Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Abdul Taib Mahmud" in English language version.
Abdul Taib Mahmud insists his family made their money via hard work in business. But many observers remain sceptical and wonder how his siblings and children came into all that wealth, both locally and overseas.
The CMS takeover also reflects the politics of New Economic Policy privatization exercises in Malaysia, which tend to favor hiving off profitable public enterprises instead of loss-making ones to well-connected individuals in the private sector, Aeria claims. Apart from cultivating cronyism and promoting rent-seeking, such privatizations deprive the state sector of lucrative sources of income end up raising the tax burden of ordinary taxpayers, he writes.
Naim is a property developer and contractor whose chairman is Taib's cousin, Abdul Hamed Sepawi. He is also chairman of state power company Sarawak Energy and timber company Ta Ann Holdings Bhd., and is on the board of Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corp. and Sarawak Plantation Bhd.
Central to Taib's strategy in bolstering his position as the most powerful strongman-politician in Sarawak is to accumulate personal wealth. ... Emulating Rahman, Taib disbursed timber concessions to his family members and cronies in order to consolidate his power. ... The privatisation of profitable state enterprises from both the negeri and central governments facilitated the setting up of Taib family-owned business conglomerate in Sarawak known as the CMS Group. Although it is difficult to estimate the total value of Taib's wealth, his family control of timber concessions and CMS's widespread involvement in the various economic sectors provides a glimpse of the strongman-politician's economic standing. (pages 119–120) By amending Forest Bill, Taib tightened his grip on the distribution of timber licence at the expense of Rahman supporters. (page 156)
Ya'kub and Taib used timber concessions for at least three purposes: first, to assemble supermajority, interethnic coalitions in the state assembly at the local level; second, to raise campaign funds from ethnic Chinese timber contractors; and finally, for personal and family enrichment. (page 152) ... in Sarawak, Taib's insecurity between 1986 to 1991 gave him an incentive to accelerate the pace of logging, despite protests in Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur, and abroad. (page 156)
Allegations of corruption and abuse of public office dog Abdul Taib Mahmud, Sarawak's chief minister, finance minister and planning-and-resources minister, who is believed to have firm control over the granting of logging licences. Mr Taib long denied being corrupt.
Such connections between the political elite and logging companies persist to this day. Besides the fact that licensing decisions are made by the Chief Minister in his additional function as state Minister of Resource Planning,[50] new legislation has been introduced that grants the Chief Minister alone the power to revoke timber concessions. No legal challenge to the revocation of licences is now possible and no reasons need be given. This ensures that anyone with a logging interest remains loyal to the Chief Minister or risks losing their licence. Such close connections between politics and timber exploitation means that there is little incentive to protect forests or to protect and enforce native people's rights.
The group has a number of high level political connections: Mohamad Arip bin Mahmud, the brother of Sarawak's Chief Minister (who controls the allocation of logging concessions), was appointed as a director of Jaya Tiasa on 13/4/95;297 a sister of the Chief Minister is also one of Tiong's business partners.
In this undercover investigation, Global Witness shows exactly how Taib's family and their cronies by-pass Malaysian law to sell off Sarawak's land and forests, using Singapore's secretive banks to conceal corrupt deals.
Taib relies on a patronage system to reward "compliant local leaders" and stifle potential opposition.
As well it might. It is, you might say, well connected. CMS Group chairman is Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib. His younger brother Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib is deputy chairman. Their father is Abdul Taib Mahmud. He is the Chief Minister of Sarawak and has been since 1981.
In a covert investigation, GW captured on video dealings with Taib's cousins and several other intermediaries to acquire thousands of hectares of forest land that the London-based activist said revealed the systematic corruption and illegality that lay at the heart of Sarawak.
It took executive director Dr. Lukas Straumann two years to write his book, Money Logging: On the trail of the Asian Timber Mafia. In it he makes a number of allegations against one of Sarawak's most prominent personalities, a former Sarawak chief minister.
Abdul Taib Mahmud insists his family made their money via hard work in business. But many observers remain sceptical and wonder how his siblings and children came into all that wealth, both locally and overseas.
Taib relies on a patronage system to reward "compliant local leaders" and stifle potential opposition.
Such connections between the political elite and logging companies persist to this day. Besides the fact that licensing decisions are made by the Chief Minister in his additional function as state Minister of Resource Planning,[50] new legislation has been introduced that grants the Chief Minister alone the power to revoke timber concessions. No legal challenge to the revocation of licences is now possible and no reasons need be given. This ensures that anyone with a logging interest remains loyal to the Chief Minister or risks losing their licence. Such close connections between politics and timber exploitation means that there is little incentive to protect forests or to protect and enforce native people's rights.
Allegations of corruption and abuse of public office dog Abdul Taib Mahmud, Sarawak's chief minister, finance minister and planning-and-resources minister, who is believed to have firm control over the granting of logging licences. Mr Taib long denied being corrupt.
It took executive director Dr. Lukas Straumann two years to write his book, Money Logging: On the trail of the Asian Timber Mafia. In it he makes a number of allegations against one of Sarawak's most prominent personalities, a former Sarawak chief minister.
The group has a number of high level political connections: Mohamad Arip bin Mahmud, the brother of Sarawak's Chief Minister (who controls the allocation of logging concessions), was appointed as a director of Jaya Tiasa on 13/4/95;297 a sister of the Chief Minister is also one of Tiong's business partners.
Naim is a property developer and contractor whose chairman is Taib's cousin, Abdul Hamed Sepawi. He is also chairman of state power company Sarawak Energy and timber company Ta Ann Holdings Bhd., and is on the board of Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corp. and Sarawak Plantation Bhd.
As well it might. It is, you might say, well connected. CMS Group chairman is Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib. His younger brother Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib is deputy chairman. Their father is Abdul Taib Mahmud. He is the Chief Minister of Sarawak and has been since 1981.
The CMS takeover also reflects the politics of New Economic Policy privatization exercises in Malaysia, which tend to favor hiving off profitable public enterprises instead of loss-making ones to well-connected individuals in the private sector, Aeria claims. Apart from cultivating cronyism and promoting rent-seeking, such privatizations deprive the state sector of lucrative sources of income end up raising the tax burden of ordinary taxpayers, he writes.
In this undercover investigation, Global Witness shows exactly how Taib's family and their cronies by-pass Malaysian law to sell off Sarawak's land and forests, using Singapore's secretive banks to conceal corrupt deals.
In a covert investigation, GW captured on video dealings with Taib's cousins and several other intermediaries to acquire thousands of hectares of forest land that the London-based activist said revealed the systematic corruption and illegality that lay at the heart of Sarawak.
