Sarawak caretaker chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud denied allegations by the opposition that his government had 'plundered land that rightfully belonged to the people'.

Abdul Taib said the government did not cheat the people nor did it offer compensation in exchange for land below the current market price as alleged by Keadilan in its campaign rounds for the state elections on Thursday.

"What is the meaning of all this?" queried the veteran state leader at a meet-the-people session at Petra Jaya's indoor stadium in Kuching last night.

"All projects need land. If the opposition incite people not to give up their land, then they want development here to come to a standstill," he told the 5,000-odd, mostly Malay audience who came by several chartered buses from all over the capital to meet the leaders.

On Sunday, Keadilan candidate for Satok Zulrusdhi Mohd Hol accused Abdul Taib of allegedly taking away from the people three million hectares of land, some of which are native customary rights and Malay reserve land.

According to Zulrushdi, since 1993 the Barisan Nasional Sarawak government has allocated 1.4 million and 1.6 million hectares of land for agriculture and forest plantations respectively.

Some of these areas are sacred to the indigenous peoples who represent 70 percent of the state's population. However, the land is shared by 121 'crony' companies of the government, Zulrushdi claimed.

Politics or gangsterism

In his speech yesterday, Abdul Taib flayed Keadilan for its aggressive campaign methods, citing a few incidents.

The caretaker chief minister said that while he was alighting from his helicopter in a village, he was greeted with a hail of stones thrown by children.

"They were only about six or seven years old and yet they have been taught to behave rudely," said the long-serving minister.

"It is as if we are not dealing with Malaysians here but with our enemies," he added, urging people to reject the party who wanted to become a new political structure in the country.

Yet another incident was Monday's fire at a Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu operations centre in Kuching, suspected to be arson.

"Is this politics or gangsterism?" he queried, adding, "At the federal level, there are groups who want to topple the government via violent means. Malays do not act this way."

'PAS culture not appropriate'

Abdul Taib also criticised PAS for twisting Islamic teachings and exhorting the people that they do not need to be grateful to leaders who have brought development to the country.

He told the people that all parties in the coalition including Umno, PBB and Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak have contributed to the country's development.

"Only PAS has not contributed anything. Development is a big thing and under them (PAS) this cannot be achieved," said Abdul Taib.

"It is better for the people of Sarawak to reject PAS because its culture is not appropriate for us here," he added.

Abdul Taib was accompanying Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad who flew in yesterday afternoon to visit Kuching, Miri and Sibu as part of the campaign trail.

The premier's entourage included Information Minister Khalil Ya'akob and Perlis Mentri Besar Shahridan Kassim and several Barisan Nasional candidates contesting in Kuching.

Earlier, Mahathir met with the Chinese community when he visited Chung Hua Middle School 4 in Satok.