The Bruno Manser Fund has claimed that leaked records of the Sarawak Land and Survey Department show 31 companies linked to Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud granted land for oil palm plantation.

NONE The total size of land, it says, reaches 198,882ha, the size of three Singapores.

"The land leases were issued by the Taib-led Sarawak state government, which is being accused of massive corruption and the systematic destruction of the Borneo rainforest," it said in a statement yesterday.

The NGO adds that the total lot was sold for only RM95.6 million.

"While the land given to the Taib family by the Sarawak government has been grossly under priced, it is particularly shocking to see that more than half of the land leases - over 45,000 hectares - have been given out for free or for 'payment in kind'."

An example, it said, is the Kuching-based Titanium Management Sdn Bhd whose majority shareholder is Taib's son Mahmud Abu Bekir which was granted 10,438ha of state land in the Sri Aman, Serian, and Lundu district for free.

Another instance is Delta Padi Sdn Bhd receiving 27,600hain Sarikei, Mukah, Paloh and Sibu district for a mere RM6.2 million, said the NGO.

NONE "Delta Padi Sdn Bhd is a particularly obvious case of corruption as the Sarawak Chief Minister himself is a director and owner of one of its main shareholders, Mesti Bersatu Sdn Bhd."

The Bruno Manser Fund also set end of January deadline for the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission to act against the Taib Family.

"Should it fail to do so, the NGO community will lodge a complaint against Malaysia with the United nations on account of non-implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption, one of the few legally binding international treaties to which Malaysia is a party."

NONE In March last year, the news portal Sarawak Report had dumped its entire database of the state's Land and Survey Department's recent transactions on rural lands on its website.

The database detailed 1,094 plots of land amounting to over 1.5 million hectares that had allegedly been taken over by companies and individuals linked to the Taib family in recent years and the premiums paid or billed to those awarded the land.