Apologise, Taib told

Kuching (Feb 14, 2012): Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian has called on Prime Minister Najib Razak and Chief Minister Taib Mahmud to apologise for squandering the country's money in the delusional ego-boosting exercise by paying FBC Media Ltd to promote them internationally over BBC.

"They should resign immediately if they possess even an ounce of integrity and self-respect," Baru said in a press conference yesterday.

"It is difficult to believe that these two men do not realise that good reputation and respect are to be earned and cannot be bought, even if one is wealthier than the Queen of England," the Ba'Kelalan state assemblyman said.

Najib was reported to have paid RM83.8 million to boost his international image while Taib paid RM15 million per year to FBC to produce an extremely rosy but grossly inaccurate picture of Sarawak under Taib's rule.

Some of the misleading stories are that:

. Taib claimed that over 80 % of the Borneo jungle is still virgin forest. In fact, according to the Borneo Research Institute Malaysia Sarawak (Brimas), 85% of Sarawak has been deforested, and that thousands of natives have lost their lands and livelihood to loggers, oil palm plantations and dams and received nothing in return,

. That the only oil palm plantations that have been set up have only been on land cleared for rubber plantations anhd other crops. That oil palm is an agent of development and that those who raise issues about deforestation and corruption are ignorant and selfish outsiders. The reality is that many of the land grab cases in Sarawak involve timber and oil palm plantation. It was reported in the newspapers that Sarawak recorded its fastest pace in opening up land for oil palm cultivation in the past one year.Wetlands International reported in 2011 that a third of one million hectares of peat was drained and cleared between 2005 and 2010 alone for oil palm plantations, and that the expansion of oil palm plantations may lead to the complete loss of theese vast, unique forests by end of this decade. Most shocking of all, leaked records from the Land and Survey Department show that 31 companies linked to Taib have been given land for oil palm plantations amounting to almost 200,000 hectares- equivalent to three times the size of Singapore. More than half of the land leases - 45,000 hectares - have been given out for free or payment in kind. All of this leaving the native land owners with nothing.

. A happy Penan man is featured in the "Deforestation in Sarawak" programme, enjoying his life in the city. The reality is that many Penans have been struggling to protect their lands from the clutches of the logging companies since the 1980s. There are numerous cases of Penan girls being raped by workers of the logging companies but the government has so far refused to act. In fact, a minister added insult to injury by suggesting that the girls were to blame as Penan girls were known to be promiscuous from early age.

Baru called on BBC

“We suggest a series of fact-based documentaries on logging and deforestartion, oil palm plantations, native customary right (NCR) land issues, the proposed mega-dams, the displaced natives and the persecution of the lost Penans,” he said.

“These programmes should receive equal air time as was given to fairy tales on Malaysia and Sarawak produced by FBC Media Ltd for the BBC, only then can we say that an attempt has truly been made to right the wrong done to the people of Sarawak and to restore the integrity of the BBC,” he said.

However, he welcomed the apology by the BBC for its carelessness in airing eight programmes featuring Malaysia produced by FBC which “appeared to have a financial relationship with the Malaysian government.”

Baru stressed that the apology, aired on Feb 10 and 11 as well as made in its website, was a result of the investigations by whistleblower website, Sarawak Report, into the eight programmes favourable to the Malaysian and Sarawak state governments.

He added the apology vindicated Sarawak Report and confirmed to the 74 million BBC World News viewers around the world that the insidious tentacles of corruption and dirty politics of Malaysia and Sarawak.

"We also call on CNN and CNBC to follow the BBC's example and admit their mistake by apologising for allowing their journalistic integrity to be compromised by FBC and for airing misleading propaganda disguised as current affairs to be viewed by millions of people around the world," Baru said. to do documentaries on the “real situation” in Sarawak to compensate for its “compromised” reporting on the state and country.