Following in the footsteps of whistleblower website WikiLeaks , the London-based Sarawak Report have ‘dumped’ its entire database of the state’s Land and Survey Department's recent transactions on rural lands on its website for all and sundry to access.

The results? According to Sarawak Report , what they’ve found are as many have suspected - and reported upon but ignored by authorities - for much of the 30 years that Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud has been at the helm of the state’s administration.

They are details of the 1,094 plots of land that have been taken in recent years, which amount to more than 1.5 million hectares (15,000 sq km) which are now in the hands of companies and individuals linked ultimately to the Taib family, and the premiums paid or billed to those awarded the land.  

NONE The website points out that the state of Sarawak is estimated to have received only RM734 million in premiums from those lucky people who received the titles at the hands of Taib, who also chairs the Land Custody and Development Agency as well the state Ministry of Resources and Planning.

RM734 million for a collective land mass measuring 15,000 square kilometres, which is more than 20 times the size of Singapore!

“The scale of the larceny is shocking. The total of land titles handed out in recent years, as calculated by the Land and Survey Department's own figures is a massive 1.5 million hectares.  

“Much of this has recently involved the acquisition of native customary lands, which has resulted in the recent spate of well over 200 land rights cases currently going through the courts - cases which Taib's government is losing, emphasing the illegality of his actions,” said Sarawak Report when releasing the data.

Comparing the premiums paid for all 1.5 million hectares against the current sale by Taib’s brother Onn Mahmud of just 12,000 ha - for which he is asking just under a billion ringgit - “the profit from the timber cleared from these lands must have alone dwarfed these pathetic premiums,” decried Sarawak Report .

NONE “This information can be cross-referenced with company information and stock market and sales information that can nowadays be found on the Internet.  In this way, communities can start to unlock the details of what has happened to their traditional lands,” it added.

                                            

In this way, details of land can be viewed after more than 30 years of being kept under the wraps.

As if speaking directly to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and other enforcement agencies that have dismissed allegations of irregularities as mere ‘heresay’ and rumours, Sarawak Report gently suggested:

“Don't say there is no proof, just look at the companies in the database and then find out who they belong to, or used to belong to at the time the land title was awarded.”  

Even the, Sarawak Report cut to the chase and said flatly: “Often these companies were quickly sold on by friends and relatives after receiving the land titles from Taib for millions more than the 'premium' he had negotiated with them on behalf of the state he was elected to represent.

“This means money that should have gone to the people of Sarawak went to the Taibs and their cronies instead,” said the whistleblower website which has been a thorn in the Sarawak chief minister's flesh since it was launched a year ago.

NONE Out of the hundreds of companies that had been magnanimously handed lands by Taib, Sarawak Report listed scores that it said are owned, or were originally owned by family members before being sold on to third parties - usually a “crony” of Taib.  

Listing some of the companies in the data, Sarawak Report called on its readers to help to identify the rest before Taib embarks on his election campaign in the run-up to the polls slated in about three weeks' time.

Under Taib’s son Abu Bekir

Polar Horizon, Titanium Management, Ukiran Mantap, Umpama Mantap, Radiant Lagoon, Premium Haven, Polar Towers, Polar Red, Log Oak Promotions, Future Atmosphere, Essential Straits, Dataran Aras, Celerity Design and Bella Magic.

Taib’s sister Raziah Mahmud/Geneid

Miracle Harvest, Green Ace, Usaha Jasamaju, Mega Bumimas, World Sign Harvest, Quality Concrete, Emerald Discovery, Kenyalang Resources, Limbang Sinar Mas, Kumpulan Parabena, Miri Properties, Borsamulu Resort and Saradu Plantations.

Taib’s 31-year old niece Elia Abas/Geneid

Ikrar Bumi

Taib’s brother Onn

Achi Jaya Plantations

Taib and brother Arip

Eastern Eden, Poh Zhen, Palmlyn, Rajah Mutiara, Lanco Plantations, Hariyama and Golden Star-Ace

Taib himself

Delta Padi

Taib’s cousin Hamid Sepawi

Sarawak Plantations, Kub Sepadu, Multi Maximum, Mega Bumimas and Europalm     

Taib’s brother Ibrahim

Masretus Oil Palm Plantation

Taib’s bomoh Ahmad Su’ut

Poliga Sdn Bhd

Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu

Utahol, Herba Aromatics Sdn Bhd and Durafarm Sdn Bhd

‘Pin the land grab’

In the second part of its expose, Sarawak Report invited readers to participate in Web 2.0-type application on its website by providing information on land grabs that they are known to add to a annotated map already on the website with markings of land grabs already reported on in previous articles.

sarawak report land grab map 200311 “Till now local people often had no idea that Taib had alienated their land until the logging and plantation companies turned up on their doorsteps, often several years later.

“Now we invite all the people of Sarawak to check this data and find out if their areas have been already grabbed by one of the world's richest families or their business associates,” said Sarawak Report .

Sarawak Report's land grab map