The Sultan of Bintulu Helps Himself to The Airport!
Sarawak Report
Businessmen in Bintulu have been eying the opportunity of acquiring the vast area of the Central District occupied by the old airport.
This is public land, of course, and so its disposal comes under the control of the Chief Minster, because (outrageously) he is also the Planning and Resources Minister and Finance Minister and the man who dominates his home district of Bintulu.
Under an honest administration this valuable land would be auctioned openly and conditions would be attached to benefit the wider community. Such rules would not deter plenty of businesses that would be happy to make a go of improving the centre of their town.
Sadly, it will come as little surprise to readers of Sarawak Report that we have now received information that the Chief Minster has, instead, secretly handed the entire area to one of his own favourite family companies, Naim Cendera.
Handed over to nominees at a nominal price!
Two prime plots in the centre of developed Bintulu – worth tens of millions handed out for peanuts
A trip to the Land Registry in Bintulu has revealed that this vast area of prime land, two plots of 11,852 hectares and 2,841 hectares, was quietly handed to Naim Cendera in November 2008.
The rent requested for these areas is ridiculously low RM88,890 per year and RM3,409 per year respectively (with no requirement to put it up over the 60 year lease provided).
A deal of just over RM 4 million for the premium on the land is also registered, which again is peanuts for land that could raise Naim Cendera tens if not hundreds of millions in profits.
An insider has told Sarawak Report that during the secretive planning negotiations a ‘smart’ deal was arrived at whereby the runway, which is federal land, was planned for conversion into a dual carriageway to service the centre.
In this way the premium has been largely avoided, ignoring the value of the surrounding land. The two plots are assigned in the planning documents to commercial and residential purposes and both have been handed to Naim Cendera.
This vast development has gone for a piddly price – Naim Cendera ‘hits it lucky’ (again)
The former town-planner and member of the Bintulu Development Authority (and till recently a Director of Naim Cendera) Sylvester Ajah Subah says he knows just how the system works, which is why he is now campaigning as the candidate for the opposition PKR (PR) in the nearby constituency of Dalat in Mukah. He told us there is no such thing as transparency in Sarawak:
“Of course other people were interested in the land. But, it’s simple, the government is favouring the developer who is the blue eyed boy of the Chief Minister. The developer is the company that is very closely connected with the Chief Minister”
Taib’s blue-eyed boys
- Sepawi – cousin to the Chief Minister. How come he does so well when it comes to Government contracts?
The Blue-eyed Boy in question is of course Hamid Sepawi, the Chief Minister’s own cousin, who works with his ubiquitous partner Hasmi bin Hasnan in charge of endless construction businesses, public bodies and plantations all over Sarawak.
The duo are the veritable Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum at the top of numerous Boards of Directors and between them they own around half of the supposedly public holding company of Naim Cendera!
Both men have also featured on Malaysia’s Top 30 Rich List, owing to their vast shareholdings in the enterprises they manage. Time and again their success can be put down to the good fortune of being chosen by Taib to be awarded contracts and land concessions.
It is hardly surprising therefore that most insiders in Sarawak regard the men as none other than proxies and nominees for Taib himself – men behind whom the Chief Minister can hide his own business interests.
