SIBU: A “concerned citizen and taxpayer” drove all the way from Simanggang to Sibu town today to lodge a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) against Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud for allegedly amassing billions of ringgit worth of properties abroad.

Describing it as his “duty”, Cobbold John Lusoi said he had no choice but to come to Sibu because Simanggang had no MACC office.“I feel it is my duty as a concerned citizen and a taxpayer to lodge a report with the MACC against the chief minister.

“I drove from Simanggan this morning because there is no MACC office in Simanggan,” Lusoi told FMT.Lusoi’s report, which is the fourth in a series of lodged with MACC against Taib, also accussed Taib of alleged abuse of power.On July 7 a similar report was lodged with MACC officers at Wisma Persekutuan in Miri by two members of PKR.Similar reports were also lodge in Putrajaya in Peninsular Malaysia.

All the MACC reports against Taib were based on several articles on a news portal, The Sarawak Report, which claimed that Taib and his family owned an overseas business empire worth billions of ringgit.His daughter Jamilah is said to head their business conglomerate in Canada, England and Australia.

Taib's party Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) has however described these allegations as “lies”. But to counter these “lies” the PBB has set up a unit to monitor these reports in the blogs and websites.Also a recent directive from the Chief Minister’s office has barred all local media from carrying any further reports on the issue.

Meanwhile Lusoi, who is chairman of Simanggang PKR branch said that more similar reports against would be lodged in other towns such as in Bintulu and Limbang.
“We will continue to lodge reports until MACC officers carry out an investigations on the matter. The vast amount of properties allegedly owned by Taib and his family are matters of great concern to all.
“Everyone, whether they are Sarawakians, Sabahans or Peninsular Malaysians are talking about the alleged wealth believed to be illegally acquired.
“So there is no reason why the MACC should keep quiet,” Lusoi added.