Sarawak’s federal deputy trade and industry minister Jacob Sagan has found himself embroiled in corruption allegations centring on the ownership of two large timber concessions in the Malaysian state.
Watchdog the Sarawak Report has uploaded documentation on its website purporting to show that the minister, his wife and daughter are the owners of concessions containing the valuable and endangered belian tree.
The group shows that the companies owning the 15km² of concessions are Winjac and Milisha Holdings, with Mr Sagan and his wife owning Milisha and his wife and daughter owning Winjac.
The belian tree can grow up to 1,000 years old and its wood (ironwood) can sell for up to M$6,000 a ton. It has been classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as a vulnerable species and is banned for export from Sarawak.
Sarawak Report says minister Sagan has supported Sarawak chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s plans for a new dam, which would require flooding of about 400km² of forest, displacing an estimated 20,000 people from minister Sagan’s own constituency including his home village of Long Anap.
It questions Mr Sagan’s reasons for supporting the dam project and says his ownership of the concessions represents a conflict of interests.
