Natives Land Grabbed Systematically By Land Pirates Of Sarawak

Letters From Pribumi Sarawak to:

YB Lim Kit Siang

In Sarawak NCR lands are ignored and not respected, in the name of politics of development, which will make the rich richer and the poor natives poorer. The big developments are owned by shareholders who are already rich and Taib Mahmud’s cronies with the revenues / profits are shared among these few shareholders.

Their politics of development is to enrich themselves, self interest and great greed. Now they have deforested the Rajang forests – no more timber to harvest, so they go for native lands whether Temuda, Pemakai menoa, Pulau etc, they simply don’t care.

Taib is nearing his term now and in process to create a dynasty in Sarawak. His son will take over PBB, become chairman & thereafter CM of Sarawak. For the transition period, he may place his YB brother to take over. The manipulations, self-interest & greed will continue. The village people in Sarawak, most of them having no formal education will still vote for Taib coz support from rural areas with cash in election time will be on-going. Taib is great manipulator & having vast cronies here.

They have felled all the timber in Sarawak. Now they go for natives land. For land, they make use of Sarawak Land & Survey Department (SLSD) to get land as they wish. They just walk in SLSD office and choose which land area they want. Form a company for the purpose. Then the company will apply for land. The application will be processed/approved. They will comply with all procedures kononnya, ill-intention all things have been pre-arranged & prefixed.

Then SLSD will survey the land area, give notice through newspaper with description of land the village people will certainly not recognise or aware of. The procedure is legalized & provisional land title is issued by SLSD to the company. They legalised the taking of natives land which is outright robbery. They are robbers & pirates!!

They won’t inform the affected villagers for they don’t want them to know. Unlike the good intention of getting peoples land for genuine purpose of building bridges, roads, infrastructures etc, the villagers were informed and notices sent to kampungs & long houses for them to stake claims, but for purpose of land acquisition for companies things were done in secrecy. It was the other way round.

They confuse people by saying govt never grab peoples land. True but only those genuine purposes for public amenities but not for purpose of land to be given to their companies. That’s the difference here. They confuse the people here with this saying by YB Awang Tengah that govt never take peoples land!!. What a liar. The villagers will never be informed of their evil intention and the company will be sending bulldozers & tractors to the newly acquired land. When they see buldozers, tractors etc only then the natives will know.

Villages will lodge complaints to SLDS, District Office, Police, YBs - the answer is the land acquisition is already legal, nothing much can be done!!! The advice given was “you all (villagers) need to negotiate with the company, minta kasihan mereka!!!! Imagine your own property - your land grabbed by the eagles then minta kasihan. What right do they have?.

That’s the damned reply. That’s Taib’s administration here. He has hijacked the government institution. Since no one to turn to, so natives will try to stop the bulldozing of their rubber gardens, farms, empty land which is their “temuda” & “pemakai menoa” themselves. They have no money to fight this legally. Even then they can hardly win coz here all land belongs to state government.

The onus of proof is on the natives. In actual fact it should be those people who is taking natives land to prove the land is indeed not NCR. Our ancestors all have died, their has been no documentation in 1900s just NCR status accord by the land code.

Here natives are not allowed to survey their NCR land but the government can. Even if natives want to survey their NCR land first they need to prove land is planted 90%+ with crops, ok fair enough , then provided the area is not marked for development. Even then SLSD will not give land title to natives.

You know the SLSD, state gov has been hijacked by the pirates, Taib is the one-eyed pirate leader here. He is worst than the Somalia pirates.The rich and influential shareholders will have a very big piece of land for 60 years or more…which is not theirs in the first place.The few rich shareholders will have millions in revenues/profits.

So YB, this is happening everywhere in Sarawak now, natives are being evicted from their land now. Let me give you one of the real scenarios going on now at Serian under Muara Tuang DUN constituency (Taib’s brother) which is under Kota Samarahan Parliament constituency (Taib’s son). They plundered natives land there now under their proxies.

One of the NCR areas given to Usaha Jasamaju Sendirian Berhad, company number 660630-K. locality of land: between batang samarahan and Ensengei road, Serian. Area:354.00000 Ha, more or less convert to Mixed Zone land from 6/12/2006-5/12/2066. Lot number 00890, map sheet number: N5-13-1(5.1) TRN: 08-LCPLS-016-000-00890, Prov. Lease of state land - C. Remarks: Alienation of Land vide L.&S.80 No.69/2006, Svy. Job No.125/2006, DLS’s approval ref: 15/HQ/AL?103/2005(8D) dated 19.10.2006 & SLS’s ref: 15/SD.Doss.NO.AL/34/2006 issued at request of Ting Tiu Gung.

The village people who have been staying there since generations even before the Sarawak Government existed were never informed nor consulted - what more to be invited to have some shares and together participate develop the land there.

When the SLSD survey the areas for 1 month more or less, it was done in total secrecy. When village people ask them, no one would talk or answer. If there is answer they would lie to them. Now they are bulldozing peoples’ land, rubber trees with no regard to natives rights who actually own the land. They bersikap kurang ajar!!

Please YB, help address the issues of land belonging to natives in Sarawak urgently, a lot of lands now being plundered and taken from them right under their noses for Taib’s richness, cronies’ self-gains, greed at the expense of natives. This is only one case, there are many more. More tears of natives befell the land now.

The state government institution has been totally hijacked by Taib & his cronies here. He totally make use of this opportunity. The good example is the land described above. Now they are bulldozing the land, rubber trees, temuda, pemakai menoa, pulau without regard to peoples feelings as fellow human beings - the villagers are helpless now.

Bring this native land issue up to the attention of the whole country - so that the nation knows what Taib is doing here!!! he has hijacked the State Government for greed.

Do something now YB. Don’t be too busy with Semenanjung politics only.

Thank you, YB. God bless you.

Sarawak - next PKR's target

Tony Thien | Nov 29, 08 6:40pm

Top PKR leaders made it clear today that Sarawak is the party’s next target of a take-over to replace the Sarawak BN government led by long-serving Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Both PKR advisor Anwar Ibrahim and party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail signalled the party's intention to do just that at the opening of the party's 5th Congress in Stadium Malawati, Shah Alam, on the back of a groundswell of support for PKR in Sarawak.

PKR secretary-general Salehuddin Hashim in his speech at the opening said that the party's next congress in September next year will be held in Kuching.

The campaign has already started with many PKR divisions taking to the ground to drum up support for the party following the entry of independent Ngemah state assemblyperson Gabriel Adit during a ‘Friends of PKR’ gathering in Sibu two weeks ago.

Similar gatherings are to be held in Miri, Kuiching and Bintulu over the next three months.

Formidable but can be defeated

Adit surprised the 4000 people including delegates and observers at the opening of the congress this morning by speaking only in English, explaining that his knowledge of Bahasa Malaysia is still limited, and telling the huge crowd that included foreign diplomats that the Sarawak BN is formidable and not easy to defeat.

However, he added, the Sarawak BN could be defeated with the strengthening of Pakatan Rakyat in Sarawak and for this, Sarawakians who wanted a change after the long reign of Abdul Taib Mahmud needed help from their colleagues in Peninsular Malaysia.

Adit (pic. left), an Iban, has been appointed to the party's supreme council and attended his first meeting last night at the Selangor Menteri Besar's official residence in Shah Alam after a special gathering for PKR delegates and observers from Sarawak and Sabah.

In his speech, Anwar said Sarawak is a state rich in natural resources but the state's weath is concentrated in the hands of a few people.

The former deputy premier said PKR with its partners in Pakatan Rakyat were determined to topple the Sarawak BN government.

RASUAH DAN KEAZAMAN POLITIK

by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
November 25, 2008 12:56 PM

1. Saya bersetuju dengan pendapat Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak bahawa usaha membanteras politik wang perlu keazaman politik.

2. Soalnya - keazaman politik siapa?

3. Apakah keazaman politik mereka yang ingin dicalonkan dan sudah hulur wang sogokan?

4. Apakah keazaman pemimpin UMNO untuk lihat UMNO bersih daripada politik kotor?

5. Jika pemimpin yang perlu banteras, yang mana satukah pemimpin yang perlu berazam; pemimpin cawangankah, bahagian, Majlis Kerja Tertinggi atau Presiden parti?

6. Saya akui di masa saya jadi Presiden UMNO dan Perdana Menteri pun sudah ada politik wang.

7. Ia amat ketara semasa saya dan Tun Ghafar Baba dicabar pada tahun 1986.

8. Walaupun saya dapat pencalonan yang terbanyak (70 peratus) tetapi saya menang dengan kelebihan undi hanya 43 sahaja. Jelas perwakilan tidak undi ikut pencalonan oleh Bahagian.

9. Untuk mengelak perwakilan dipengaruhi semasa bersidang maka perlembagaan dipinda supaya 10 undi bonus diberi apabila dicalon oleh Bahagian.

10. Malangnya ada calon yang berjaya mendapat begitu banyak pencalonan sehingga lawannya terpaksa tarik diri.

11. Lepas itu dibatalkan undi bonus dan diganti dengan kuota 30 peratus bagi jawatan Presiden dan peratusan tertentu bagi jawatan-jawatan lain.

12. Dalam pencalonan untuk pemilihan kali ini ternampak jelas yang kuota tidak berjaya membanteras politik wang.

13. Ya, memang pun semasa saya dahulu sudah ada politik wang.

14. Tetapi peristiwa sogokan secara terbuka dan besar-besaran sehingga ramai dalam masyarakat pandang jijik akan politik UMNO tidak berlaku dahulu.

15. Tidak pernah terjadi yang Presiden parti didakwa terlibat dengan politik wang melalui laporan kepada polis dan Badan Pencegah Rasuah.

16. Tidak pernah Lembaga Disiplin parti menerima sehingga 900 laporan berkenaan politik wang.

17. Tidak pernah BPR terima banyak laporan rasuah untuk pencalonan bagi jawatan dalam UMNO.

18. Membuat alasan bahawa dulu pun ada rasuah tidak menghalalkan rasuah sekarang, terutamanya rasuah terbuka dan besar-besaran.

19. Sesungguhnya hari ini di mana-mana juga rakyat bercakap berkenaan rasuah dalam pencalonan kepimpinan UMNO. Ini tidak berlaku dahulu.

20. Juga dahulu rakyat tidak pernah tolak sebahagian besar calon UMNO dan Barisan Nasional dalam pilihanraya 1982, 1986, 1990, 1995 dan 1999 seperti yang berlaku pada pilihanraya umum 2008. Jika rasuah dahulu tidak berbeza dengan sekarang kenapakah BN menang majoriti 2/3 tiap pilihanraya umum dari tahun 1982-1999?

21. Dahulu rakyat/pengundi tidak anggap UMNO sebagai parti pimpinan perasuah seperti hari ini.

22. Kerana tidak suka pada kepimpinan Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, BN sudah ditolak di lima buah negeri dan sebuah Wilayah Persekutuan. Hari ini bukan Presiden sahaja yang dianggap tidak layak, tetapi seluruh kepimpinan UMNO tidak disukai dan tidak dianggap layak memimpin negara kerana pencalonan mereka adalah hasil sogokan oleh mereka. Memilih mereka bermakna memilih perasuah untuk mendirikan Kerajaan. Masyarakat yang mana yang mahu terima Kerajaan perasuah?

23. Ramalan saya ialah UMNO akan kalah teruk pada pilihanraya umum ke-13. Mendapat sokongan daripada parti (melalui rasuah) tidak akan menjamin kemenangan dalam pilihanraya umum.

24. Yang memberi kemenangan kepada calon-calon UMNO dahulu ialah undi ahli bersama dengan penyokong luar, penyokong bukan UMNO. Jangan fikir hanya dengan undi ahli UMNO sahaja kemenangan akan diperolehi.

25. Dalam pilihanraya umum ke-12 ramai ahli UMNO-pun tidak undi calon BN. Dan amat ramai daripada penyokong-penyokong (bukan ahli) UMNO yang undi parti lawan. Itulah yang memberi keputusan yang buruk bagi BN dalam pilihanraya umum ke-12.

26. Ingatlah kelebihan undi bagi calon UMNO yang menang tidak sebesar dahulu. Jika hanya separuh lebih sedikit daripada kelebihan kecil ini berpaling tadah dan mengundi parti lawan UMNO akan kalah dimana dahulu ia menang.

27. Mereka yang ghairah menggunakan wang untuk dicalon oleh bahagian harus ingat jika parti UMNO kalah, kemenangan jadi pemimpin UMNO tidak bermakna. Lihat ketua-ketua perhubungan Kedah, Perak, Kelantan dan Selangor dan mereka yang dicalon bertanding pilihanraya umum ke-12. Di mana mereka?

28. Jika BN kalah, Presiden UMNO tidak akan jadi Perdana Menteri, Timbalan Presiden tidak akan jadi Timbalan Perdana Menteri dan lain-lain pemimpin UMNO jika menang pun tidak akan jadi Menteri, Timbalan Menteri, Setiausaha Parlimen atau pengerusi-pengerusi syarikat berkaitan Kerajaan (GLC) dan lain-lain dan ketua-ketua bahagian tidak akan dapat kontrak dan lain-lain.

29. Lebih buruk lagi UMNO akan hancur. Pengasas-pengasas UMNO akan kutuk mereka yang kerana tamak telah musnahkan UMNO.

30. Orang yang terkenal menyogok wang untuk jadi pemimpin UMNO, jika mereka dipilih akan menyebabkan UMNO ditolak dalam pilihanraya umum.

31. Rakyat tahu siapa mereka walaupun sukar bagi mendapat bukti yang mereka ini adalah perasuah.

32. Perwakilan UMNO yang menerima sogokan dan memilih orang yang dikenali sebagai perasuah, harus ingat apabila mereka memilih orang ini, mereka sebenarnya mengkhianati bangsa, agama dan negara hanya kerana sedikit wang yang akan habis dibelanjakan dalam sekelip mata. Kamu dan zuriat kamu akan dikutuk oleh bangsa kamu tiap kali mereka menderita kerana kamu telah jual bangsa dan negara kamu untuk sedikit wang.

Changing the Head Hornbill in Sarawak

by Sim Kwang Yang

Should Abdul Taib Mahmud - the chief minister of Sarawak - step down, after 27 years at the helm of near absolute power in the resource rich state?

Does PBB - his party that holds half the number of seats in the Sarawak State Assembly - bully the other component parties of the Sarawak Barisan Nasional? The answer to both questions is a resounding yes!

But this kind of questions is only relevant to members and supporters of the Sarawak BN. Other Sarawakians know very well that Taib will not step down on his own accord.

He has to cling on to the throne in Sarawak, to protect the future of his gargantuan family conglomerate CMS (an acronym that could designate the company Cahaya Mata Sarawak or the title Chief Minister of Sarawak - an interesting coincidence).

Whenever conversations meander off onto the topic of the Sarawak CM in private circles, it is hard for people not to mention CMS in the same breath. Its dominant presence in the Sarawak’s economy - especially in the public sector in the state - is well known.

Actually, the acronym for CMS has its origins in a precursor to the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC): Cement Manufacturers Sarawak.

The report in The Edge

The repressed press of Malaysian media have seldom told the story of CMS. On the other hand, there have been a few reports by international media on Taib’s family business. The following report by Michael Backman, entitled ‘In Sarawak, politics and cash are all in the family’, was published in The Edge on March 15 2001 in Melbourne, Australia:

CMS Group was originally a joint venture between the state government’s Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) and the neighbouring state of Sabah.

The group started as a monopoly cement producer to feed the building boom in both states. In 1989, the Sabah government sold its stake and the Sarawak government decided the company should be listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. At the same time, the chief minister’s brother, Onn bin Mahmud, and his two sons, Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib and Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib, were brought in.

The Taib family owns about half the company and the SEDC’s equity has been diluted to about eight percent. Effectively, the chief minister had decided to privatise CMS - and it was his family that bought it.

CMS has since expanded to more than 40 subsidiaries that operate in infrastructure development, water supply, steel making, transport, manufacturing, property development, financial services and stock broking.

But CMS is not the Taib family’s only business concern. Timber is the main source of Sarawak’s wealth. Logging concessions, which the Sarawak government hands out, are are a license to print money. The chief minister’s family happens to possess significant logging concessions.

Indeed, claims have been published that companies associated with Taib and his supporters hold about 1.6 million hectares in timber concessions with a combined logged value of up to US$12 billion.

Taib’s time in politics has coincided with the apparent accumulation of enormous family wealth. He is known for his expensive tastes - he is rumoured to have paid almost US$2 million for the grand piano that belonged to late American showman Liberace.”

There it is. The above report, published in 2001, is still relevant today. The question of whether Taib’s discharge of his official duty as CM amidst the meteoric rise of CMS constitutes a conflict of interest or outright corruption is a purely academic one.

As long as he can deliver all or nearly all 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak to keep the Umno prime minister in power, as has been proven during the March 8 general election, the PM and all the federal agencies under his jurisdiction will not touch the Sarawak CM with a ten-foot pole.

A dynasty in the making?

If you check into the traffic on Sarawak Internet, you will find the name of the CM, together with the name of Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu, the most vilified and defiled names in the state. A referendum among Sarawak netizens will conclude that indeed the CM has overstayed his welcome.

But the CM will not go gently into the good night in more ways than one. His brother joined the Sarawak State Assembly as a member in the last state election in 2006.

In the May parliamentary election, his son Sulaiman was elected as MP, and was promptly co-opted into the federal government as a deputy minister, presumably to learn about the art of government. Do we see a dynasty in the making? Only time will tell.

Therefore, for Taib’s detractors to fulfill their dream of changing the Chief Minister of Sarawak, there is only one way, and that is through the next state general election speculated to be held as early as next year.

Slightly more than a week ago, during a dinner in Sibu organised by “Friends of PKR”, 4000 people of all races turned up to welcome Anwar Ibrahim and witness a public ceremony in which Gabriel Adit, the current independent state assemblyperson representing Ngemah and a former vice-president of the now defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) submit his application to join PKR, together with 12,000 others.

The choice of Sibu as the dinner venue is significant. Sibu is sited on the bank of the mighty Rejang River, and upstream, the Rejang basin is one of the most notable Iban heartlands in Sarawak. Adit’s dramatic personal political make-over is symbolic for many disgruntled Dayaks in Sarawak. Some Dayaks have already predicted a new dawn for Sarawak, a revival of Dayak power on the political scene in the state.

Nothing is impossible in politics I suppose, having just witnessed the historic conclusion of the American presidential election. But Sarawak is no America, and Sarawakians are a far cry from Americans in many political aspects.

The opposition parties in Sarawak are now fragmented and weakened, divided by race, region, and personal feuds among their leaders. The hounds also run with the hares. The Sarawak political arena is quite a muddied pond full of all kinds of reptiles, swimming along with the real dragons.

Eventually, the Achilles’ Heel of the opposition parties in Sarawak is their lack of funds, in sharp contrast to the seemingly inexhaustible source of funds lying in the Barisan Nasional war chest.

Unlike politics in the peninsula states, Sarawak politics, especially in the rural constituencies, is still mired in money politics. That is why the cash-rich Sarawak BN has been so successful in so many past parliamentary and state elections.

I have met many rural voters who actually would demand cash for their votes. Ugly as it may seem, it has become one of the less savoury features of Sarawak democracy.

To break this distasteful tradition, the opposition must not buy votes, or give all kinds of largesse during general elections, including building materials, personal gifts in kind, or standing feasts that can last throughout the duration of the campaign period. (Yes, this is how things are done in Sarawak.)

They must device more meaningful and innovative methods of campaigning, the likes of which Sarawak rural voters have never seen before.

Anwar’s full attention

But then there is still the huddle of reaching the rural voters. There is still the question of funding, needed for large groups of canvassers and campaigners to travel long distances across difficult terrain to motivate and organise local grassroots leaders in every village and every longhouse throughout this vast and sparsely populated state where modern infrastructure for communication and transport is primitive at best.

We are talking about hundreds and thousands of ringgit for one rural constituency alone. Multiply that by the 50 or so rural and semi-rural constituencies and you get the rough estimate of how much money it takes to change the CM of Sarawak.

This is only one hurdle. I can write a book on the problems and experiences of contesting in Sarawak alone.

But the great dinner in Sibu is a good start towards solving those problems. Obviously Anwar was suitably impressed; he said that if the response from Sarawakians is so good, he should perhaps visit Sarawak more often.

I believe PKR is a suitable vehicle for positive change in Sarawak for various reasons, not least of which is the clout of the party in national politics and in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

For that change to happen, Anwar may have to turn his full attention to this vast eastern state of Sarawak - now.

He has to go there often, to heal wounds among the opposition camp, to build consensus and coalition, to work out a statewide strategy, coin mission statements, supervise organisation, to recruit new talents who will be free from negative political baggage, and above all, squeeze out the funds from whatever resources at his disposal for the big campaign. He has to do it, like yesterday.

The prize is worth his trouble. In Sarawak, state power determines the outcome of the parliamentary elections most of the time. A change of the chief minister will greatly improve Anwar’s chance of becoming the prime minister of Malaysia in the next parliamentary general election.

For justice in the Land of the Hornbill in the emergence of a new Malaysia!

Sarawak Holds The Key To PKR Government, Says Anwar

SIBU, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Sarawak, which has 30 members of parliament, holds the key to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government in the country.

"When Sarawak changes its course, the Barisan Nasional government will collapse," he said at a dinner organised by "Friends of PKR" at the Sibu Trade and Exhibition centre here last night.

He said leaders in the PR coalition like Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang of Pas, Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng of DAP and himself and his wife would continue to meet and hold discussions with BN MPS to get them to cross over.

About 3,000 people were present at the dinner, the biggest so far for a PKR function here.

Those present included PKR vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Jeffery Kitinggan, Sarawak DAP leader Wong Ho Leng, former Sri Aman MP Jimmy Donald, and Baginda Minda, the former Parti Rakyat Sarawak Balleh branch publicity chief, who caused a furore with his statement accusing the state dominant BN party, the Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, of being a bully.

At the function, Anwar received membership application forms from Gabriel Adit Demong, one of two independent state assemblymen, and from 11,752 individuals from throughout the state.

Anwar said Sarawakians were now ready for change, saying Adit had volunteered to lead a recruitment drive for more members for PR.

"Do not be surprise if what had happened in five peninsula states in the March general elections could happen here," he said, adding that PR was prepared to face the coming state election.

He also claimed that several people from the state had visited him to express their interests to join PKR.

Meanwhile, Adit said a lot of BN members were "waiting in the wing" to join him and that his decision in joining PKR was "the first of many installments" over the next few months.

-- BERNAMA

Gabriel Adit Officially Joins PKR

SIBU, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- Ngemah state assemblyman Gabriel Adit Demong, 58, who won on an Independent ticket in the Sarawak state election some time back, has joined Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

Gabriel Adit Demong (pic. center)

He handed over his application form to join the party to its president Datuk Seri Anwar Inbrahim at a dinner here Saturday night.

Also joining Adit in his move were 11,752 individuals from throughout the state.

Adit is a four-term Ngemah state assemblyman, three of which were on BN ticket when he was a vice-president of the now defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak(PBDS), a dayak majority state BN component party which was de-registered due to internal leadership crisis.

With Adit joining PKR the party now has two members in the state legislative assembly.

The other is Dominic Ng who is also the state PKR chairman and Padungan state assemblyman. -- BERNAMA

Enough is Enough : Taib and Jabu - Game Over

PRS (6MPs) threat of leaving BN intensifies, calls for Taib to leave

First, he called Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) and Umno ‘bullies’.

Now Parti Rakyat Sarawak’s (PRS) former publicity head of its Balleh division Beginda Minda has boldly called on PBB president Abdul Taib Mahmud to step down as Sarawak chief minister.

Revealing bundles of flawed strategies in the Taib administration on Mkini.tv’s 'Uncensored' talk show, Beginda also held long-serving Iban Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu equally responsible for the agony and sufferings of the Dayak community, adding that “Jabu should also seriously consider retirement as soon as possible".

"Taib’s era has passed. It is time for him to give way to the younger generation to take over the reins of power in Sarawak. Twenty seven years as chief minister is long enough," Beginda told 'Uncensored' host Francis Paul Siah.

Beginda insisted that he was not launching a personal attack at these two Sarawak leaders but that he has decided to come out publicly to “say what has to be said” as he (Beginda) is also a member of a BN component party.

“My request is for Taib and Jabu to step down gracefully and retire as honourable and respected statesmen. Surely, it is better to go that way than to be forced out of office through people’s power,” he reasoned.

"It is clear to most people that the days when they (Taib and Jabu) have been most effective and most active are nearly gone. There are now many capable and qualified younger people with fresh ideas and bolder visions to lead the state.

"Taib has been active in politics since the first days of independence in 1963 and has been chief minister of Sarawak since 1981. Alfred Jabu has been in active politics since 1974 and was made deputy chief minister shortly after.

"Admittedly, these two gentlemen have done much for Sarawak. There have been pluses, I grant that, but there are many negatives as well," he said.

Row, row, row your boat to Kapit

Beginda touched on several issues close to the hearts of Sarawak Dayaks during the interview. He spoke at length on the land issue, uneven development in the state, lack of employment opportunities and the ‘sufferings’ of his Iban community.

“It is a fact that after 45 long years of independence, many areas in Sarawak are still not being developed, including my hometown of Kapit.

"Kapit is still the same as it has been during the colonial time of the British. During the time of Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke, we were rowing sampans as there were no roads to get out of Kapit.

“Today, there are still no roads linking Kapit to other towns and we still have to use boats ... only that this time, the boats have engines.

"I know that the two gentlemen (Taib and Jabu) will not be able to tolerate my public expression of these grouses. But the truth must be told. Enough is enough … my advice to them is not to wait until people demonstrate in the streets," he said.

Beginda also reiterated that PBB has an ‘apparent policy’ of undermining their coalition partners in "varying degrees of subtlety".

"The BN partners - Sarawak United People's Party (Supp), PRS or Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) - are in themselves complete organisations and their interests need to be respected. Interference by a senior partner, no matter the guise, is a form of bullying.

"Bullying goes against the grain of good and just participation in political affairs and dilutes the effectiveness of coalition partners when in fact they (the partners) should be effective and are seen as effective.

"Inevitably a coalition partner which is denied an effective delivery system will be held in ever diminishing esteem by the electorate," said Beginda.

Beginda was removed as publicity chief of the PRS Balleh division on Oct 27 following his ‘bully’ statement published in Malaysiakini two days earlier. He maintained he has no regrets over what he said.

Asked whether Taib could be behind the disbandment of Dayak-based parties, Beginda said: "It is very clear."

"One of the impacts of political interference has been to wreck the political cohesiveness of the Dayak people.

"Every decade, it seems that the Dayaks have to create a new party and as long as the party is young and new, it will be a junior partner. This is what PBB wants," said Beginda.

“If you look at the history of Snap, PBDS, SPDP and PRS, you will know what I am talking about,” he added.

Allow Dayaks to own their land

Beginda also rebuked Sarawak's land policies which have not been reviewed since the 1960s although Taib has been in power for 27 years.

"There have been many disputes over land ownership and the exploitation of resources, such as timber, which have pitted timber companies against natives who have traditionally regarded tracts of land to be theirs," he lamented.

"In Sarawak million of acres of NCR land are affected and the economic opportunity for the Dayaks from their lands are lost. The natives need the ownership of their lands to be put in order through proper surveying," said Beginda.

He urged the state government to adhere to growing public dissatisfaction regarding land policy and ensure commitment to review current land policies.

"The uproar last month in Bekenu Sibuti, where the Kedayan people were under threat of an eviction order apparently made to make way for plantation development, need not have happened if a proper land policy that protects native lands and if a proper land adjudication had been put in place.

"This is no longer just an abuse of power but oppression of the people. If this goes on, the natives will lose everything," he said.

On the matter of Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra) which maintains land development and social-economic wealth of the state, Beginda said: "Salcra could do a much better job but it is not doing that".

"There are grumblings that participants do not get the so called 'dividends' that they feel they are entitled to or that their lands have been bought over by those with vested interests.

"Yet it is possible for Salcra to do very well and earn the participants plenty of rewards had legislations and measures been introduced which prevent estate lands from being sold and transferred to other parties.

"For instance, Felda, the federal government's land development agency, is so well run that it is now prepared to spread its operation overseas. Why can't Salcra be as successful as Felda?" he asked.

No job opportunities in Sarawak

Beginda also raised grouses relating to employment opportunities in the state, where although Sarawak is rich in resources, large number of the natives still flee to Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore in search of employment.

"We have plenty of timber, coal, oil and gas. These are ingredients for a strong economy. We should be an employment haven ... yet now in Sarawak we have problems regarding the economy and employment.

"In Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, there are as many as 60000 Sarawakians. In Johor alone, more than 16,000 Sarawakians are employed there.

"Ask them why they prefer to work in Peninsular Malaysia and most will reply that there are better job opportunities there.

"Why can't Sarawak create jobs for its own people?"

"Surely, it is now time for a change of leadership," he added.

Towards the end of the show, Beginda spoke in Iban as he made an impassioned appeal to his community to stay focussed and united as they demand for their rights in Sarawak - Malaysiakini.com