A whistleblower website has revealed yet more claims of an alleged land deal that saw tens of millions of ringgit allegedly flow within weeks into pockets of family members of Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

NONE According to the Sarawak Report , it concerns land that previously belonged to the natives of Pulau Bruit near Sibu.

“The island till recently was a precious remaining area of fast disappearing lowland mangrove forest with a National Park of protected land,” said the Sarawak Report .

 

In 2004, however, the chief minister who controls access of land in the state saw fit to ‘develop’ the area for yet more oil palm plantations, despite growing international outcry over the destruction of forests for this purpose.

The vehicles to acquire the land were the entities Eastern Eden and Poh Zhen, which were owned by Taib’s brothers (the late) Mohamad Arip and Mohammad Ali, on the one hand, and Taib’s niece Azerina Mohd Arip and Stanley Chong Kay Hock, on the other.

For a paltry sum of RM1.8 million (RM120 per hectare) as ‘compensation’ to the natives, 10,000ha were alienated by the state government on May 31, 2004 to Eastern Eden and 5,000ha to Poh Zhen.

NONE While Eastern Eden paid RM7.195 million in premium, Poh Zhen paid RM3.6 million.

Over time, the people of Pulau Bruit saw their vast land being flattened, stripped and covered in oil palm, said the website.

The forest and fish also allegedly disappeared as their health and other food supplies were affected by the pollution of water by work on the plantations.

In a span of less than a few weeks, furthermore, the land - unbeknown to the natives - actually went on to be transferred to another company, Jaya Tiasa Holdings Bhd, which comes under the timber giant Rimbunan Hijau group of companies - also linked to Taib.

NONE How much did the Mahmuds get for the land transfer deal that took place over a span of just a few weeks?

According to Sarawak Report , the total purchase consideration for Jaya Tiasa to acquire the Eastern Eden and Poh Zhen plantations was RM33 million and RM16 million, respectively.

“True to the pattern we have identified, the Arip family have continued to enjoy profitable ties with the company they sold out to.

“ Sarawak Report has identified a large chunk of Jaya Tiasa shares continue to belong to the Arip family (he died in 2005).  

"These shares were clearly handed to the family as an added 'sweetener' for the deal. 

“This means that the Mahmud family continues to reap big profits from the oil palm plantations and the timber extraction from the lands that were stolen from the local communities, on top of the fat profit they made from selling off the land that Taib had handed to them at well below market price."