Authorities ignore Taib-linked company’s faults

Corrupt Barisan Nasional l KUCHING: The contractors of a RM50 million flyover project here is flouting the law but the authorities appear reluctant to act, according to Sarawak DAP.

The party is now questioning the manner in which the construction of the Jalan Tun Jugah flyover is being carried out.

The contract was awarded to a company which is allegedly connected to family of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Not surprising because the bulk of major contracts here are handed out to either Cahaya Mata Sarawak (CMS) or Naim Holdings which in turn subcontract it out to other Taib family or crony linked companies. Both CMS are Naim are directly linked to Taib.

TAIB NAMED IN UK PARLIAMENT

Corrupt Barisan Nasional l Knowledge and concern about the timber corruption associated with Sarawak’s Chief Minister is now spreading to the UK.

Last week his name was raised in the UK Parliament’s upper chamber, The House of Lords, after a question had been asked of the Government to give an assessment of the impact of logging on indigenous people, plants and animal life. 

Present to answer the question was one of the Government Ministers from the Department for International Development (DFID), Baroness Verma.

SEPAWI’S GRUBBY DEAL EXPOSED!

Ta Ann's Annual Report of 2002 stated its ownership
of 30% of Grand Perfect Sdn Bhd.

Corrupt Barisan Nasional l Prompted by the outburst of his own lawyers, Sarawak Report has now dug up further details about Hamid Sepawi’s dubious dealings over the plantation company Grand Perfect Sdn Bhd.

They raise questions of potential criminality on the part of the Chief Minister’s cousin and negligence of the rules of disclosure by two companies he runs, Ta Ann Bhd and Grand Perfect.

It was earlier this week that Ta Ann, the logging and oil palm conglomerate of which Sepawi is Executive Chairman, created a great fuss because the Sarawak PKR leader, Baru Bian, had allegedly said it owned 30% of Grand Perfect.

The lawyers threatened to sue Baru Bian, because they clearly implied such an association was damaging to Ta Ann’s reputation!  They demanded he apologise ”for making a gross error in my statement and for any embarrassment, damage to their [Ta Ann's] reputation and credibility caused“.

Canada alerted to Taib’s ‘dirty’ assets

Corrupt Barisan Nasional l KUALA LUMPUR: Swiss-based NGO, Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), claimed that the Canadian government is taking a keen interest in complaints raised by BMF about Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s alleged money-laundering activities in Canada.

The BMF, however, could not confirm if a formal investigation had been initiated on Taib-family-founded Sakto Corporation for the alleged offence, but said Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is well aware of the allegation.

Sakto owns and administers properties in Ottawa, Ontario, estimated to be worth well over US$100 million. It is also the centre of a Taib family-linked property empire with significant holdings in the UK, the US and Australia.

‘Billionaire’ son steps in to save Taib

Corrupt Barisan Nasional l KUCHING: Alleged billionaire Mahmud Abu Bekir, who has decided to step into the political fray to safeguard his father Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s political and financial dynasty, must be prepared to fend off attacks by an opposition which is raring to have a go at him.

Abu Bekir, like his father, carries excessive baggage which is good fodder for the opposition.

Already Sarawak DAP is demanding that Abu Bekir make a full disclosure of his earnings from government contracts and land alienation before contesting in the coming general election.

“How much has he gained from government contracts awarded to his companies where he is the major shareholder?” asked state DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen.

‘US government knew about corrupt Taib’

Corrupt Barisan Nasional l KUCHING: The US government, it appears, has been fully aware of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s allegedly corrupt ways, according to a US diplomatic confidential cable leaked by WikiLeaks.

The cable said the US authorities have been in know “for years” about his abuses.

Most of Taib’s wealth allegedly stemmed from the destructive logging of Sarawak’s rainforests.

Disclosing the cable to the State Department in Washington dated Oct 13, 2006, the whistleblower website said the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur had noted that “Taib and his relatives are widely thought to extract a percentage from most major commercial contracts – including those for logging – awarded in the state (Sarawak)…”

Pak Lah’s fishing trip to the Caribbean

Corrupt Barisan Nasional - KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s four-day “working visit” to two Caribbean islands in 2006 was the subject of a confidential US cable which raised questions over the purpose and the potential achievements for the countries involved.

The cable by US diplomats based in the Caribbean to the State Department in Washington DC came about two weeks after Abdullah completed his visit to St Vincent and the Grenadines from April 29 to May 2 in 2006.

The cable noted that Abdullah’s visit was more of a vacation rather than a working visit, in which the Malaysian premier had spend a day on a fishing trip with St Vincent Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.