I refer to Malaysiakini report Billions gone, plenty for MACC to do in S’wak .

Now you know why Sarawak, the richest state in Malaysia has a high number of the poor and downtrodden struggling to make ends meet although the Hornbill State is blessed with a lot of natural resources which if used wisely and fairlym could have uplifted their citizens from their cycle of poverty.

To think that billions have been lost through leakages with federal funds being hijacked by the political elite rather than being channelled for development. This does not speak well of the corporate governance being practiced by the long standing and aging Sarawak Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud.

While other chief ministers and menteri besar from the other states comes and go, it seems that the Sarawak chief minister holds the record for being in office for more than 28 years and he still wants to lead Sarawak when the next state election is held.

One can only recall the despotic Robert Mugabe , the first black president of independent Zimbabwe who is still holding onto his office against public opinion. Zimbabwe is now a ‘basket case’ as practicably all its natural assets been taken over by the dictator's underlings.

Foreign investors shun the country, its currency has no value and unemployment have forced the youth there to leave the country. Sarawak seems to be heading in Zimbabwe’s direction if the authorities continue to turn a blind eye to the gross abuse of power by Taib Mahmud whose immediate family members are alsi in the game.

The shameful incident of the poor Penan people living in the interior of Sarawak suffering from hunger due to their land being destroyed by the timber company makes one wonder who speaks for this downtrodden community in the Sarawak state assembly.

MACC needs to look at the gross abuse of power by those holding the fort in the Hornbill State as it is a travesty of justice to see public funds being siphoned by politicians in their quest for instant gratification at the expense of the rakyat.

Money which could have been used to build new roads and amenities like schools and hospitals to help those on the fringes of society have been lost through dubious means. This would not have happened if the guidelines for the distribution of state funds were fully adhered to with audit checks done regularly.

Sarawakians need to be more politically aware and demand that their elected leaders live up to their promise for a better life for all Sarawkians regardless of their strata in society. State funds are not meant for the political elite alone but should be spread out in order for more people to benefit from government funds.

Sarawak will never change for the better if the present regime remains in office. Those who hold onto power will never change their bad ways and will continue to treat government coffers as their own piggy banks to plunder as they please.

A regime change in order to have a better allocation of state assets will go a long way in remedying all the ills that are happening in Sarawak at the moment. But if the opposition parties led by PKR and DAP still cannot find a common ground to fight the BN, don’t expect them to form the next state government when state polls are held soon.

And as long as Sarawak is controlled by Taib Mahmud and his BN partners, don’t expect the MACC to investigate their wrongdoings. Umno, who is under pressure from their political opponents in the peninsula, still needs their Sabah and Sarawak MPs to form the federal government.

They would not want to risk upsetting their BN partners in East Malaysia with MACC investigations. Of course, this is as long as these MPs toe the line while they are in Parliament.

Looks like things will only get better in Sarawak if and when the old and tired chief minister leaves office and is replaced with a capable leader who is honest and God-fearing. One can only guess that death alone will make the chief minister’s post in Sarawak vacant as there is no indication that the present incumbent wants to step down.

Let history decide on Taib Mahmud’s legacy, he who failed to lift the state out of its abyss due to his greed in holding onto power for the benefit of his children and close political allies rather than for the masses.

Like Zimbabwe who suffers from poor leadership, Sarawak, too, is a basket case which could have become a well-developed state where poverty was the exception rather than the rule. If only a good and capable leader had helmed the Hornbill State for the past three decades. I cry for my Sarawkian brethren who are still living in the ‘twilight zone’.