alcan has announced a projected 4,700 jobs on the plant, however none of the local people have managed to find employment at Pressmetal.
Instead, Taib has already made clear in his announcements that he plans to import tens of thousands of foreigners from places like India to work in his SCORE projects.  Doubtless these immigrants will be given houses, identity cards and voting rights, all of which so many local people find hard to obtain.

Just days ago the Australian High Commissioner was over in Kuching promoting Rio Tinto Alcan's involvement in SCORE. He is supporting Australian big businesses venture with the Taib family, but what will it mean for jobs back in Tasmania's aluminium plant which Rio Tinto is planning to shut?

Doubtless, they will be expected to vote BN in return!
Finally, what about the workers in existing Rio Tinto Alcan plants in places like Tasmania?
Rio Tinto Alcan have in fact just signalled that they are interested in selling off their Tasmania plant, presumably because they have a cheaper option elsewhere!
Rio Tinto Alcan and its Corporate Social Responsibility
RTA spokesmen have made plain that they have yet to move to the stage of feasibility studies and environmental and social impact assessments for this Simalaju smelter project.
However, they can be under no illusion that in conducting prospective business with CMS they are proposing to enter into a joint venture partnership with one of the world’s most notoriously corrupted and politically exposed companies.

Taib stands to make billions (as usual), but what is in this project for local people?

Taib Mahmud himself is being formally investigated by his own federal government’s anti-corruption commission (MACC).  And countries all over the globe have confirmed that they are looking into the assets of Taib and his family, with respect to money laundering!
So, what on earth do Rio Tinto Alcan think they are doing even considering entering into such a deal with a company that is blatantly owned by Taib?
Of course, they stand to make a fortune for their shareholders if they are able to swing a ludicrously cheap deal for their electricity and to set up in a country like Sarawak, which has no carbon taxes and low standards of supervision on matters like the environment and labour matters.
But these days shareholders also expect certain basic ethical standards.  Do they include doing business with corrupt companies personally owned by Chief Minister of the state in which they are investing?
Is this what Rio Tinto Alcan mean by the statement:

“We respect the laws and customs of our host countries and communities. We work with them to ensure benefits and opportunities are shared”?

To the contrary, the Bakun Dam and the whole planned string of future dams and SCORE related projects that are now being rolled out in Sarawak, represent nothing less than a human and environmental disaster in one of the world’s last remaining great tropical rainforests.

What's in store? A Rio Tinto Alcan factory in Canada

The driving motivation behind this project is the desire by Taib Mahmud and relatives like his brother in law Robert Geneid (who now features as a key negotiator in the SALCO ‘joint venture’ project) to become personally even richer.
So, is it right for companies like Rio Tinto Alcan to threaten to pull out of established locations like Tasmania in order to get involved with a man like Taib in a place like Sarawak?

 http://www.sarawakreport.org/2012/02/scandal-of-salco-how-taib-plans-to-make-billions-from-bakun/

‘China’s RFID requirement nothing to worry about’

‘China’s RFID requirement nothing to worry about’

Posted on September 3, 2012, Monday


KUCHING: Birdhouse owners in Sarawak are advised not to be worried about China’s Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) requirement for the export of bird’s nests.
Malacca Bird’s Nest Merchant s Association president John Chen said the RFID requirement was only for the processing of the nests and not the birdhouse.

He added that RFID was only needed if the bird’s nests were for export to China.

“ I hope that Sarawak birdhouse owners are not worried about the requirement and to support the Federation of Malaysia Bird’s Nest Merchants Association president Datuk Tok Teng Sai in helping those in the industry.”
He said Tok would join Malaysian Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar to Naning, China, for the signing of the protocol for entry of cleaned bird’s nests into China.

Chen said that firstly the protocol was for the acceptance of five per cent clean product export and the second was for the 95 per cent raw material export.
At the moment, the deal with China is for the clean product export with 30 ppm nitrate levels.
The RFID tag allows a product to be easily tracked from the source to the consumer.
The tag contains a microchip embedded with details about the harvest.
The federation has 27 registered bird’s nest association members, of which four are from Sarawak

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/09/03/chinas-rfid-requirement-nothing-to-worry-about/#ixzz25N5XRx5w

Good Article

Muslim men will recall that in the 1970s, the Friday khutbah (sermons) were apolitical and covered moral issues reminding the congregation of their religious obligations and community duty. Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when the premier, changed all that. Mosques have since lost their independence and sermons rarely cover immediate community issues. Nowadays, Friday sermons have to be sanctioned by the religious authority and are a euphemism for Umno political speeches.




Mariam Mokhtar, Malaysiakini



The average human brain weighs about 3 lbs and is 80 percent water. When Einstein’s brain was set aside for research, people were surprised that it was not unusually large. Perhaps, we have to remind ourselves that it is not size that matters, but what we do with our brain that really counts.



If there was an opportunity to dissect Malay brains, and separate the brains of extremist Malay/Muslims from the moderate Malays, would we find any differences in the pathological specimens?



Would the extremist brains be abnormally heavy because they were weighted down by the condition known as Ketuanan Melayu? Would the moderate brains show lesions on the lobes which govern speech?



It is a simple question, but no one has been able to answer it: where are the moderate, smart Malays who should speak up about issues which affect all Malaysians?



I pose the question because extremist Malays appear to dominate the affairs of Malaysia. Are the moderates consumed by apathy? Are they afraid of drawing attention? A few may think they are not articulate, or that their views do not matter. Perhaps, the moderates are content to carry on as we have done for the past 54 years; hence their silence.



If they are as disgruntled as the rest of the nation, they must speak out now because their opinions would send a clear message to Umno, that enough is enough.



azlanLast week, Perkasa Youth announced that Muslims should boycott the Bersih 3.0 rally for clean and fair elections on April 28. This extremist NGO insulted Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan and called her the “anti-Christ for Muslims” and a “traitor” to the nation. They continued their diatribe by ridiculing the poet laureate A Samad Said.



The divisive war-cry 'untuk agama, bangsa Dan negara' often used by Umno and their support groups do not seem to perturb the moderate Malays.



Umno will never accept that they do not represent all Malays. Umno fears Malays with a mind of their own. The sedition law, the Internal Security Act and police reports are used against the very few Malays who dare criticise the government. Not because they are “a threat to national security” but because Umno’s existence is threatened.



Using stealth tactics, the Malay is told that his education and the democracy he lives in, are the “best in the world”. Which Malay wants to be accused of besmirching national pride?



Without Malay support, Umno is nothing. Without Umno, MCA and MIC are doomed. Their collective effort has to be to convince the Malay, that Umno is best, even if it means cheating at the 13th general election to continue the BN dictatorship.



Why so timid?



If it were possible to praise Umno, then it is for their brainwashing. Apart from our Malay minds, Umno also controls the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) and makes it act in its interests.



Muslim men will recall that in the 1970s, the Friday khutbah (sermons) were apolitical and covered moral issues reminding the congregation of their religious obligations and community duty.



Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when the premier, changed all that. Mosques have since lost their independence and sermons rarely cover immediate community issues. Nowadays, Friday sermons have to be sanctioned by the religious authority and are a euphemism for Umno political speeches.



Will anyone dare walk out in protest? No. If they did, their Friday prayers are deemed ‘incomplete’. There is little point praying at a different mosque because all mosques will have a similar political message. If this was Indonesia, the congregation would have walked out and sought out other mosques. Why are Malays in Malaysia so timid?



azlanIf Malays are so proud to wear their religion on their sleeve, why do they not demand that the sermons cover corruption issues?



When a Florida preacher threatened to burn the Quran we demanded retribution. When we dragged the head of a cow through the streets or confiscated several thousand copies of the Bible before defacing them, we weren’t even aware of the hypocrisy.



To encourage conversion to Islam, several thousand ringgit are rewarded to the religious person who can convert and marry an Orang Asli woman. He is also given perks like a 4WD and housing. Yet, we are outraged when Malays dine with non-Malays and discuss charitable works. Umno feels insecure when Muslims socialise with non-Muslims.



Last Friday, a police study on rape in Sarawak found that over half the victims were school students. Over 70 percent of the rape victims were Malay and over 40 percent of the rapists were Malay.



The Muslims have seen a rise in religious teaching and strict adherence to faith in their day-to-day living. Foreign music groups and dance troupes face strict religious guidelines. If the results of the police study on rape are anything to go by, increased religion has not made the slightest impact on the Malay psyche.



It is alleged that in Peninsular Malaysia, the highest incidence of incest, underage sex, unmarried mothers, abandoned wives and abandoned babies are from the Malay community. Why are the moderates not questioning this?



When a Malay man takes on a trophy wife as his second, third or fourth acquisition, he quashes any criticism of his actions by saying that it is his right under Islam. He ignores the conditions imposed for polygamy, one of them being that he must have sufficient income to support all his wives equally.



The Malay woman is afraid of complaining because she fears being replaced. Her role as a wife has been reduced to a throw-away commodity. The Malay men who frown on polygamy remain silent on such issues.



new economic policy nepWhen the NEP was first introduced, many Malay lives were transformed. This is no longer true. The new middle-class Malays keep quiet about the abuse of the NEP. They are trapped in their own secure world, fearing they might lose it. They are too selfish to help poorer Malays and the other non-Malays.



The backward Malay mind should stop blaming the non-Malays and other faiths of undermining their existence. If corruption was controlled and cronyism was eliminated, there would be more money for everyone.



Lives would be enhanced. Infrastructure would be improved. Education, medical and community services would be available for all. What is so difficult for the Malay mind to see that and voice it out loud, now? Before it is too late.

More Very Dirty Datuks – Naroden Majais & Hamden Bin Ahmad MAJOR EXPOSE!

Posted Friday, March 2nd, 2012

This post is also available in: Iban, Malay

Dirty Datuk Naroden Majais and his wife Massenah Binti Ahmad are the sole shareholders of Nirwana Muhibbah Sdn Bhd

Our latest revelations come at the moment of another  landmark court victory by a group of Iban villagers against the destruction of their lands by ruthless loggers, licensed by Taib.
Earlier this week 183 residents of Kampong Lebor, Serian, represented once again by the PKR leader and native rights lawyer, Baru Bian, won their epic case against the company Nirwana Muhibbah Sdn Bhd, which has been violating their Native Customary Rights lands, first through logging and then oil palm plantation for over a decade.
Since 1998 Nirwana Muhibbah has bulldozed their territory, polluted their water supply and planted oil palm without any recognition of the people’s rights, even though their communities have lived in the area since before the time of Rajah Brooke!
The judge is now assessing damages for these people against the Company, the Land & Survey Department (which ‘wrongfully’ provided the lease to the company) and the State of Sarawak, which permitted the outrage. Those damages include, according to the judge:

(a)Destruction of the plaintiffs‟ source of livelihood includes food valuable medicines, wildlife and other forest produce which the plaintiffs need and are dependant upon.(b) Extensive erosion and damage to the said native customary land. (c) Extensive pollution and silting of the rivers and streams, which the plaintiffs and the members of their community are dependant on for water supply and for their source of fish. (d)Damage to cultivated padi land. (e) Damage to fruit trees, rubber gardens and other essential trees and crops [Judgement Justice Clement Skinner, 23/02/12]

PKR Leader, Baru Bian brings the sweet news of victory to the people of Kampung Lebor who were waiting at the court

One particularly shocking incident that came to light in the case was that Nirwana Muhibbah had paid out a mere RM700 ringgit to the entire village as compensation for polluting their water supplies!

Licence for oil palm registered with the Land & Survey Department

So, who were the individuals hiding behind this company name and profiting to the tune of millions of ringgit at the expense of the local people?  According to our information, leaked from the secretive Land & Survey Department and to company records, they are none other than yet another of Taib’s Dirty Datuks, the Assistant Minister for Entrepreneur Development, Naroden Majais and his wife!

The Directors and Shareholders of this logging and plantation company are Datuk Naroden Majais, Assistant Minister in Taib's State Government, and his wife!

And, why do we think Taib’s Land & Survey Department (of which the Chief Minister is Chairman) decided to hand 4,500 hectares of valuable timber and plantation land to Nirwana Muhibbah for such a very reasonable sum?

Elected politicians should not receive secret concessions from the state!

Do we think it is because after a process of open tender it was decided that this company was best suited to manage the land and offered a very good price or because Taib wanted to buy the political loyalty of Naroden Majais?
Giant timber concessions – Exclusive!
However, it turns out that Kampung Lebor was merely small beer for Datuk Naroden Majais.  We have obtained new evidence that for the first time exposes the full shocking scale of this Dirty Datuk’s extraordinary land grabs.
Our new information, obtained from Forest Department records, reveals that the politician, who has a reputation for being an ultra-close confidant of Taib Mahmud, is one of the biggest timber concession holders in the state!
He and a fellow political insider Hamden Bin Ahmad are key shareholders in the company Peninsular Rise Sdn Bhd, which has been granted 7 vast tracts of logging territory amounting to an astonishing 840 square kilometres in North East Sarawak!

Peninsular Rise - 840 square kilometres of timber concessions

The revelation raises immediate and serious questions as to how two former civil servants working in two of Taib’s key Departments rose to acquire such enormous wealth in their roles as Ministers?

Datuk Hamden Bin Ahmad - state accountant turned multi-millionaire timber tycoon

Naroden Majais started out as a teacher and then an official at the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation.
Hamden Bin Hamza was an accountant in the Sarawak Land Development Board, before being parachuted into a state seat by Taib.
Since giving up that seat to the Head of Forestry, Len Talif Saleh, at the last state election, he has presided as a Director of the Taib family construction firm Naim Cendera and as the Treasurer of the massive state supported oil palm enterprise Sarawak Plantation Bhd.
The glaring question remains as to how did their civil servant and ministerial salaries enable these two men to acquire a 30% stake in this enormous timber concern, Peninsular Rise?
Because Taib is so secretive about how he hands out his licences the very existence of these concessions and the position of these two Datuks have remained unknown until now!

Datuks Majais and Bin Ahmad own Windynasty Sdn Bhd!

Much of the area of these concessions falls within the deeply controversial region of the Baram Dam. Villages bordering the concessions are Long Liam, Long San, Long Luding, Long Julan, Long Anap, Long Palai, Long Apu, which stand to be flooded if the dam is built.

Official company records for Windynasty show that it is owned by Datuk Naroden Majais and Datuk Hamden Bin Ahmad!

“Land grabbing a myth”! – Naroden Majais
In the light of these revelations it is worth recalling some of the remarks about land grabbing made by Naroden Majais over recent months, especially given the trampling of the rights of the people of Kampung Lebor by a company owned by himself and his wife.
He announced earlier this year for example that the complaints against the government for robbing landowners were “a myth”.

TEBEDU: Every single inch of the people’s land which are acquired by the government for development purposes will be compensated accordingly, assured assistant minister in the chief minister’s department Mohd Naroden Majais.
He said stories about the government robbing the people’s land, as claimed by the opposition during the recent state election, was only a myth.
“The government’s policy is clear. All land acquired for any projects will be compensated. Every single inch will be paid for, even when the projects were implemented for the benefit of the landowners themselves,” he said. [Naroden Majais, May 2011]

In which case, can Datuk Naroden Majais explain the outcome of the court case against him?  Can he also explain how he has been able to complete the recent construction of his new and truly enormous house on the salary of a State Minister of some RM8,000 a month?

New mansion for Datuk Naroden Majais and his wife (and Co-Director of Nirwand Muhibbah Sdn Bhd)

Indeed, can he convincingly refute the widespread rumours that he and his fellow former local civil servant, Hamden Bin Ahmad, are in fact mere proxies, holding lands and concessions for the Chief Minister himself?
After all, a massive house like this is a very nice perk, but it hardly reflects the true value of the enormous concessions that Naroden apparently owns.
Why would Taib have handed such huge concessions to these two former civil servants, when they would surely have been very happy with such a house, a state assembly job and the concession of NCR land belonging to the poor people of Kampung Lebor?
Vast oil palm plantations as well!
The matter does not end here, because readers of Sarawak Report may well recall that Datuk Naroden Majais is also registered as one of the largest beneficiaries of oil palm concessions handed out by Taib, as recorded by the leaked Land & Survey documents that we have already released for all to see!
Datuk Naroden Majais was the registered contact for the concession of an enormous swathe of property that has been handed out to two companies, Hydroflow and Indranika, originally based at Lorong 9, Jalan Rubber, Kuching.

Huge swathes of property handed to these two companies, supposedly a peoples' cooperative

Standard practice? Like Datuk Jacob Sagan, Naroden Majais has made a practice of taking land from his own birthplace of Gedong, Simunjan, within his own constituency

Much play has been made about these two companies providing some form of profit sharing for the local people whose land was taken to supply these vast plantations.

Sounds better than it is! - the local people got just RM200 per annum from Hydroflow and Indranika's plantations. In return they lost their lands.

In fact only 30% of the shares of Hydroflow and Indranika Jaya have been signed over to the thousands of people who have lost lands.
Those shares are held through the companies Sadong Wibawa Bhd and Punggur Wibawa Bhd.
However, both of the companies are run from the offices of the main shareholder, which is a private company, WFM Enterprise Sdn Bhd.
It means none of the local people have any  control over how the enterprise is run.
Thus, last year a grand ceremony was reported by the Sarawak Tribune (edited by Taib’s own daughter, Hanifah) at which supposed ‘interim dividends’  totaling RM575,400 for the year was paid to some 2,877 oil palm ‘shareholders’ from Simunjan and Gedong in the two concerns.
That represents a payment of RM200 per annum per person for the loss of their timber, lands and heritage!
WFM Enterprise
So where is the real profit being made?  It will come as no surprise that the main shareholder of these vast concerns is now a private company which owns 70% of the enterprise and has a few key major shareholders.
Both Hydroflow and Indranika are 70% owned by WFM Enterprise Sdn Bhd.  WFM is largely owned by one Kiong Goon Siong and a relative, Kiong Goon King.  Kiong registered with the Land & Survey Department the same office address in Jalang Rubber as Naroden Majais, whom he replaced as the main contact for these companies, as well as assuming ownership.

The Siongs are associates of Naroden Majais and were registered at the same office by the Land & Survey Department

Under Sarawak’s secretive system run by Taib Mahmud, where timber and oil palm concessions are quietly given out to political and business cronies, it is hard to know who really owns what.

Main shareholders at Hydroflow and Indranika took over the same contact address as Naroden Majais

But, again the questions arise. How is it that Naroden Majais and Hamden Bin Ahmad have acquired so many timber concessions and oil palm concessions after their quiet careers working as civil servants in two of Taib’s key land departments?
How is that concession after concession has been handed out by the Forest Department and Land & Survey Department to wealthy YB Datuks Naroden and Ahmad?

Kuraya - another concession for Hamden Bin Ahmad

Why is it that even a forest reserve in Balingian is not protected from this pair?

Another vast concession in Baram region for Naroden!

More plantation land in Naroden's own birth region and constituency! Have his people put their trust in a wolf from their own community who is working for Taib?

Will Taib and BN start to answer these questions about how such vast lands have found their way into the hands of his own party men, BN’s Dirty Datuks?

http://www.sarawakreport.org/2012/03/more-very-dirty-datuks-naroden-majais-hamden-bin-ahmad-major-expose/