In response of SUPP statement that PAS cannot gain support from Mirian,PAS confident based on current assessment, PAS and Pakatan Rakyat can win 3 out of 5 seats in Miri and Sibuti,while with extra hard,and right strategy;we can achieve clean sweep for all seats in Miri area,InsyaALLAH. PAS for ALL concept is now fully implement and well accepted by all people in Miri.

PAS for All is PAS as a political platform for all Malaysians, not as a regional political party limited to East Coast or Northern Malaysia only, nor representing a specific religion of Islam and its believers only. PAS for all means that all visions and missions that the party espouses will broadly cover all Malaysians. It will be an umbrella in which, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, can share their visions, can claim a sense of belonging, and can be assured of equal protection and rights as citizens of Malaysia. It will also be a platform by which all Malaysians, regardless of their geographic distribution, will be assured of a just and fair treatment in enjoying the wealth of the country.

BAGAIMANA TAIB MEMBALAS BUDI RAKAN-RAKAN POLITIKNYA!

Monday, March 28th, 2011 GMT This post is also available in: English

Ramai yang tertanya-tanya dalam komen-komen kami kenapakah rakan-rakan politik Taib membenarkan dan meredhai kegiatan rasuahnya berterusan? Siasatan-siasatan yang kami jalankan di pejabat pendaftar tanah telah mula memberikan jawapan. Kebanyakan kroni-kroni politiknya, yang menjawat jawatan-jawatan menteri penuh, adalah penderma utama bagi kegiatan cabulan tanah-tanah negeri yang dilakukan oleh Ketua Menteri. Sejak beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini mereka telah mula untuk menutup dan menyembunyi identiti-identiti diri mereka, namun kami juga telah berjaya untuk mengakses rekod-rekod lama! Bagi kebanyakan YB BN itu, berakhirnya Taib bermakna berakhirlah geran-geran ladang mereka, maka dengan itu mereka harus sentiasa bekerja keras untuk mempastikan agar orang tua itu berkuasa tanpa henti!

Naroden Majais

Contohnya Naroden Majais. Beliau telah membayar balik kepercayaan para pengundinya di Simunjan dengan mengambil sejumlah besar tanah-tanah adat mereka! Kami telah mengenalpasti sekurang-kurangnya 19 geran tanah telah diberikan kepadanya menerusi syarikat-syarikat Hydroflow dan Indranika Jaya di Simunjan dalam tempoh masa 2003 – 2007. Di samping itu, menurut rekod yang kami temui, Naroden juga telah mendapat plot berjumlah 5,000 hektar di kawasan Baram. Kesemua serahan-serahan ini sahaja menjadikan jumlahnya 15,500 hektar yang diserahkan dengan bayaran premium RM5.7 juta. Tetapi, jika Naroden tidak mampu membayar untuk membeli atau menjual tanah-tanah itu, maka beliau diberikan diskaun sebanyak RM500 untuk sehektar bagi sebahagian besar tanah-tanah itu, dan beliau juga boleh membayarnya dalam masa 5 hingga 10 tahun!

Penyamaran!

Sarawak Report juga telah berjaya mengesan beberapa cubaan oleh Naroden untuk menyembunyikan kawalannya ke atas geran-geran tanah ini, yang telah membuat beberapa orang blogger mengemukakan kritikan dalam tahun 2008 dahulu. Jika anda perhatikan rekod-rekod yang terkini, anda akan mendapati bahawa kedua-dua syarikat Hydroflow dan Indranika didaftarkan di bawah nama Kong Goon Siong, berpejabat di Lot 298, Tingkat 1, Lorong 9, Jalan Rubber, Kuching. Namun, jika anda menjejak rekod-rekod pada pendaftar tanah tahun 2007, anda akan dengan mudah dapat mengesan identiti Encik Naroden. Anda pasti dapat melihat nama penuh beliau yang tercatat pada rekod-rekod tanah itu, bersebelahan dengan alamat yang sama yang digunakan oleh Encik Kong Goon Siong! Apa lagi, Naroden sedang disenaraikan dengan begitu jelas selaku penerima geran bagi tanah seluas 5,000 hektar di Baram di bawah nama syarikat Harta Mastira Sdn Bhd! Tetapi kita harus ingat bahawa, adik Taib, Onn Mahmud juga sedang berusaha untuk menjual tanah ladang kelapa sawitnya dengan harga RM30,000 seekar, di mana jumlah harga bagi kesemua 15,500 hektar ladang itu pasti akan mendatangkan keuntungan lebih satu billion ringgit!

Apakah yang orang tempatan akan dapat?

Isu hak-hak tanah NCR di kawasan tersebut telah ‘dirundingkan’ oleh Naroden di mana para pemilik tanah-tanah adat itu dilibatkan dalam ‘usahasama’, di mana pemilik-pemilik itu menjadi pemegang-pemegang saham di dalam kedua-dua syarikat yang telah diberikan 30% saham dalam Hydroflow dan Indranika Jaya. Pada penhujung tahun lalu, suatu majlis yang cukup meriah telah diadakan di kediaman mewah Ketua Menteri, di mana orang-orang tempatan itu diberikan dividen-dividen mereka bagi keuntungan tahun pertama. Akhbar The Sarawak Tribune (yang dikawal dan disunting oleh anak perempuan Ketua Menteri, Hanifah Taib) telah menjelaskan bagaimana 23,579 ton metrik kelapa sawit telah dikeluarkan, dan pada majlis yang sama, sekeping cek yang bernilai RM575,400 telah diserahkan kepada pemilik-pemilik tanah itu. Dengan bilangan 2,877 orang pemegang saham yang diraikan itu, setiap orang dari mereka telah mendapat ‘dividen’ sebanyak RM200 untuk tahun itu! Bagaimana pula dengan keuntungan dari pokok-pokok yang telah ditebang, dan juga keuntungan dari jualan tanah mereka itu? Adakah selebihnya wang hasil itu telah dimasukkan ke dalam kocek Encik Naroden, di samping itu kediamannya sahaja boleh mengambarkan tahap kemewahan hidupnya dengan gaji bulanannya sebagai wakil rakyat bukanlah besar sangat?

WFM Plantations

Kajian-kajian dan siasatan-siasatan kami menunjukkan, ya, ke situlah selebihnya keuntungan yang diperolehinya. Sementara orang-orang tempatan mendapat 30% dari saham (yang tidak dapat mereka kawal sepenuhnya), 60% dari saham-saham itu dimasukkan ke dalam sebuah syarikat persendirian yang dikenali sebagai WFM Plantations, yang sebenarnya dimiliki sepenuhnya oleh WFM Enterprise Sdn Bhd. WFM beroperasi dari pejabat yang sama dengan syarikat-syarikat para pemegang saham dalam syarikat-syarikat yang dikenali sebagai Punggor Wibara Sdn Bhd dan Saddor Wibara Sdn Bhd. Pemegang saham utama di WFM Enterprise adalah Kong Goon Siong dan saudaranya Kong Goon Khiing! Kedua-dua individu ini juga bertindak selaku pengarah kepada syarikat WFM Plantations. Kong Goon Siong juga merupakan pekerja di pejabat Naroden Majais, yang juga bertindak selaku orang yang sering berurusan dengan pejabat pendaftar tanah selepas mereka dilanda kritikan 2007 itu! Kong Goon Siong berkongsi alamat dengan Encik Naroden Majais. Tanah di kawasan Gedong ini telah menjadikan keluasan ladang 12,000 hektar, juga dengan potensi nilai sekitar satu billion ringgit, berdasarkan jumlah harga yang diminta oleh Onn Mahmud bagi tanahnya sendiri. Bos kepada YB Naroden Majais hanya memintanya membayar premium tanah sebanyak RM6 juta kepada Negeri Sarawak! Jika begitulah rupa pencuri atau perompak BN, maka, malang sungguhlah negeri ini nanti?! Maka, sama ada Naroden telah memberikan berjuta-juta ringgit harga ladang kelapa sawit kepada Encik Kong Goon Siong dan keluarganya, atau beliau sendiri menggunakan mereka sebagai agen bagi menyembunyikan identitinya yang memiliki 60% dari saham-saham dalam perladangan di Simunjan dan kawalan penuhnya bagi keseluruhan syarikat itu. Sungguh baik hati Encik Naroden yang telah memberikan para pemilik tanah di Simunjan itu RM200 sebagai pampasan mereka hilang hutan dan tempat mereka bergantung hidup!

Naroden ada banyak lagi

Sarawak Report kini membuat kesimpulan bahawa Encik Naroden bin Majais adalah penyokong kuat Abdul Taib bin Mahmud dan kerajaan BN-nya. Atau adakah, dengan tanah yang amat luas itu, beliau bukannya bertindak selaku proksi kepada Taib Mahmud sendiri? Pastinya, orang seperti Naroden telah dibeli atau dibayar menggunakan tanah-tanah yang diserahkan kepadanya? Kesangsian dan keraguan timbul dengan pendedahan rekod-rekod tanah, yang seterusnya mempelihatkan dengan jelas lebih banyak tanah yang telah diserahkan kepada menteri ini, yang dikenali sebagai orang kanan kepada Taib. Sekali lagi, seseorang perlu mengkaji rekod-rekod tahun 2007, yang telah kami paparkan pada laman ini (sila lihat entri bahasa Inggeris).

Palm Plantation Patronage – How Taib Pays off Political Pals!

Monday, March 28th, 2011 GMT This post is also available in: Malay – from Sarawak Report

1.Taib's power-base

Many have questioned in our comments why Taib’s political colleagues allow his corruption to continue? Our researches through the land registry are starting to provide the answer. Most of his political cronies, who occupy the top ministerial jobs, have themselves been major benefactors of the Chief Minister’s largess over state lands. In recent years they have started to try and cover up their names, but we have gained access to some of the older records as well! It is plain that for many BN YBs the end of Taib would mean the end of their cushy plantation titles, so they are hanging on to the old ‘rainmaker’ with all their might!

Naroden Majais

2.Simunjan Assemblyman, Assistant Minister in the C M’s Department and now a vast plantation-owner!

Naroden Majais Take for example Naroden Majais. He has repaid the trust of his constituents in Simunjan by taking a staggering amount of their land! We identified no less than 19 land titles handed out to him via the companies Hydroflow and Indranika Jaya in the Simunjan area during the period 2003 – 2007. Naroden has also bagged a massive 5,000 hectare plot in Baram region, according to the records. These handouts alone amount to a total of 15,500 hectares which were given out for a premium of RM5.7 million. But, in case Naroden could not afford to pay or sell these on in time he was given a nice discount of RM500 per hectare on much of the land, says the records, and he was also given between 5 and10 years to pay it! Cover up! Sarawak Report has also detected some rather half-hearted attempts by Naroden to cover up his control of these land titles, which provoked some criticism amongst bloggers in 2008. If you look at the current land records (which we have made publicly available on our site) you will see that Hydroflow and Indranika are currently registered under the name of Kong Goon Siong, based at Lot 298, Tingat 1, Lorong 9, Jalan Rubber, Kuching.

3.Details from the current land records.

However, if you go back to the 2007 land registry the connection with Mr Majais becomes rather plainer. You will note that it was then his name in the land records, next to exactly the same address as the one now used by Mr Kong Goon Siong! 4.Clear as daylight! Naroden Majais's names were originally listed with the properties. Now it is someone in his office! What’s more, in the current 2010 land records, Naroden is still openly listed as the recipient of the land title for the 5,000 hectares in Baram under the company Harta Mastira Sdn Bhd!

5.Still featuring as the recipient of the land title for Harta Mastira Sdn Bhd in Baram. Bearing in mind that Taib’s brotherOnn Mahmud is currently advertising palm plantation land for RM 30,000 per acre the value of these 15,500 hectares of plantation land can be assessed at comfortably over billion ringgit!

What the local people got

6.Naroden Majais's house - Where did the money come from?

The issue of Native Customary Land Rights in the area was clearly ‘negotiated’ by Mr Naroden to the extent that the local landowners were enmeshed into a ‘profit-sharing’ deal, whereby they became shareholders in two companies that were handed 30% of Indranika Jaya and Hydroflow. At the end of last year, with great fanfare in a ceremony held at the grand residence of the Chief Minister himself, these local people were handed their dividend from the first year of profits. The Sarawak Tribune (which is controlled and edited by Hanifah, the Chief Minister’s daughter) described how 23,579 metric tons of palm oil had been produced and that as a result a handsome cheque for RM 575,400 was presented to the local landowners. Since there are 2,877 of these shareholders, each of the local landowners had to make do with a meagre RM200 for the year! So, what happened to all the profit from the wood that was cut down and what happened to the profit from the sale of the land? Could any of that money have ended up with Mr Naroden Majais, whose house alone implies a certain level of prosperity that one would not expect from the modest salary of a State Assemblyman? WFM Plantations Our researches indicated that yes, that is exactly where the money has ended up. While the local people got 30% of the shares (but no control of the company), 60% of the shares went to a private company called WFM Plantations, which is in turn largely owned by WFM Enterprise Sdn Bhd. WFM operates out of the same set of offices as the NCR shareholder companies, which are called Punggor Wibara Sdn Bhd and Saddor Wibara Sdn Bhd. The main shareholder of WFM Enterprise turns out to be a familiar name, one Kong Goon Siong along with a clear relative, Kong Goon Khiing! The same couple also direct the sister company WFM Plantations. Kong Goon Siong is of course the trusty employee working out of Naroden Majais’s office, who kindly took over as the contact in the land registry after all the fuss in 2007! Kong Goon Siong shares the same address as Mr Naroden Majais (see land record excerpts above).

7.No great surprise - Kong Goon Siong and relative control and own WFM Enterprise (see above)!

So either Mr Majais has kindly handed millions of ringgit worth of palm plantation to his employee Mr Kong Goon Siong and his family or he is using them as his agent in a rather ludicrous attempt do disguise his ownership of 60% of the shares in these Simunjan plantations and his control of the entire company. Nice Mr Majais to give the real owners of the land, the dwellers of Simunjan, RM 200 ringgit for the loss of their forests and livelihoods! Naroden has more Sarawak Report concludes that Mr Majais will remain a very strong supporter of of Taib Mahmud and his BN government. Indeed we wonder if with so much land he isn’t in fact acting as a trusty proxy for Taib Mahmud himself? Surely, such a man as this could have been bought and paid for with far less land than the huge plantations that have been generously handed to him for a mere RM5.7 million to be paid for sometime over the next ten years? That suspicion grows with a further perusal of the land records, which reveal even more lands that have been handed out in recent years to this Minister, who is known to be a particularly close confidant of Taib. Again, one has to look back to the land records of 2007, which are copied below.

8.More of the land that has gone to Naroden Majais!

This land in Gedong adds up to another huge plantation of 12,000 hectares, again with a potential worth of around a billion ringgit, according to the sum being asked by Taib Mahmud’s brother Onn for his own plantation. Yet YB Majais’s boss only asked him to pay around RM6 million ringgit to the state of Sarawak! If BN make such clumsy thieves, we wonder how good they are at running the country?!

Taib Steals His Electricity – Exclusive Expose!
Saturday, March 26th, 2011 GMT Taib's residence in Demak Jaya - his sister and son Abu Bekir have houses next door
At a time when people are struggling to cope with the rising electricity costs, Sarawak Report has established that the Chief Minister thieves electricity to keep down his own bills ! This astonishing information came to us from senior insiders, who are in a good position to know what is happening in Taib’s household. We have subsequently obtained corroborative evidence from the chief technician in charge of maintenance at his grand residence at Demak Jaya. What we have learnt is that the Chief Minister has deliberately installed a secret, subterranian electricity cable, which by-passes the meter outside his house. The cable links the mains directly to the line entering the house. This means that while some of the supply still travels through the meter at least half of it does not, thereby slashing Taib’s electricity bill!
How mean is greed?
Huge residence, means huge electricity bills! Given the legendary wealth of Taib Mahmud, the idea that he should go to these lengths to avoid such a relatively small outlay as the monthly electricity bill seems staggering. But, as Taib has pointed out himself, he is not used to paying out money or even bothering to have it on his person. All his family deals are funded by others in return for his political patronage. Since the Taibs expect to take, not give, it must make regular bills like the rest of us pay seem something of an outrageous imposition! However, we should bear in mind that Taib has already compensated for the annoyance of having to pay for electricity. There was plenty of comment some years back when the State Parliament voted through a handsome annual allowance to assist in the Chief Minister’s electricity bills, presumably on the understanding that he has to do so much entertaining in his huge house. By contrast, Sarawak Report is mindful of the many people throughout Sarawak who suffer from the harsh policy of the State-owned Sesco electricity monopoly, which is to ruthlessly cut off those people who cannot afford to pay the escalating costs being charged. Far from free electricty! The poor communities of Sungai Asap often face electricity cuts The policy is particularly galling for those displaced families who were moved into ‘resettlement’ areas to make way for hydro-electric dams. Part of the incentive that people from both Batang Ai and Bakun dam areas were given to move was that they would get free electricity as part of their compensation. However, both communities are now being asked to pay the full price for their electricity and many are regularly cut off by Sesco, because they can’t afford it. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sesco, coincidentally, just happens to be Taib’s own superbly wealthy cousin, Hamid Sepawi. The son of the Deputy Chief Minister, Alfred Jabu, is also on the Board. Sepawi and the Jabus have been given so many jobs and concessions by the Chief Minister that there is certainly no need for them to worry about such basic bills. And, while he is stern to his poorest customers, Sepawi is clearly lenient to his wealthy relative, since the fraud that his cousin indulges in is fairly easy to detect !
What the technical manager confirmed Too grand to pay his full electricity bill? In order to confirm the almost unbelievable information we had received about such petty pilfering, we thought we should seek corroboration from the man who was reportedly in charge of installing the by-pass system. This was the head technician in charge of Taib’s estate at Demak Jaya, Jong Ka Chin. We were told that Jong had also helped out Taib’s sister next door, Raziah Mahmud, who had heard about the device and wanted one too! Raziah is also fabulously rich, but clearly does not see why she should pay the same bills as everyone else. So we decided that it was time to request if he could do a similar favour for Taib’s older son Abu Bekir. After all Abu Bekir has just settled his wife’s divorce claim of RM 400 million, so he must be looking for ways to save some money! We called the technical head, Jong Ka Chin, on his personal mobile in the guise of Abu Bekir’s secretary to ask him to come and discuss the matter with the Datuk: "I am calling from the office of Abu Bekir ..it is about the electricity bypass that he wants to instal for his house tomorrow … Yes, yes … You can do it right? Yes, yes … I know You know what it is right? At Demak Jaya …[location of Chief Minister's house] Ah … can you come to the office at Titanium Management tomorrow? What time? What time? 10:30am … you know where it is right? 10:30am yeah, Datuk wants to see me? Yes, yes, Datuk Seri wants to see you …It’s about the electricity cable bypass system … to be installed in his house … The house at Demak? Datuk Seri wants to instal the electricity bypass cable system in his house. The same one done in Pehin Sri’s house. I am at the house here, now … Which house? Demak, Demak….Tomorrow I go to the office or to Demak? Go to his office first; meet with Datuk Sri first at his office at Titanium Management. Ah …ok He wants you to advise him on the electricity cable bypass system … you know what it is right? Yes The same one that was done at the house of Pehin Sri … Yes, the same. The same as the one you had done before? Yes … so tomorrow I go to the office to see you … Ah … go to the Titanium Management office to meet Datuk Seri ..ok, thank you. God night. Yes, yes, good night. From this call it was clear that Mr Jong was actually working on site at Demark Jaya at the time we were calling and he acknowledged several times that he had fitted an electricity by-pass system for the Pehin Sri’s (Taib’s) house. When we put the story past a senior Sesco operative about the scam. His observation was "so you know about that do you?!" Sesco has recently been criticised for hiring a swathe of highly-paid foreign managers. The new Norwegian Chief Executive Officer, Torstein Dale Sjotveit, is paid RM 4 million per annum and receives 10 return air tickets home on top each year. Under him are 20 other foreign engineers, who are also paid way over the normal Sarawak salary levels. One of those for me too please! - Taib's sister Raziah Mahmud put one next door as well. YB Chong from Kuching DAP recently also complained to parliament about the huge charges being demanded from customes for the installing of obligatory new meters. Customers are being asked to pay RM 650 for the fixing of the so-called up-dated meters and people who can’t pay the extra on their bills are being cut off! However, the even more damning complaint against Sesco by the majority of the people of Sarawak is that in Malaysia’s richest state 80% of the people of the interior have yet to be connected to any form of electricity at all! On behalf of Mr Jong, Sarawak Report confirms that when we rang back to gain further details of his work on the by-pass he told us that he had since spoken to Abu Bekir’s office and ascertained that Taib’s son is not in actually in Kuching or wanting work done. He then also denied that he had installed a by-pass after all. Perhaps Taib Mahmud would like to clarify the situation and confirm or deny the very well-sourced information that we have received?
Cyber-war casualty
As an addendum to this article we wish to express our concern over the sacking yesterday of a well-regarded staff member at the Borneo Post. The firing was carried out in accordance with a directive that had come straight from the officer of the Chief Minister The reason, we have learnt, was that the staff member, who is a proof-reader, had made an understandable error that was seen to have undermined the Chief Minister’s belated attempts to get ahead in what BN are describing as the ‘Cyber-war’. The Borneo Post had devised an article designed to promote one of the Chief Minister’s dozens of new sponsored websites. Its name is almost identical to the name of this website, Sarawak Report, however it contains an extra letter! The poor proof reader read the copy and assumed that a mistake had been made and altered the naming of the website to the far better-known www.sarawakreport.org, which is of course this website’s address! As a result the carefully placed Borneo Post article ended up promoting us, instead of promoting the Chief Minister’s new ‘cyber-weapon’, which exploits our name! This clearly did not go down well! We wish to say, however, that we deplore such treatment of a loyal employee, who like most of us, relies on his salary. Why should a professional be fired for failing to be sufficiently quick-footed at such dirty tricks that the Chief Minister has been attempting to play? It is surely high time that Sarawak caught up with the rest of the world with rules to protect people with fair employment rules, so that high-handed dictators like Taib do not think they can just fire decent ordinary people like this in moments of anger and bad behaviour. Don’t forget you can’t sack everybody,


TAIB MENCURI ELEKTRIK!
Sunday, March 27th, 2011 GMT this post is also available in:
English Pada ketika kebanyakan orang sedang berjimat untuk mengatur perbelanjaan bagi menghadapi kenaikan bayaran bil elektrik, Sarawak Report mendapati Ketua Menteri sedang mengguna bekalan elektrik yang dicurinya untuk berjimat! Maklumat yang mengejutkan ini datangnya dari seorang sumber dalaman yang mengetahui segala-galanya dalam rumahtangga Taib Mahmud. Kami juga telah mendapat tahu mengenai perkara ini daripada ketua juruteknik yang dilantiknya untuk menjalankan kerja-kerja penyelenggaraan di kediamannya di Demak Jaya. Kami diberitahu bahawa Ketua Menteri telah memasang kabel bawah tanah secara rahsia, yang melewati meter elektrik di luar rumahnya. Kabel bawah tanah itu dihubungkan terus ke wayar-wayar dalam rumahnya. Ini bermaksud, sekurang-kurangnya separuh dari arus elektrik masih melalui meter bagi membolehkan beliau menjimatkan bayaran elektriknya!

Ketamakan yang keterlaluan?
Taib telah menunjukkan bahawa beliau tidak biasa membelanjakan wangnya. Semua urusan keluarganya dibiayai oleh orang lain. Memandangkan keluarga Taib sudah terbiasa mengambil, bukannya memberi, mereka harus mempastikan bahawa bil-bil mereka adalah serupa dengan kadar yang dikenakan kepada kita Walau bagaimanapun, kita harus ingat bahawa Taib sememangnya membayar bil elektrik yang lebih. Beberapa tahun lalu kita telah diberitahu mengenai Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak telah sebulat suara bersetuju membawa elaun tahunan yang amat lumayan perlu diadakan untuk Ketua Menteri bagi membantunya membayar bil-bil elektriknya, yang kita faham bahawa beliau banyak mengadakan hiburan dan melayan tetamunya di kediaman mewahnya itu. Secara kontranya, Sarawak Report berasa simpati dengan kebanyakan rakyat Sarawak yang menjadi mangsa dasar keras syarikat Sesco milik kerajaan, yang sering memotong bekalan pelanggannya yang tidak mampu membayar kos elektrik yang kian meningkat. Pada dasar berkenaan, khasnya yang berhubung dengan keluarga yang telah ditempatkan semula untuk memberi laluan kepada pembinaan empangan-empangan hidro-elektrik. Salah satu dari insentif yang dijanjikan agar masyarakat-masyarakat Batang Ai (Lubok Antu) dan Bakun (Belaga) berpindah ke penempatan yang baru, adalah mereka akan mendapat bekalan elektrik secara percuma. Namun, kedua-dua komuniti itu telah dikehendaki membayar bil eletrik mereka sepenuhnya, dan ramai di kalangan orang-orang itu telah dipotong bekalan elektrik mereka kerana mereka tidak mampu menjelaskan bil kepada Sesco. Pengerusi Lembaga Pengarah Sesco Bhd adalah sepupu mewah Taib, iaitu Hamid Sepawi. Turut menggotai Lembaga Pengarah Sesco juga adalah anak lelaki Timbalan Ketua Menteri Alfred Jabu. Kedua-dua Hamid dan Jabu sama-sama menikmati banyak pekerjaan dan konsesi dari Ketua Menteri justeru itu mereka tidak perlu bimbang akan bil-bil mereka itu. Ketika dia bertegas terhadap pelanggan-pelangggannya yang kebanyakannya miskin, Sepawi dikatakan boleh berlembut terhadap bosnya yang mewah itu!

Apa yang disahkan oleh pengurus juruteknik
Bagi mengesahkan maklumat yang sukar dipercayai itu, kami mengambil keputusan untuk bertanya kepada orang yang telah memasang sistem untuk melewati meter itu untuk Ketua Menteri. Orang tersebut merupakan ketua juruteknik yang menguruskan kerja-kerja teknikal di kediaman Taib di Demak Jaya, Jong Ka Ching. Kami juga mendapat tahu bahawa adik Taib yang tinggal bersebelahan dengan Taib, iaitu Raziah Mahmud, yang mendengar mengenai sistem tersebut dan menunjukkan minatnya juga! Raziah juga kaya-raya, tetapi kenapa dia enggan membayar bil-bil elektrik seperti kebanyakan pengguna biasa yang lain. Maka kami telah menghubungi Jong Ka Ching sama ada dia boleh memasang sistem yang serupa untuk anak lelaki Taib, Abu Bekir. Kami pasti Abu Bekir amat memerlukan sistem yang serupa memandangkan dia baharu saja bercerai dengan isterinya dengan tuntutan cerai berjumlah RM400 juta, maka Bekir sudah tentunya ingin menjimatkan wangnya! Kami menghubungi ketua juruteknik, Jong Ka Ching, pada telefon bimbitnya di mana kami telah menyamar sebagai setiausaha Abu Bekir dan menyuruhnya datang dan membincangkan perkara berkenaan dengan Datuk itu. Berdasarkan perbualan melalui telefon itu maka sahlah Encik Jong Ka Ching itu yang melakukan kerja-kerja tersebut untuk kediaman Taib di Demak Jaya. Dalam perbualan itu, Jong telah berkali-kali mengakui dialah yang telah memasang sistem itu untuk rumah Pehin Sri. Apabila kami menceritakan keadaan itu kepada pengurus senior dalam Sesco, reaksinya adalah “jadi, kamu tahu mengenai perkara itu, kan?!” Tidak lama dahulu Sesco pernah dikritik mengenai urusan mereka mengambil penguru-pengurus luar negeri yang dibayar gaji yang tinggi. Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif yang baru mereka, Torstein Dale Sjotveit, dibayar RM4 juta setahun dan dibiayai 10 tiket penerbangan balik ke Norway setiap tahun. Terdapat 20 orang jurutera dari luar negera yang berkhidmat di bawah Sjotveit, kesemuanya dibayar gaji melebihi kadar gaji normal di Sarawak. Baru-baru ini YB Chong wakil DAP Kuching telah mengadu kepada parlimen mengenai bayaran pemasangan meter yang diwajibkan oleh Sesco terhadap pelanggan-pelanggannya. Para pelanggan mereka dikehendaki membayar RM650 untuk pemasangan meter yang dikatakan yang terkini, dan sesiapa di kalangan pelanggan mereka yang tidak mampu menjelaskannya, maka mereka terpaksalah bergelap! Namun, aduan terhadap Sesco yang paling mengejutkan adalah majoriti penduduk Sarawak, sebuah negeri yang terkaya di Malaysia, 80% rakyatnya yang tinggal di kawasan-kawasan luar bandar dan pedalaman tiada bekalan elektrik sama sekali! Bagi pihak Encik Jong, Sarawak Report ingin mengesahkan bahawa apabila kami memanggilnya semula untuk bertanyakan progress kerjanya, dia menjawab dengan mengatakan dia belum bercakap dengan Abu Bekir, dan dia juga menyatakan bahawa Abu Bekir tidak berada di Kuching atau tidak memerlukan sebarang perkhidmatan pemasangan sistem yang dibincangkan itu. Dia, kemudiannya, menafikan bahawa dia pernah memasang sistem tersebut. Mungkin Taib Mahmud ingin menjelaskan keadaan dan mengesahkan atau menafikan maklumat yang tersangat sahih pernah kami terima itu?

Mangsa perang-cyber
Sebagai tambahan kepada artikel ini kami ingin melahirkan kebimbangan dan simpati kami terhadap kes perlucutan jawatan seorang kakitangan penting kepada akhbar the Borneo Post. Perlucutan jawatan itu dilaksanakan berdasarkan arahan yang datangnya terus dari pejabat Ketua Menteri. Alasan perlucutan jawatannya itu, sebagaimana yang kami tahu, adalah kerana proof-reader itu telah melakukan kesilapan yang telah dianggap mempersendakan cubaan Ketua Menteri menangkis serangan-serangan media internet menerusi ‘Perang-cyber’. The Borneo Post telah mengarang sebuah artikel untuk mempromosikan salah sebuah dari berbelas-belas buah laman web yang dibiayai oleh Ketua Menteri itu. Nama laman web tersebut yang hampir serupa dengan nama laman web kami ini, Sarawak Report, sebenarnya mempunyai huruf yang ekstra! Si proof-reader yang malang itu telah berkali-kali membaca draf artikel itu dan menganggap dia telah terserempak dengan kesilapan ejaan, yang kemudiannya memutuskan untuk membetulkan supaya menjadi www.sarawakreport.org, yang sememangnya alamat laman web ini! Akhirnya, artikel the Borneo Post yang telah diletakkan secara strategik itu telah mempromosikan kami, dan bukannya mempromosikan ‘senjata-cyber’ tajaan Ketua Menteri, dengan mengeksploitasi nama kami! Kami amat bersimpati dengan nasib malang yang menimpa proof-reader itu, yang amat setia kepada majikannya, yang, seperti kita juga, bergantung hidup pada gajinya. Kenapakah seorang yang professional sepertinya harus diperlakukan sedemikian kerana kesilapan kecil ketika melayan kehendak dan nafsu Ketua Menteri? Kini sudah tiba masanya bagi negeri Sarawak telah mendahului negara-negara yang lain di dunia mencipta atau menggubal undang-undang untuk melindungi rakyatnya daripada dilucutkan jawatan sesuka hati oleh seorang dictator seperti Taib Mahmud. Jangan lupa, anda tak dapat melucutkan jawatan seseorang sesuka hatimu, Taib Mahmud … tetapi mereka boleh melucutkan jawatan anda dalam masa 3 minggu lagi!

PS: Beginilah keadaan negara Sarawak yang kaya akan bertambah kaya sudah pun kaya tidak perlu susah pulak nak bayar untuk mendapat kemudahaan asas sedangkan rakyat miskin terus hidup dalam keadaan yang sungguh daif. Kalau rakyat biasa yang lambat atau tidak mampu selesaikan hutang bil elektrik sudah tentu mereka akan segera memotong bekalan elektrik tetapi bagi pemimpin BN mereka (Sesco) langsung tidak berani bertindak. Mengapa pihak Sesco hanya berani bertindak terhadap rakyat biasa tetapi apabila pemimpin BN yang melakukan kesalahan yang sama mereka tidak berani bertindak dengan segera. Dimana slogan "Rakyat didahulukan, percapaian diutamakan"? Kalau rakyat Sarawak tidak mahu perubahaan dalam pilihanraya umum nanti sudah pasti kita akan terus hidup dalam kesusahan dan penderitaan akibat barang keperluan harian kita akan naik. Bah inilah peluang untuk rakyat gunakan kuasa mereka untuk perubahaan dimulakan dengan Sarawak selepas ya baru Malaysia. Insy'Allah apabila kita bagi sokongan pada PAS dan PAKATAN Rakyat sudah pasti ada perubahaan yang lebih dari kerajaan BN sekarang.

Press Release from the Movement for Change, Sarawak Embargo for 26 March, 2011
MoCS gives 30 reasons why Taib must go
KUCHING – There is no joy in the air among Sarawakians as Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud celebrates his 30th anniversary as Sarawak’s chief executive today. “I doubt the people of Sarawak are in the mood to celebrate with their chief minister although Taib has achieved the historic milestone as the country’s longest serving CM,” said Movement For Change, Sarawak leader Francis Paul Siah. “Taib’s legacy is one of blatant abuse of power. To Sarawakians and Malaysians, he will be remembered as one of the nation’s most corrupt political leaders who perpetuated money politics and the politics of patronage, nepotism and despotism. He is also the grandmaster of the politics of fear and intimidation,” he said. Siah pointed out that Taib’s alleged acquisition of enormous wealth through illegal and dishonest means has caused a lot of suffering to Sarawakians.

“Business opportunities are almost zero for those not linked to Taib or his family and cronies. The massive land grabs have caused untold sufferings to the people, particularly the Dayaks. The fraudulent destruction of Sarawak’s forests has created an environmental disaster for the state,” he said.“With all these negatives stacked against the chief minister in Sarawak, who is in the mood to celebrate with him? In fact, Taib should have stepped down long ago. “With his declared intention to stay on, it is now clear that people’s power is the only way to remove him. If the April 16 state election fails to do that, then Sarawakians will have to take other courses of action,” Siah said.The MoCS leader reminded Taib of the movement’s deadline for him to go, i.e. August 13 this year. “If he is still around by then, we will know what to do,” Siah added.MoCS has also compiled a list of 30 reasons why Taib Mahmud must step down as chief minister in conjunction with his 30th anniversary today.

30 REASONS WHY TAIB MUST GO:
1 He has been chief minister for 30 years, overstaying his welcome.
2 He listens to nobody except himself.
3 He creates and perpetuates himself into a dangerous, cultish image of invincibility.
4 He does not hesitate to let all know that he is all powerful, almighty and untouchable – glaring images of a dictator.
5 He is out of control. Nobody can control him, not even the Prime Minister, perhaps not even God. A person who is beyond control is dangerous.
6 He is not in the best of health to administer a state. He said he has colon cancer.
7 He spends more time outside Sarawak than inside. Over the past six months, he was hardly in the state for one month. That means he has no more time for Sarawak.
8 He is paid a salary by the state as chief minister. But he is not working at all, preferring to spend his time overseas looking after his business empire, or continuing his perpetual honeymoon.
8 His Politics of Development is one BIG farce.
9 He lied to Abang Johari, Adenan Satem and Effendi Norwawi, telling them they were being groomed to take over. After 30 years, they are still not groomed yet and incapable of taking over as CM.
10 He does not want anyone to succeed him. A leader without a successor is no leader at all.
11 He is incapable of tolerating dissent. He will not hesitate to sack members of his Cabinet, even at the slightest provocation.
12 He is a very hot-tempered man with a short fuse. On one occasion, he had created a public scene by kicking a flower pot and had thrown books and files at people in a rage.
13 He is vindictive. He will leave no stones unturned to ensure that those who oppose him suffer in his hands for the rest of their life.
14 He dabbles in ‘bomohism’ and black magic. His uncle, Tun Abdul Rahman Yakub, the first person to accuse him of believing in the Occult and the Dark Side, should know better.
15 He practices favouritism in the Sarawak Civil Service. Officers he favours can jump several notches to be departmental heads, side-stepping other more senior and deserving staff. The State Civil Service has become a very demoralized institution as a result.
16 He is the Grandmaster of the divide-and-rule game. As CM, he should be forging unity among the people of Sarawak. Instead, he takes great pleasure in dividing them.
17 He keeps the main ministerial portfolios for himself, unwilling to designate power and authority to his Cabinet colleagues. With the portfolios he gives himself, he is virtually in control of all resources in Sarawak.
18 He does not believe in transparency and accountability in handling government development funds and projects.
19 He does not understand the meaning of ‘Open Tender’. Public contracts become his personal business, grabbing the projects for himself. All he knows is “This is me, mine and myself”.
20 He is seen as a bully of the highest order among component parties in the Sarawak BN.
21 He is unable to improve the living standard of Sarawakians, especially the Dayak communities. Instead he misuses his power to make them subservient towards him.
22 He pays no attention to the plight of the indigenous groups in Sarawak, alleged to have robbed them of their NCR land via plantation companies owned by his family and cronies. He never said a word after the Penan girls were raped by loggers.
23 He continues to ‘prostitute' Sarawak resources to the Federal Government and has never fought for Sarawak’s interests in Peninsular Malaysia. His failure to pursue a review of the Petroleum Agreement is an example.
24 He has failed or not done enough to develop Sarawak to be at par with Peninsular Malaysia, resulting in the state being consistently 20 years behind the peninsula.
25 He allows UMNO policies to prevail and dominate nationally with total disregard to the rights and interests of the state's minorities. And UMNO is one party which many Sarawakians do not want to see in their state.
26 He treats the Opposition unfairly in and outside the State Legislative Assembly. He controls the whole House and ensures that the allegations about his dubious dealings are not recorded in the assembly’s hansard.
27 He favours skewed delineation of electoral boundaries to ensure that he has the numbers to keep him in power. Gerrymandering is rampant in every new delineation exercise in Sarawak.
28 He is well known for leaving Sarawakians in a lurch in times of natural calamities like the haze occurrences and great floods. He leaves the state whenever it is enveloped by haze but he is also responsible for the destruction of Sarawak’s forests.
29 He is extremely wealthy beyond comprehension. His enormous wealth is believed to have been amassed through illegal and dishonest means.
30 He has not given a single response to all the accusations and allegations against him as contained in the Sarawak Report website, Bruno Manser Fund and other whistleblowers despite the overwhelming evidence. MoCS has declared him guilty of all the accusations labelled at him on March 13 this year.
MoCS asks Taib Mahmud to ponder over these 30 reasons why he should step down on this 30th anniversary of his chief ministership.

MoCS Kuching
(Tel: 016-6381328)
26th March, 2011

Surat Terbuka buat pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat yang berebut kerusi
oleh Jofri Jaraiee, Pas Miri
MIRI – Kita sudah hampir ke kemuncak untuk mencapai perubahan dan kemenangan tetapi masalah pembahagian kerusi pula jadi masalah. Sedarkah kita yang musuh utama kita sekarang adalah BN bukan sesama kita. Sekiranya masih lagi terdapat orang yang berdegil dan pentingkan diri sendiri yang akhirnya akan menghancurkan sebuah Pakatan harapan rakyat untuk melihat perubahan akan musnah sama sekali disebabkan oleh mereka yang pentingkan diri sendiri dan tamak untuk berkuasa.

Ingatan untuk semua pemimpin termasuk ahli dan penyokong Pakatan, tujuan utama kita bergabung adalah untuk menghadapi BN bukan untuk bertempur sesama sendiri dan menegakan sebuah kerajaan yang berkebajikan untuk semua rakyat tanpa mengira kaum dan agama.

Kalau perkara perebutan kerusi masih jadi issue maka hasrat rakyat untuk memilih kerajaan baru dalam pilihanraya nanti akan terganggu.

Kita minta semua pemimpinan Pakatan hentikan dan selesaikan segera masalah kerusi ini dan beri tumpuan dan perhatian kepada kebajikan rakyat dan apa rancangan yang terbaik untuk pakatan sekiranya dipilih jadi pemerintah nanti. Perkara inilah yang sepatutnya diberi keutamaan bukan perebutan kerusi.

Apa guna kita dalam satu pakatan sedangkan masalah pembahagian kerusi pun belum dapat diselesaikan dengan baik dan adil. Perkara ini seumpama memberi peluru kepada musuh untuk menembak kita. Kita jangan terlalu ghairah dengan kerusi yang kita jangka boleh menang sedangkan kita sesama sendiri pun hendak berebut yang sama untuk menang. Kalau sesiapa calon dari pakatan yang menang maknanya kita yang menang bukan BN.

Kita sepatutnya lawan satu lawan satu dengan BN dalam pilihanraya umum Sarawak nanti.

Kalau boleh elak dari lawan 3 penjuru atau lebih dengan BN sebab ini akan memberi peluang kepada BN untuk terus berkuasa.

Sedarlah wahai pemimpin Pakatan sebelum terlambat, ayuh kita bergerak dalam satu pakatan yang akan mengantikan kerajaan BN dalam PR ke 13 nanti, mulakan dengan Sarawak, Insy’Allah pasti ada perubahan yang lebih baik lagi.

English version

Fight for rakyat or for ourselves or lost everything
We are almost achieve a victory, but the problem of seats allocation and distribution still having a problem. Did we realize that our main enemy right now is the BN is not our alliance. If there are still those who persist and selfish that would eventually destroy a people’s alliance hopes to see changes and will be destroyed because they are selfish and greedy for power.

Reminder to all leaders, including members and supporters, our main goal to join Pakatan is to topple BN not to fight one another and to enforce a government welfare for all citizens regardless of race and religion.

If seat struggling is still an issue the wishes of the people to choose a new government in this coming election will be disrupted.

We ask all the Alliance leadership to settle the problem immediately and solve this seats allocation and focus and pay attention to the welfare of the people and what the best plan for the coalition government if elected.

This is things that should be the priority not the struggle for seats.

What is the point we in a coalition whiles the distribution of seats cannot be solved in good and fair.

Things like this give ammunition to the enemy to shoot at us. We should not get too excited with the seats we expect to win and yet we still fighting with one another just to get the same seat.

If one of our candidate from the coalition that wins the victory means we won and not BN.

We should fight to one on one with the Sarawak BN in this coming general election.

If we can avoid any 3 or more opponent corners fight with BN because this provide an opportunity for BN to stay in power.

Wake up, O leader of Alliance before it’s too late, let us move in one team that would replace the BN government in PR 13 later, start with Sarawak, Insy’Allah sure there is a change for the better.

Note : Please take note this open letter just to remind ourselves that this is the only time we can change the BN Government by using voting in this coming election. So don’t get heart feeling with my comments.

Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) menetapkan hari penamaan calon untuk pilihan raya negeri Sarawak pada 6 April manakala hari pengundiannya pula jatuh pada 16 April.
Ini bermakna tempoh berkempen adalah selama 10 hari.DUN Sarawak dibubarkan kelmarin yang mana secara perlembagaan, pilihan raya hendaklah diadakan sebelum Julai tahun ini.

BN Sarawak yang lama dipimpin Ketua Menteri Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud menguasai 63 daripada 71 kerusi dalam dewan manakala pembangkang pula dengan tujuh kerusi, termasuk satu masing-masing milik bebas dan Parti Cinta Malaysia.
Kali terakhir Sarawak mengadakan pilihan raya DUN ialah pada 20 Mei 2006.
Sementara itu, Bernama melaporkan pengerusi SPR, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof berkata SPR telahpun menerima pemakluman rasmi dari Yang Dipertua Negeri Sarawak Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin Abang Barieng pada 21 Mac lalu berhubung pembubaran DUN Sarawak.

"Dengan ini kita mengumumkan 23 Mac tarikh keluar writ iaitu hari ini, 25 Mac tarikh notis pilihan raya, 6 April hari penamaan calon, 16 April tarikh pengundian," katanya pada sidang media di Kuching hari ini.Beliau berkata SPR akan menggunakan daftar pemilih suku pertama, kedua, ketiga dan empat tahun 2010 yang diwartakan pada 25 Mac iaitu membabitkan seramai 979,796 pengundi iaitu 961,433 pemilih biasa dan 18,363 pemilih pos.

Katanya pengundi boleh membuat semakan maklumat pusat mengundi dan saluran mangundi mereka melalui laman web rasmi SPR, melalui khidmat pesanan ringkas (SMS) atau menghubungi terus ke pejabat SPR.Abdul Aziz berkata bagi pilihan raya Sarawak kali ini, seramai 24,379 pegawai SPR termasuk 71 pegawai pengurus pilihan raya (RO) akan ditugaskan di setiap kawasan pilihan raya iaitu membabitkan 1,740 pusat pengundi dan 2,561 saluran pengundi.Beliau berkata di segi bajet, RM50 juta digunakan oleh SPR untuk menampung kos logistik termasuk penggunaan dua pesawat ringan, helikopter (24), bot laju (63), perahu panjang (919) selain kenderaan pacuan empat roda (4,124).

Katanya SPR juga akan memastikan semua pusat penjumlahan undi mempunyai kemudahan perhubungan iaitu telefon talian tetap untuk memastikan proses penjumlahan undi dapat dibuat dengan lebih lancar."Untuk melancarkan proses pada hari mengundi, SPR juga mendapatkan bantuan pasukan polis bagi kawasan-kawasan yang jauh di pedalaman untuk memastikan peti undi selamat sampai di pusat penjumlahan," katanya.Dalam pada itu, Abdul Aziz berkata SPR juga akan menyerahkan kuasa kepada Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) untuk mengambil sebarang tindakan jika ada calon dan parti yang bertanding melanggar Akta Kesalahan Pilihan Raya 1954 (Akta 5).

Katanya sebarang laporan rasuah yang dilaporkan kepada SPR akan diserahkan kepada SPRM untuk tindakan lanjut kerana mereka lebih arif dan pakar dalam bidang tersebut.
"SPRM juga diberi kuasa untuk memantau apa-apa aktiviti bagi memastikan mana-mana orang yang melanggar Akta 5 disiasat dan didakwa," katanya.

BOMOH BERAMBUT PERANG RAZIAH ‘MEMUKAU’ TAIB!
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 GMT This post is also available in: English (From Sarawak Report)


Antara rahsia-rahsia yang kini mulai terbongkar pada masa regim Taib Mahmud yang kian roboh, salah satu perkara yang pelik adalah kebergantungannya selama ini kepada seorang bomoh wanita berambut perang yang dibekalkan oleh adiknya, Raziah! Sejak kematian isterinya Laila, Taib dikatakan semakin giat menggunakan perkhidmatan bomoh, dan menurut ahli keluarganya, Raziah telah mulai masuk campur dengan memperkenalkan bomoh wanitanya kepada abangnya itu. “Seseorang yang memperkenalkan bomoh adalah seseorang yang lebih berkuasa”, kata seorang pemberi maklumat kepada Sarawak Report, dengan merujuk kepada Raziah yang sedang mempergiatkan usahanya memperolehi kontrak-kontrak dan geran-geran tanah dari kerajaan negeri. Seorang lagi pemberi maklumat kami memberitahu kami: “Ketua Menteri Sarawak yang sebenarnya adalah Raziah. Raziah telah menggunakan ilmu hitam ke atas saudaranya itu!”

Stella!
Stella, sebagaimana dia dikenali di kalangan keluarga Taib Mahmud, sebenarnya seorang rakyat Australia berketurunan Lebanon bernama Kharleen Tashman. Stella (yang dikatakan datangnya dari kaum gipsi di Sydney) telah dibawa masuk oleh Robert dan Raziah dalam tahun 2002 untuk menjadi penasihat peribadi ilmu hitam kepada Raziah! Selepas itu, Raziah telah dengan cerdiknya mengembangkan kekuasaan ke atas Taib, dengan mengeksploitasi kesedihan Taib di atas kematian saudara kegemarannya, Arip, yang telah meninggal dunia akibat serangan barah paru-paru dalam tahun 2005. Menurut ahli keluarga mereka, Stella dikatakan telah ‘memindahkan roh Arip’ kepada Raziah, dengan mendakwa Raziah kini berkarisma seperti Arip! Nampaknya Raziah telah berjaya meyakinkan Taib dengan mendakwa dirinya kini layak menggantikan Arip sebagai rakan-niaga dan perancang kepada Taib (dahulunya tugas tersebut dilaksanakan oleh saudara mereka, Onn Mahmud, yang kemudiannya telah bersengketa dengan Raziah dan ahli-ahli keluarga mereka yang lain).

Nasihat kerohanian membawa kebaikan kebendaan!
Mendiang Arip, sebagaimana yang telah dilaporkan di dalam Sarawak Report, telah memperolehi tanah-tanah yang amat luas yang diserahkan oleh Taib sejak tahun 2000, kebanyakannya adalah tanah-tanah NCR. Selepas itu Raziah telah berjaya menggantikan tempat mendiang. Data-data rasmi, yang kini didedahkan di dalam Sarawak Report, menunjukkan bahawa Raziah, di kalangan adik beradik Taib, telah memperolehi pegangan tanah negeri yang terluas sejak beberapa tahun ini – di mana menurut perkiraan kasar kami, keluasan yang sebesar pulau Singapura. Anak perempuan (Elia) dan suaminya (Robert Geneid) juga turut memperolehi beratus juta ringgit, berdasarkan jual-beli tanah-tanah, di mana kegiatan tiga beranak ini telah menimbulkan rasa cemburu di kalangan keluarga Taib Mahmud sendiri!

Ilmu Hitam
Sebelum ini kami pernah melaporkan mengenai ketaksuban Taib terhadap nasihat-nasihat bomohnya. Pemberi maklumat kami pernah menceritakan bagai mana rumah beliau di Demak Jaya yang dipenuhi dengan artifak-artifak yang berkaitan dengan ilmu hitam. Menurut pemberi maklumat kami lagi, Stella senang dengan cara dia mempengaruhi Taib, dipermudahkan lagi kerana dia tinggal bersama keluarga Raziah, bersebelahan dengan kediaman Taib. “Setiap awal pagi Stella akan datang ke laman rumah Taib untuk melakukan upacara mengusir mahluk-mahluk jahat” kata seorang lagi pemberi maklumat kami. Seorang lagi kenalan rapat keluarga Taib juga memberitahu kami, “Ketamakan Taib semakin menjadi-jadi dibawah pengaruh Raziah. Dialah yang paling berkuasa di Sarawak, bukannya Taib. Taib telah dipukau. Dia telah berkuasa ke atas Taib sebaik sahaja Laila meninggal!”

Sebahagian dari keluarga Taib
Kehadiran Stella di beberapa majlis keluarga dan majlis-majlis kenalan rapat mereka dibuktikan dengan beberapa gambar, di mana dia sering diajak bergambar bersama keluarga itu. Pada majlis perkahwinan Elia pada tahun 2010, Stella juga turut dijemput duduk bersama-sama tetamu kehormat mereka. Malah Stella juga turut menghadiri Pertunjukan Fesyen Pakaian Islam di Monaco, yang dibiayai oleh Taib bagi pihak isteri PM, Rosmah Mansor, sebagai suatu cara meyakinkan Najib menjelang pilihanraya Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak kini.

Penasihat termahal kepada Ketua Menteri!
Amaun upah yang diterima Stella amatlah menakjubkan ketika dia berada di kemuncak kegiatan kebomohannya. Biasanya dia akan menerima upah sebanyak RM10,000 sekali dalam dua bulan. Setelah mendapat upah dia akan kembali ke Sydney. Malah, kami juga diberitahu, bahawa ibu kepada empat orang anak itu telah menerima setengah juta ringgit sebagai upah perkhidmatan-perkhidmatannya! Namun, segala semua yang baik pastinya akan berakhir, dan kami difahamkan bahawa bomoh wanita telah kelihatan cuba campur tangan dengan keluarga semasa kematian Laila Taib, yang kemudiannya telah mengakibatkan hubungannya menjadi renggang dengan anak-anak Taib. Kharleen Tashman, telah digantikan dengan seorang lagi wanita Lebanon, yang lebih berkuasa dan lebih menarik – kami difahamkan bahawa wanita berkenaan juga diperkenalkan kepada Taib oleh adiknya Raziah!

Hubungan keluarga Geneid dengan isteri muda Taib
Kami sebenarnya merujuk kepada Ragat Waleed al Kurdi, isteri muda Ketua Menteri. Ketika Taib mula berkhidmat sebagai menteri ketika Ragat dilahirkan, maka ianya merupakan sesuatu yang bermisteri kepada orang lain. Namun, Sarawak Report, menerusi maklumat dari sumber dalaman yang amat dekat dengan keluarga Taib, mengatakan bahawa Ragat sebenarnya anak saudara kepada Robert Geneid, iaitu suami Raziah! “Taib telah terpukau oleh Rosie (Raziah), dialah yang mengawal segalanya. Dialah yang mengawal semua kontrak dan tanah-tanah yang diserahkan”, rungut seorang ahli keluarga Taib yang menyuarakan rasa cemburunya terhadap adik bongsu Taib itu.

Langkah bijak Raziah?
Motif Raziah memperjodohkan abangnya berkahwin semula selepas kematian isterinya Laila tidaklah sukar untuk diteka. Keluarga Taib Mahmud telah semakin terdesak dengan usia abang mereka itu yang semakin meningkat, bagi memanjangkan lagi tempoh kekuasaan mereka di Sarawak dan bagi menentukan pengganti itu harus datang dari darah daging keluarga mereka sendiri (terdahulu dari ini, Taib telah dilaporkan membuat Najib marah pada senarai 10 orang ahli keluarganya untuk bertanding nanti). Namun, Raziah telah diketahui beriya sangat untuk memantapkan pengaruh keluarga Geneid untuk masa depan Sarawak. Bagi suaminya, Robert Geneid, yang merupakan anak seorang penaja buah-buahan yang tidak mempunyai asas-asas perniagaan, perkahwinan anak saudaranya (Ragad) sudah pastinya akan mencerahkan peluangnya untuk berkuasa ke atas segala kemewahan dan kepentingan perniagaan di Sarawak sejak dia mengahwini adik Ketua Menteri itu. Jika BN masih lagi diberikan peluang untuk menang pada pilihanraya kali ini, maka inilah orang-orang yang akan mengawal masa depan Sarawak, kata amaran dari salah seorang pemberi maklumat kami. Namun, pasangan suami-isteri yang telah diketahui sedang menunggu peluang untuk berkuasa itu akan mendapati calon isteri abang mereka itu adalah lebih sesuai dari bomoh Kharleen Tashman. Tetapi, jika mereka ingin mengubah fikiran nanti, adakah mudah bagi mereka untuk melucutkan jawatan Ragad?

Raziah’s Blond Bomoh ‘Bewitched Taib’!
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 GMT This post is also available in: Malay (From Sarawak Report)
Stella - real name Kharleen Tashman at Elia Geneid's yaght wedding last year.

Out of all the astonishing secrets that are now beginning to emerge during the dying days of Taib Mahmud’s regime, one of the most bizarre has been his reliance on a blonde female witch provided as his Bomoh by his sister Raziah!

Taib has always been notorious for his consultation of black magic practitioners and after the death of his wife Laila, according to family and close friends, Raziah moved in to consolidate her influence by introducing her own in-house female Bomoh to him.

“The person who brings the bomoh becomes the controller”
as one insider explained to Sarawak Report, pointing out the orgy of acquisitions achieved by Raziah in terms of recent contracts and land titles from the state.

Another family insider told us: “The real Chief Minister of Sarawak is Raziah. She has used black magic on him!”

Stella!
Lady in Red - posing with Raziah for Asian Tatler (although she gave her name as Pashman)

Stella, as she is known to the Mahmud household, is in fact an Australian of Lebanese extraction called Kharleen Tashman. She was taken up by the Geneids in 2002 (reportedly from a gypsy community in Sydney) to become Raziah’s personal in-house black magic advisor!

Later, Raziah came up with an ingenious way of extending her power over Taib, by exploiting his grief over the loss of his favourite brother, Arip, who died of lung cancer in 2005. According to family members, Stella pronounced that she had ‘transferred Arip’s charisma’ to Raziah, claiming that the younger sister now bore Arip’s spirit !

It seems to have been a short step away from inheriting his spirit to inheriting Arip’s former role as the main family business-partner and fixer for Taib (a job originally done by another brother Onn, who later fell out with Raziah and others in the family).

Spiritual advice brings material benefits!
Arip, as we have already demonstrated in Sarawak Report, had benefited from vast chunks of land handed out by Taib since 2000, much of it NCR territory. Subsequent events would imply that Raziah now slipped into that lucky position of most favoured sibling. The official data, now released on Sarawak Report, shows that out of all her brothers and sisters Raziah has received by far the lion’s share of state lands in recent years – we have calculated that an area at least the size of Singapore has gone to her. Her daughter and husband have benefited also from handouts worth hundreds of millions of ringgit, according to recent land sales, and the jealousy amongst other family members is said to be seething!

Black Magic
(3rd left) - at an intimate family outing

We have already reported on Taib’s addiction to the advice of a series of Bomoh’s. Insiders have detailed how his home in Demark Jaya is stuffed with artefacts related to the practice of dark arts – shrines, statues and even symbolic birds, which roam free indoors. Particularly chilling is the story of a black eagle that was kept within the confines of the house, on the advice of one of his Bomoh’s.

Our informants have described how Stella enjoyed a period of close influence over Taib, aided by the proximity of her dwelling in Raziah’s house next door.

“ Her signature ritual includes tip-toeing and howling” explains one close contact. ”Each morning she would cross through the garden from Raziah’s house into the grounds of Taib’s residence and would perform a ritual of chasing away evil spirits before the Chief Minister rose for his early run!”
Another bluntly told us: “The latest mad excesses have been under the influence of Raziah. She is the mistress of Sarawak, not Taib. He has been possessed. She took control the moment Laila died!”

Part of the inner circle
Stella’s presence at any number of key family events and close occasions has also been documented in a number of photographs, where she has posed with the family. Elia Geneid’s wedding in 2010 saw Stella joining top guests, including the PM, at the exclusive event on a luxury yacht. She has been photographed at numerous intimate family events and at grand occasions. She even popped up at the Islamic Fashion Show last summer in Monaco, which was sponsored by Taib on behalf of Rosmah Mansor in a blatant attempt to curry favour with Najib in the run up to the current election.

Lady in Blue - posing between Elia Geneid and her husband, with Robert Geneid, Raziah and second daughter with Lebanese husband at the Islamic Fashion show in Monaco

Another close insider has related to Sarawak Report how guests were shocked at her bizarre contribution to Taib’s daughter Hanifah’s own wedding ceremony.

“The bride entered the wedding hall and then suddenly there was Stella producing this weird hollering call. Everyone was shocked, stunned. It was some strange ritual!”

Top dollar consultant to the Chief Minister!
Family supper - Stella included (left)

The amounts paid to Stella when she was at the height of her powers are gasp-inducing! She would regularly receive RM100,000 per two month stay with Raziah. She would then go back for some time in Sydney. However, we have been told that on one occasion Tashman, who is a mother of four, received half a million ringgit for her services!

However, all good things come to an end and we understand that the female Bomoh over-reached herself when she tried to interfere in the conduct of Laila Taib’s funeral and fell out with Taib’s children. Kharleen Tashman, we are told, has recently been superseded by another Lebanese lady, who is more powerful and alluring still – yet we have learnt that she too was provided by the ever-resourceful Raziah!

The Geneid connection to Taib’s new wife
We are of course referring to Ragat Waleed al Kurdi, the Chief Minister’s extremely youthful new wife. The origins of Ragat’s relationship with the Chief Minister, who was already in office at the time she was born, have till now remained something of a mystery to outsiders. However, Sarawak Report can report via extremely close sources that she is in fact a niece of Robert Geneid, Raziah’s husband!

Power behind the throne? Raziah Mahmud/Geneid, Taib's dazzlingly wealthy sister.

“Taib has come under the spell of Rosie (Raziah), she is controlling all. She controls all the contracts and land handed out”

Complains one of our sources, voicing the growing jealousy and family resentment towards Taib’s youngest sister by the rest of his siblings. Indeed, the rivalry is such in the family that it rarely lies far beneath the surface! The company Taib set up to run the family trust of Arip Mahmud, in which he holds a personal share, is called Mesti Bersatu – he gave it that name to remind his brother’s squabbling relatives that the family ‘Must be United’!



Wise move by Raziah?
Raziah’s logic in steering her brother into this new marriage is not hard to determine. The Mahmuds are desperate to revive the old man’s faltering image in order to stretch out their power longer in Sarawak and ensure a succession within their own flesh and blood (Taib infuriated Najib by putting up no less than 10 members of his family as candidates for his list for the election).

Under her spell? - Is Ragat Raziah's new power-base or a threat?

However, Raziah was clearly equally determined to cement the influence of the Geneid family over Sarawak’s future. For her husband Robert Geneid, the son of an Australian fruit seller who had had a patchy business career, the marriage of his neice has been the consolidation of his growing hold over wealth and business interests in Sarawak since his union with the Chief Minister’s sister.

If BN win the up-coming election these will be the figures controlling Sarawak’s future, insiders warn. However, Sarawak’s power-broking couple might find that the new young wife could turn out to be a good deal less pliable than the hireling Bomoh, Kharleen Tashman. Firing her would surely be a far more complicated matter to perform?



PS: Kalau pemimpin taksub sangat dengan kepercayaan karut akhirnya negara akan hancur dan rakyat akan menderita disebabkan ada lagi manusia bertuhankan bomoh dan harta benda untuk menguasai rakyat demi kepentingan diri sendiri. Kita berharap rakyat Sarawak sudah cukup sedar dengan penderitaan dan tertipu selama ini maka dalam pilihanraya umum nanti ubahlah dengan memberi undi kepada PAS dan PAKATAN Rakyat untuk mengembalikan semula hak-hak mereka yang telah dirampas selama ini. Bah jangan lupa memberi sokongan dan turun mengundi untuk mendapat semula hak dan perubahaan yang lebih baik lagi buat rakyat Sarawak. Insy'Allah pasti ada perubahaan yang lebih baik dari apa yang kita hadapi sekarang ini. PAS Untuk Semua.

NAJIB DAN TIMBALANNYA DATANG KE SARAWAK UNTUK MELUCUTKAN TAIB DARI JAWATANNYA – EKSKLUSIF - Monday, March 21st, 2011 GMT This post is also available in: English
Sarawak Report merasa amat bertuah kerana berpeluang mendapat maklumat daripada orang dalaman BN di KL, yang menyatakan bahawa Najib Razak dan timbalannya, Muhyiddin Yassin, datang melawat Sarawak bukannya untuk memberi sokongan kepada Taib, tetapiInilah sebabnya lawatan serentak yang belum pernah dilakukan oleh dua ketua negara ke negeri Sarawak. “Seorang memegang pistol dan seorang lagi memegang keris sambil berkata ‘kini sudah tiba masanya untuk kamu berundur. Kami sudah tidak dapat berkompromi dengan kamu lagi, kamu harus umumkan keputusan sekarang atau lihatlah nanti!” kata sumber kami tersebut. Veteran yang berusia 74 tahun yang telah memerintah selama 30 tahun itu telah berjaya mendapat penangguhan dari kedua-dua ketua negara itu – atas dasar bahawa dia bersetuju untuk mengadakan pilihanraya secepat mungkin dan meletakkan jawatannya sebaik sahaja ‘tempoh peralihan’ dapat ditubuhkan oleh penyandangnya yang sesuai. Menurut sumber kami itu, Ketua Menteri, yang telah banyak kali enggan mengundur diri sehingga suatu masa yang difikirkannya selamat untuknya menjaga kekayaannya, telah menimbulkan rasa marah rakan-rakannya dalam BN di KL dengan caranya melewat-lewatkan pilihanraya. Mereka khuatir beliau akan bertahan hingga ke saat-saat akhir, yang sudah pastinya akan memburukkan lagi keadaan.

“Kini dia siap” – bukti yang memusnahkan dari pasukan rahsia BN!
Sumber kami mengesahkan bahawa masalah utama bagi Taib dibuktikan dengan kemerosotan sokongan pengundi, sebagaimana diperolehinya pada keputusan pengundian secara rahsia yang dilakukan. Maklumat sedemikianlah yang menyukarkan pihak BN untuk menyembunyikan. Walaupun menampakkan wajah berani dan secara berterusannya mengeluarkan kenyataan-kenyataan umum bahawa Taib ‘tidak boleh kalah’, namun pihak BN di peringkat persekutuan begitu yakin bahawa Taib pastinya akan kecundang teruk dan pastinya akan kehilangan kerusinya. Pemberi maklumat kami itu, yang begitu rapat dengan tokoh-tokoh utama dalam BN, mengatakan bahawa Jabatan Maklumat Taib telah membuat pengundian rahsia secara menyeluruh sejak beberapa bulan yang lalu. Sampel-sampel pengundian rahsia yang melibatkan sekurang-kurangnya 2,000 orang pengundi dari setiap kawasan pilihanraya dan mendapati keputusannya sungguh menggerunkan BN. Pihak kami telah diberitahu bahawa keputusan persampelan itu menunjukkan parti PBB Ketua Menteri itu sendiri akan kehilangan ‘sekurang-kurangnya’ 14 dari 30 kerusinya dan parti SUPP pimpinan George Chan akan kehilangan sehingga 90% undi semasanya, iaitu sejumlah 17 daripada 19 kerusi! Parti SPDP pimpinan William Mawan dan PRS pimpinan James Jemut Masing juga akan kehilangan satu kerusi tiap-tiap satunya. “Kerusi-kerusi tersebut berada pada kawasan hitam, bukan kawasan kelabu”, kata sumber kami itu, maknanya kali ini BN pastinya akan kalah teruk. BN akan menerima hakikat bahawa parti-parti yang ada sekarang akan kehilangan sekurang-kurangnya 33 daripada 70 kerusi dan keputusan sebenar nanti mungkin lebih teruk dari itu. Pandangan-pandangan yang mengatakan bahawa pihak pembangkang yang dikatakan akan menafikan BN dengan majoriti dua-pertiga di Sarawak sekarang nampaknya ketinggalan zaman, jika berdasarkan perangkaan yang diperolehi. Pihak BN sendiri dikatakan akan dilanda tsunami perubahan dan mereka akan mengutuk Taib Mahmud atas kecundangnya “simpanan tetap” mereka itu.

Pihak SPRM sedang menunggu masanya sehingga selepas pilihanraya!
Sarawak Report percaya bahawa penggunaan pendekatan menyuntikkan maklumat rahsia oleh penokong-penyokong setia BN, walaupun kritikan-kritikan berterusan kami ke atas kerajaan BN Sarawak, adalah merupakan suatu sebab mengapa tokoh-tokoh BN di peringkat Kerajaan Persekutuan mulai menjauhkan diri mereka. Sejak beberapa lama Taib telah berada begitu kukuh di kalangan para pemimpin di Malaysia, tetapi kini para pemimpin BN pusat terpaksa membuat beliau tunduk kerana memandangkan kemerosotan popularitinya. Kemarahan dan kebencian sebenar ke atas ketamakan dan sifat kleptokrasi Taib selama ini telah memburukkan lagi rekod jenayah rasuah BN. Sesungguhnya, kami telah dimaklumkan bahawa usaha-usaha telah dijalankan untuk menjejak dan mengambil balik aset-aset Taib di luar negara hasil dari kecurian dan rompakan yang dilakukannya selama ini. “Kini habislah dia. Ini bukannya persoalan perletakan jawatannya, tetapi ini adalah persoalan bahawa dia akan didakwa atas kesalahan rasuah. Pihak SPRM menunggu sehingga selesainya pilihanraya” Sarawak Report diberitahu. Rancangan keluar Taib kini telah disekat, sebagaimana disahkan, yang akan memburukkan lagi tekanan antara kerajaan-kerajaan Persekutuan dan Negeri. Strategi Ketua Menteri itu untuk mengundur diri, yang dirancangnya pada tahun lepas, adalah untuk menerima perlantikan sebagai Tuan Yang Terutama, sebagai suatu helahnya untuk memperolehi kekebalan daripada didakwa. Tetapi Najib menafikannya. Akibatnya, penangguhan pilihanraya oleh Taib bagi membolehkannya mencari opsyen-opsyen baru telah menyebabkan krisis yang ada sekarang.

Tiada lagi laluan selamat untuk Taib
Strategi semasa Ketua Menteri itu adalah untuk mempastikan bahawa beliau diganti oleh seseorang yang liat dan beliau telah banyak kali memaksa KL untuk merestui pengganti pilihannya, Awang Tengah Ali Hassan, Menteri Muda Perancangan dan Pengurusan Sumber. Awang Tengah kini sedang membina sebuah kediaman yang amat besar di Kuching, suatu simbol kekayaan yang digemari oleh Taib sebagai menjadikannya kelihatan selari dengan gaji besar seseorang ahli politik! Namun KL telah berkeras mencadangkan Taib diganti oleh Abang Zohari Tun Openg, yang menurut mereka, merupakan seorang ahli politik yang memiliki kejujuran dan kesopanan. Namun Taib seringkali menafikan Abang Zohari. Kami juga diberitahu, bahawa tetamu-tetamu dari Persekutuan itu telah kecewa dengan calon bakal pengganti yang dikemukakan oleh Taib pada hujung minggu lepas. Taib dikatakan telah menyediakan suatu senarai sepuluh calon yang terdiri dari ahli-ahli keluarga terdekatnya. Namun Najib dan timbalannya yang gagah itu mengarahkannya untuk melupakan senarai nama calon-calon pilihannya itu.

“Hubungan dengan KL kini semakin busuk”
Jadi, mereka berpura-pura tersenyum di hadapan kamera. Tetapi di belakang kamera kita tahu bahawa gambarannya adalah krisis dalaman BN, pada masa mereka melaung-laungkan tuduhan melulu bahawa pihak pembangkang kian bersengketa menjelang pilihanraya. Dengan keadaan ahli-ahli politik tempatan yang kebanyakannya berdiam diri kerana gerun dengan reputasi garang Taib, beliau membuktikan kepada Najib bahawa penggantiannya adalah sukar dilakukan sebelum pilihanraya. Namun, BN telah menyedari bahawa beliau sebenarnya akan kalah, seorang yang malang yang mereka benci dan seorang yang malang yang ingin mereka jadikan sebagai contoh dan tauladan. Dan dalam masa beberapa minggu yang akan datang, KL kini mencari jalan keluar dan ingin melihat suatu imej yang bukannya Taib dan semua “bagasinya’. Namun, setelah mereka bertoleransi dengan kecurian dan rompakan yang dilakukan oleh Rajah Berambut Putih Sarawak itu, mereka akan mengalami kesukaran untuk menjernihkan pandangan para pengundi mereka!

Najib and Deputy Came to Sack Taib After Shock Polls – Exclusive!
Monday, March 21st, 2011 GMT- This post is also available in: Malay
Show of unity, but behind the scenes there is fighting!

Sarawak Report has received privileged information from BN insiders in KL, revealing that Najib Razak and Deputy PM, Muhyiddin Yassin, came to Sarawak not to support Taib, but to make him stand down! This was the reason for the unprecedented dual visit of both the PM and the Deputy PM at the same time. ”One held the pistol and the other a dagger and said ‘it’s time to stand down. We are not going to compromise with you anymore, you have to announce your decision or that’s it!’”, recounted our source. The 74 year old veteran of 30 years in office however did manage to negotiate a reprieve – on the basis that he would agree to call the election immediately and to leave office once a ‘transition period’ had established a suitable successor. Our sources told us that the Chief Minister, who has been refusing to stand down until he is secure that he can protect his wealth, has been infuriating BN colleagues in KL with his constant delays in holding the election. They were concerned he would hold out till the last moment, making a difficult situation worse.

“He is finished” – the devastating evidence from BN’s secret polling!
The usual (illegal) promises of election handouts – RM200 million is promised to Serian! But even BN think the voters are past this tactic.

Our source confirms that the core problem for Taib is the evidence of a collapse of voter support, as shown by his own secret polling results. It is information BN have been desperate to keep hidden. Despite the brave faces and continuing public declarations that Taib ‘cannot lose’, the federal hierarchy are now convinced that he will in fact lose badly in this election and may even lose his own seat. Our contact, who is extremely well-connected and close to BN leading figures, says that Taib’s Information department has done extensive confidential polling in recent months. The sampling has involved at least 2,000 voters in each constituency and the results have been terrifying for BN: “I have seen them [the results] with my own eyes. This election the PM and Deputy PM know that it is inevitable that Taib will lose” We have been informed that the findings show that the Chief Minister’s own party PBB will lose ‘at least’ 14 of its 35 seats and that George Chan’s SUPP will lose 90% of its current votes, amounting to 10 out of its 12 seats! SPDP and PRS will also lose at least one seat each. “These seats are in the black not the grey area”, it was emphasised, meaning it was not a question of possibly losing the seats but rather they are definitely going to be lost. BN are resigned to the fact that the existing parties are going to lose at least 33 out of the 71 seats and that the outcome may be far worse than that.

BN's best projections are that they will lose their majority - but they fear a wipe-out!


Talk of opposition hopes of merely denying BN its two thirds majority in Sarawak now looks hopelessly outdated, according to these figures. The ruling coalition itself is resigned to being swept away by a tsunami of change and they blame Taib Mahmud for the loss of their “fixed deposit”. “He knows the game is up. He has run out of ideas and run out of Bomohs”, was the angry sneer. “Whichever way he goes, he will lose. It is time”

The MACC is waiting till after the election!
Body language - Taib is pushed to the back as the anxious leaders from BN seek a new way forward without him.

Sarawak Report believes that it was approached with this confidential information by loyal BN supporters, despite our regular criticism of the coalition’s government of Sarawak, as part of a process of deliberate distancing by BN’ Federal leaders. For years Taib has been the over-mighty tail that wagged the dog in Malaysia, but they are at last determined to bring him to heel now that he is weakened by growing unpopularity. There is clearly also a real anger and disgust over the scale of Taib’s greed and kleptocracy, which has worsened BN’s already tarnished record on corruption. Indeed, we were informed that measures have already been taken to trace and secure some of Taib’s stolen assets abroad. Privately Taib’s federal colleagues are determined not to let him escape with the loot! “He is finished. This is not a question of stepping down, this is a question of being sued for corruption. The MACC are waiting until after the election” Sarawak Report was told. Taib’s exit plans have therefore been blocked it was confirmed, which has worsened the tension between Federal and Local governments. The Chief Minister’s original get-out strategy, mooted last year, was to accept appointment as Governor, thereby benefiting from a supposed immunity from prosecution. Najib refused. The resulting delay in the calling of the election as Taib searches for new options has caused the present crisis.

No safe exit for Taib
Clearly popular with Taib! Awang Tengah's new house is being built to impress - the 'future Chief Minister' is already big in the Planning Ministry and Taib hopes he will protect all his stolen land assets !

The Chief Minister’s current strategy is to ensure a pliant successor and he has been pushing KL to accept his protégé Awang Tengah, 2nd Minister of Resources and Planning. Tengah is in the middle of building a monstrous new residence in Kuching, a sure sign of favour from Taib and hardly in keeping with a politician’s salary! This is just the sort of typical display of wealth that has infuriated KL. They are pushing for their own candidate Abang Zohari, who has a reputation they say for modesty and honesty. Taib, however, is reputed to loath him.The Federal visitors were equally unforgiving about Taib’s choice of candidates over the weekend, we are told. Taib had ten seats reserved for his own family in the list he was offering. Najib and his powerful Deputy told him to tear it up. “The PM and Deputy PM not only told him to calm down and dissolve, but also to choose candidates that are acceptable to the people and not just his own flesh and blood. That list has to change. He can’t put in his sons and nieces and nephews – he only trusts his family”!

“Relations with KL are terrible now”
Najib, his powerful Deputy Muhyiddin Yassin, are unhappy to be stuck going into the election with the spent old men of Kuching and all their "baggage"!

So, they smiled for the cameras. But behind the façade we now know the picture is of absolute crisis within BN, at a time when they are loudly accusing the opposition of being divided on the brink of an election. With local politicians in Sarawak keeping silent out of fear of Taib’s ruthless reputation, he is proving impossible for Najib to replace before the polls. However, BN have identified him as a loser, a loser they dislike and a loser they want to see made an example of. With just three weeks to go now, KL are looking for a way out and for a new image free of Taib and all his “baggage”. But, after years of tolerating the thieving White Haired Rajah of Sarawak, they are going to have a hard time convincing disillusioned voters, however genuine their regrets!