Sepawi Exposed By Own Outburst!
SARAWAK REPORT
The Chief Minister’s cousin and business nominee, Hamed Sepawi, has exposed more of his own sleazy dealings as the result of an ill-judged, angry outburst against recent criticism.
Sepawi is one of Asia’s richest men, thanks to the patronage of Taib, and his business interests include his role as Executive Chairman of the timber and plantation giant Ta Ann Bhd, of which he is also a major shareholder.
He is also a Director of one of Sarawak’s other most controversial companies, Grand Perfect Sdn Bhd, which runs South East Asia’s largest Acacia Plantation project.
Grand Perfect Sdn Bhd has been blamed for grabbing land from native people and breaking down villages as it drives to exploit a half million hectare concession handed to it in 2002 by the Chief Minister and Land Resources Minister, Sepawi’s cousin, Abdul Taib Mahmud.
Legal denials by Ta Ann
However, last week a lawyer representing Ta Ann sent a furious letter to the leader of Sarawak’s PKR opposition party, the lawyer Baru Bian, demanding retractions and “apology” over remarks allegedly made to a Tasmanian newspaper. It cited a recent article in Tasmania’s Mercury newspaper which had stated that Ta Ann owns one third of the controversial plantation company Grand Perfect.
The lawyer declared this was untrue. “Your statement in the said newspaper report was both factually wrong and misleading”, thundered Zaid Ibrahim & Co, Kuching, on behalf of Ta Ann.
As a result he is demanding a grovelling apology from Mr Bian to be placed in a weekend edition of the Mercury within two weeks, saying the following:
“I wish to tender my unreserved apology to Ta Ann for making a gross error in my statement and for any embarrassment, damage to their reputation and credibility caused. It has now been brought to my attention that Grand Perfect is not a subsidiary of Ta Ann and that Ta Ann do not own any shares in Grand Perfect”
With legal advisers like these, who needs critics?
The folly of such an arrogant demand from a company whose Executive Chairman is up to his neck in accusations of patronage and nepotism has immediately become clear.
In the first place any reading of the offending article makes plain that the statement about the 30% shareholding is made by the Australian Mercury reporter, not Baru Bian, so it is to the Mercury newspaper that Ta Ann should be addressing any complaints.
