Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib admitted that he was given 70,000 hectares by the S’wak Gov’t under his father.
Lin KayKay | June 16, 2015
KUCHING: The Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund, an NGO on the environment and human rights, has demanded that the Sarawak Government publish all land transfers to senior politicians’ family members since Taib Mahmud, now Governor, became Chief Minister.
“If Chief Minister Adenan Satem and the MACC are serious in fighting corruption in Sarawak, they need to start with the Taib family,” said BMF Executive Director Lukas Straumann.
He was commenting on Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, a son of the Sarawak Governor, admitting in Court during divorce proceedings that he owns 50 companies and was worth RM1.185 billion (USD 315 million). Earlier, his wife’s lawyer had produced a forensic accounting report on his assets.
“With a USD 315 million fortune, Bekir would rank #41 among Malaysia’s richest, according to the Forbes rich list 2015,” said Straumann.
It was shocking to learn that a Sarawak Minister’s son was, among others, paid with thousands of hectares of land for a public contract, added Straumann. “Bekir’s admission raises lots of questions. He was given 70,000 hectares of land by the Sarawak Government to pay for bridge constructions.”
Straumann wonders where the 300 bridges are and whether they were actually completed. “Why were these contracts granted to the Chief Minister’s son in the first place?”
“What lands were involved and how was their value calculated?”
Mahmud , in his statement, said he owned or was a major shareholder of 50 companies, including construction conglomerate Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS), Sarawak Cable and Titanium Management.
He added that Titanium Management was given state contracts, when his father was still Chief Minister as well as Planning and Resources Minister, to build 300 bridges in Sarawak. He was paid with 70,000 hectares of land.
