British, Canadian governments urged to freeze Taib’s assets

KUALA LUMPUR: Armed with banners and placards slamming corrupt Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud, several environmentalists and human rights activists took to the streets in London and Ottawa yesterday urging the British and Canadian governments respectively to freeze his assets. Both protests were held in front of Taib-family owned businesses – Ridgeford Properties Ltd and Ridgeford Consulting Ltd and Sakto Corporation – in London and Canada respectively.

The London protest is believed to have been led by Radio Free Sarawak deejay Peter John Jaban, a native Sarawakian, and online portal Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle Brown. The Ottawa protest is said to have been helmed by Mutang Urud, an indigenous leader from Sarawak who has been living in exile in Canada since the early 1990s. Mutang was arrested and placed in solitary confinement by the Taib government in February 1992 for running the Sarawak Indigenous Peoples’ Association (SIPA). Swiss based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), who released the anti-Taib campaign photos today; said activists from Malaysia, Canada, United Kingdom and Switzerland were involved in the protest yesterday morning.

The protesters called both governments to freeze the assets of all eleven – nine in Canada and two in Britain – Taib-linked companies. The nine companies, allegedly had an estimated worth of about “hundreds of millions of US dollars” and were part of a blacklist of 49 Taib-family linked companies in eight countries identified by BMF . BMF has also incidentally called on all eight governments to freeze Taib’s assets in these countries.

13 companies in Malaysia

In its disclosure, BMF noted that 13 out of the 49 blacklisted companies were in Malaysia and Taib’s own Cahaya Mata Sarawak (CMS) led the pack. CMS allegedly holds a monopoly on projects in Sarawak. Taib, who has been in power since 1981, is facing a barrage of allegations including land grabs, administrative and financial abuse as he heads into Sarawak’s most politically defining election.


Environmentalists have accused him of destructive logging in the state and have claimed that Taib’s immense personal wealth was derived from raping the state’s rich natural resources. Opposition and NGOs in Sarawak are also flagging these issues and reports of his family ‘ill-gotten gains’ at the expense of the state’s poor natives. Sarawak which is an oil and gas hub is reportedly the third poorest state in Malaysia.

British, Kanada mendesak kerajaan untuk membekukan aset Taib's
Tarani Palani 1 Mac 2011 - (Petikan Dari Free Malaysia Today)
Anti-Taib Mahmud protes di London dan Ottawa disambut di komuter menuju untuk bekerja di bangunan milik nya-keluarga semalam

KUALA LUMPUR: Berpegang dengan spanduk dan plakat membanting korup Ketua Menteri Sarawak Taib Mahmud, beberapa persekitaran dan aktivis hak asasi manusia turun ke jalan di London dan Ottawa semalam mendesak kerajaan British dan Kanada masing-masing untuk membekukan asetnya.

Kedua-dua protes diadakan di depan perniagaan milik keluarga Taib - Ridgeford Properties Ltd dan Ridgeford Consulting Ltd dan Sakto Corporation - di London dan Kanada masing-masing. Protes London diyakini telah dipimpin oleh penyiar Radio Free Sarawak Petrus Yohanes Jaban, orang asal Sarawak, dan online portal Sarawak Laporan editor Clare Rewcastle Brown. Protes Ottawa dikatakan telah dipimpin oleh Mutang Urud, seorang pemimpin adat dari Sarawak yang telah tinggal di pengasingan di Kanada sejak awal 1990-an.

Mutang ditangkap dan ditempatkan di sel isolasi oleh kerajaan Taib pada bulan Februari 1992 untuk menjalankan Masyarakat Adat Sarawak 'Association (sipa). Yang berpusat di Switzerland Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), yang menyiarkan foto-foto kempen anti-Taib hari ini, kata aktivis dari Malaysia, Kanada, United Kingdom dan Switzerland yang terlibat dalam protes itu pagi semalam.

Para penunjuk perasaan memanggil kedua-dua kerajaan untuk membekukan aset syarikat Taib-berkaitan sebelas semuanya - sembilan di Kanada dan dua di British -. Sembilan syarikat, dipercayai memiliki nilai dianggarkan sekitar "beratus-ratus juta dolar AS" dan adalah sebahagian daripada senarai hitam 49 syarikat berkaitan keluarga Taib di lapan negara yang dikenalpasti oleh BMF. BMF kebetulan juga menyeru kepada semua lapan kerajaan untuk membekukan aset Taib di negara-negara ini.

13 syarikat di Malaysia

Dalam pendedahan, BMF mencatatkan bahawa 13 dari 49 syarikat yang disenarai hitamkan berada di Malaysia dan Cahaya Mata Sarawak (CMS) Taib memimpin sendiri. CMS diduga memegang monopoli dalam projek-projek di Sarawak. Taib, yang telah berkuasa sejak tahun 1981, sedang menghadapi rentetan tuduhan termasuk perampasan tanah, kesalahan pentadbiran dan kewangan semasa dan dalam pemilihan ketua Menteri Sarawak dalam pilihanraya yang akan menentukan.

Alam Persekitaran telah menuduh dia memusnah penebangan di negara dan telah mendakwa bahawa kekayaan yang sangat besar peribadi Taib adalah berasal dari perkosaan kekayaan sumber hasil alam negara. Pembangkang dan NGO di Sarawak juga mendedahkan isu-isu dan laporan dari 'keuntungan haram' keluarganya dengan mengorbankan pribumi miskin negara. Sarawak yang merupakan pusat minyak dan gas dilaporkan negara termiskin ketiga di Malaysia.

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