Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu has been taken to task for allegedly misleading the public on the dismal performance of the Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra).

According to Sarawak National Party (Snap) president Edwin Dundang (right), Jabu bulak ('lied' in Dayak) to the public when the latter accused former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim of hiding the truth behind Salcra which was establish to help native customary rights (NCR) landowners

He claimed that it was Jabu who had lied to the people about Salcra as the state agency, of which Jabu is chairperson, had brought miserable returns to NCR scheme participants from oil palm plantation over the past 10 years.

Dundang related his own experience as a scheme participant in Betong in Sri Aman Division.

"The yield per acre per year is only about RM90. I have about 30 acres in the scheme and the dividends I have been receiving yearly for the past five years is about RM2500 each year!," Dundang told a press conference after chairing a SNAP central executive committee meeting in Kuching this afternoon.

The Snap leader was responding to Jabu's comments in trying to blame Anwar for a failed project in Balai Ringin which would otherwise have brought RM430 million revenue through the development of 30,000 acres of NCR land under Salcra.

'Salcra has failed'

He said Salcra has many oil palm schemes "but where is the huge dividends from Salcra?"

Dundang declared that Salcra has failed, saying that "my own case as a scheme participant is an example and there are many other examples too."

The agency had also failed to be transparent because it had not been releasing annual financial reports like other agencies such as Amanah Saham Berhad (ASB) and ASSAR (Amanah Saham Sarawak) to the scheme participants.

"Why has it failed? Jabu should know as the chairperson. But now, he is hiding the shortcomings and abuses in Salcra. It seems that Salcra exists only to benefit certain quarters who become very rich while scheme participants remain poor.'

Dundang said Jabu had also avoided responding to the various issues, including the lack of good governance, abuse of power, corruption and poverty, that Anwar raised at three gatherings during his recent visit to Sarawak.

Instead Jabu was trying to generalise and resorted only to calling opposition politicians, including Anwar, former deputy chief minister and ex-Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) president Daniel Tajem, State Reform Party (Star) president Dr Patau Rubis, Dundang and his deputy Justine Jinggut names, describing them as 'political has-beens and political rejects.'