With Sarawak polls expected to be called as early as next month, detractors of Abdul Taib Mahmud continue their barrage against the long-time chief minister, whose family is widely considered as one of the richest in the state.

Following on a slew of exposes relating to the overseas properties owned by Abdul Taib's family, Sarawak Report has this week zeroed in on something closer to home - the half-a-billion ringgit contract for Kuching's new sewerage system.

raziah mahmud According to the anti-Taib website , the RM530 million contract was awarded in 2008 to a consortium of three companies, that included Kumpulan Construction - a company run by the powerful chief minister's sister, Raziah Mahmud ( left ).

"She and Taib's brother Onn own 87.5 percent of the shares in the company," said Sarawak Report .

"So what does Raziah know about building a public sewerage system? Onlookers point out that Raziah has only developed one area of evident expertise, which is her ability to rapidly sub-contract projects which have been handed to her by her brother."

Sarawak Report said that the whole project was sub-contracted out less than a month after the original contract was given to the consortium comprising Kumpulan Construction, Nishimatsu Construction and Hock Seng Lee Bhd (HSL).

HSL announced three weeks after the original contract was awarded that the sewerage project had been sub-contracted solely to them at a reduced sum of RM452 million.

"This leaves RM78 million unaccounted for in the hands of the other two companies, Kumpulan and Nishimatsu," said Sarawak Report .

"It is only fair to demand a clear explanation of the relationship between Nishimatsu and the Taib family and to ask what work could have been carried out by Kumpulan/Nishamatsu during this three-week period that could have merited a payment of what is around US$25 million?"

Such ‘skimming' of publicly funded projects has been described by the website as a "standard form of abuse in Sarawak under Taib", who has been chief minister for almost three decades.

"First he abuses his position of power by placing a project in the hands of a company run by an unqualified member of his own family or a friend.

"Then the crony sub-contracts the project to another company that is capable of doing the job, but for far less than the original amount. This way the Taibs pocket the difference."

The Japanese connection

In addition, the involvement of Nishimatsu in the project has raised eyebrows as its parent company is being prosecuted in Japan in connection to a bribery and corruption scandal, that resulted in the resignation of the country's former opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa.

"If such enquiries have brought a top political resignation in Japan, what might a proper investigation produce in Sarawak?" mused Sarawak Report .

It is not the first time that a Japanese company has been embroiled in graft allegations in Sarawak. Three years ago Malaysiakini reported the allegation of a consortium of Japanese companies paying RM32 million in kickbacks, to ship timber from Sarawak over a seven year-period.

Abdul Taib subsequently sued Malaysiakini over the reports on the scandal. The case is still pending in the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

According to Sarawak Report , the Kuching sewerage project is just one of several large-scale public construction projects that have been awarded to the same consortium of Kumpulan Construction, Nishimatsu Construction and HSL in much the same way.

This includes the 40,000-seat outdoor stadium at Petra Jaya worth RM105 million and the Senari Deepsea Port valued at RM160 million.

But despite the lucrative projects won by Kumpulan, the company does not appear to have made much profit since Raziah took over the dormant company in 1986.

raziah mahmud and daughters Based on documents obtained from the Register of Companies, Kumpulan actually registered a loss for five years between 1986 and 1998.

Nevertheless, Raziah's entrepreneurial exploits have earned her the IOI Most Innovative Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2004 in property and construction from the National Association of Women Entrepreneurs Malaysia.

She also has a glowing article on her and her five daughters in the latest issue of Malaysia Tatler magazine.

 

Photos from Malaysia Tatler