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Taib says Global Witness video expose was ‘sneaky’

By Zurairi AR
The Malaysian Insider
April 05, 2013

KUCHING, April 5 — Tan Sri Taib Mahmud has challenged Global Witness to debate him on the issue of illegal land deals in Sarawak, and accused the international environmental activist group of having a hidden agenda by visiting Malaysia’s biggest state in a “sneaky way”.

He has also suggested links between Global Witness and opposition parties.

“The timing is too much to ignore … I think there is a link between them and the opposition,” said the long-serving Sarawak chief minister, who noted the release of a video showing how illegal land deals are allegedly brokered in the state happened just before with Election 2013 which will be held soon.

Global Witness’ accusations against him were also the result of second-hand information obtained from the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), Taib said in a video interview uploaded online yesterday.

He invited the international activists to observe the real situation in Sarawak themselves as he trumpeted the state’s many achievements in preserving its forests.

“Global Witness should … not (be) hiding behind some picked up second-hand tales from a fellow NGO,” Taib told the Malaysian Observer (MobTV) channel, referring to environmental and human rights group BMF.

The chief minister was cast into the international spotlight last month after Global Witness released a video documentary alleging the state Barisan Nasional chief to have received millions of ringgit in kickbacks over land deals that have denuded the Borneo state.

He refuted accusations that only five per cent of forests is left in the state, saying that the true picture can be found by looking at the state using Google’s satellite images.

Google maps the Earth using periodic shots taken using satellite imagery and aerial photography in its applications Google Earth and Google Maps.

Taib had said yesterday that he will not co-operate with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) regarding his graft allegations as he believes the government body to be “naughty” and “dishonest” in its investigations.

“They don’t deserve my co-operation because they have been naughty… and they have not been honest,” he told reporters after attending a Barisan Nasional leadership meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

He has also maintained his innocence, saying his cousins and others implicated in the video expose were promoting themselves to be his agents to solicit favours.

The video, titled “Inside Malaysia’s Shadow State”, showed dealings by Global Witness’ undercover investigators with Taib’s cousins and several other intermediaries to acquire thousands of hectares of forest land, which the group said would displace thousands of indigenous people living there.

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10 Replies to “Taib says Global Witness video expose was ‘sneaky’”

  2. “So what?” “So what?”

    That is to me the most accurate commonly used expression to describe pekmoh’s response to the expose.

    Yeah, he was caught with both his hands in the cookie jar.

    So what?

    He was caught chewing and shoving the cookie from his left molar on to his right and then back again.

    So what?

    And he obviously had chuncks of the cookie stuck to the groove between his two front teeth.

    So what?

    And was seen spitting out what he didnt like.

    So what?

    And he took so much of the cookie that even his feaces smells distinctively cookie-ish.

    So what?

    You have all the evidence? Yeah so what? He is untouchable!

    …. That my friends is classic arrogance a la umno-style and a fine example of absolute power corrupting absolutely!

  5. “sneaky”? “naughty”? “not honest”???? THIS IS SERIOUS LANGUAGE OF GOVERNANCE & PROBLEMS?

    Honestly, we have an INFANTILE DILETTANTE who has stolen billions and running the huge, challenging-to-develop state of Sarawak.

    But perhaps its because we also had the biggest dilettante of all running this country for 25 years and apparently still calls the shot..

  8. “There is no wave without the wind” – chinese idiom quoted

    Taib have something hidden under his sleeves that is being revealed for the time being and apparently he doesnt want anybody to know about it .

  9. Catch-22:- If Taib is sincerely investigated, Sarawak may be lost to the opposition or to independents. If Taib is not investigated, Najib loses valuable Brownie-points concerning the Alphabetical Transformation Soup thing, and hands the high ground straight to Pakatan.

  10. For this “Tahi”, MACC is just a naughty and dishonest boy, quoted on the SUN, on 5th Apr 2013,
    If what he said is true, then MACC should be dismantled and re-organized !
    or can MACC sue him for defamation ?
    also according to him, all Sarawak Chinese cannot understand any other language except Mandarin,
    and that he cannot find any Sarawakian who know the Mandarin to work for him?

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