PBB Supreme Executive Council 2010-2013

PBB Supreme Executive Council 2010-2013

President - Abdul Taib Mahmud
Deputy President 1 - Alfred Jabu Numpang
Deputy President 11 - Abang Johari Tun Openg
Senior Vice-President 1 - Awang Tengah Ali Hassan
Senior Vice-President 11 - Douglas Uggah Embas
Vice-Presidents - Dr. Muhd Leo Toyad
- Michael Manyin Jawong
- Abdul Wahab Aziz
- Lihan Jok
- Empiang Jabu
- Fadillah Yusof

Supreme Executive Council Members (Bumiputra) – contested

- Talib Zulpilip
- Julaihi Narawi
- Aidan Wing
- Dr. Abdul Rahman Ismail
- Mohamad Ali Mahmud
- Idris Buang
- Murni Suhaili
- Abdul Karim Hamzah
- Dr. Abang Rauf Abang Zen
- Ahmad Lai Bujang
- Dr. Wahbi Junaidi

Supreme Executive Council Members (Pesaka) – uncontested

- Gramong Juna
- James Dawos Mamit
- Roland Sagah Wee Inn
- Frederick Bayoi Manggie
- Henry Sum Agung
- Alexander Nanta Linggi
- Benedick Bujang Tembak
- Watson Bangau
- Mujah Lihan

Looking at the list of PBB Supreme Executive Council members, I am attracted to the Pesaka list of members. It appears to me that since 1973 when Pesaka merged with Bumiputra to become Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB), there has never ever been any election to this wing. (Tell me if I am wrong).

The non-contest in the Pesaka wing for the year 2010 to 2013 is a big contrast with the Bumiputra wing where there were contests for the 11 supreme council posts. And the most qualified people with the best brains have being elected.

For the Pesaka wing, members were appointed and more often than not cronies and family members are appointed as members of the supreme council to represent the Dayaks in the party. Many are mediocre. And how can Pesaka progress?

Why were there no contests? Is the Pesaka leadership scared of new faces? Or are there not enough qualified people to be members? These questions beg some answers. – The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Should the contractors to be blamed?

Second Minister of Planning and Resources Management Awang Tengah Ali Hassan was quoted by The Borneo Post today (Tuesday, 2 March) as saying that contractors appointed by the provisional lease (PL) holders to be blamed for encroaching into some native customary right (NCR) lands.

He said that even though it was obvious that they could not enter NCL, they just bulldozed their way into the area.

He explained that land claimed as customary land would be omitted when the authorities issued PLs.

“This condition must be adhered to, and normally it is the contractors appointed by the PL holders who bulldoze, and this creates problems.

“They just bulldoze even land which come native customary rights,” he told reporters after officiating at a seminar on land and economy for Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) delegates at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching here on 1 March.

Tengah was asked to comment on what a delegate termed as “PL disease” during the question and answer session in the seminar.

“I urge Penghulus to ensure that the appointed contractors would ensure that land which are being claimed as NCR land would be omitted unless they (land owners) ask for the contractors for assistance,” he said.

He said that PL holders had been reminded to ensure that their appointed contractors carried out their tasks in an ethical manner.

Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu was among those present.

Awang Tengah now seems to be very sympathetic towards the NCR land owners. Could be that the State election is coming and NCR land problems will be major issues in the campaigns.

But I still remember when he answered a question in Council Negeri a couple of years ago that “All untitled lands including NCR lands belong to the Government.”

He has been warning Penghulus and Tuai Rumah not to endorse any NCR land claim by the land owners otherwise they will face troubles.

Now if it is true that contractors are to be blamed for bulldozing NCR land, destroying fruit trees, cash crops, longhouses and farm houses, why are staffs of Land and Survey Department supported by the Police helping the contractors to destroy the fruit trees, cash crops and longhouses?

Why are NCR land owners being detained for defending their NCR lands? Why are the State Government and the Land and Survey Department being sued by the NCR land owners? And so far why are the NCR land owners winning their court cases against the State Government and the Land and Survey? And why is the State Government using the tax payers’ money to pay millions of ringgit worth of compensations to the land owners and to the lawyers? Why? and Why? And there are so many “whys”?

Awang Tengah is not telling the truth. In countries in Europe, South Korea and Japan, Awang should be asked to resign. Should the contractors alone be blamed? – The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Empurau and solidarity dinner

SPDP president William Mawan’s remarks that the “group of eight” who were looking for empurau – the most expensive fish in Kapit (now about RM500 a kilo) - when they attended a PRS function last Saturday, have irked them.

“We don’t look for empurau. We are serious about merger,” said Peter Gani, a member of SPDP council member who together with five lawmakers and two other supreme council members last month walked out from a SPDP council meeting.

“Mawan’s remarks show that he is not interested in the merger proposal as he poked fun at our efforts,” he added.

On the proposed solidarity dinner, Gani said that Mawan could order a lot of empurau for the dinner.

“But can a large amount of empurau and crates of beer drown our problems in SPDP? Can our differences be washed away with the drinking of beer?” he asked.

Gani said that the SPDP president made a lot of promises even swearing by the light (api) and before the light went off he had already broken his promises.

“While on one hand he tries to mend fences with the renegades, he on the other hand introduces a disciplinary committee. Actually he is sharpening his daggers.

“We must beware not to stick our heads into the lion’s mouth,” he added.

Meanwhile, the five – State Assemblyman for Tasik Biru Peter Nansian, State Assemblyman for Marudi Sylvester Enteri, State Assemblyman for Batu Danau Paulus Gumbang, State Assemblywoman for Bekenu Rosey Yunus and the Mas Gading MP Dr. Tiki Lafe – met the BN secretary general Tengku Adnan soon after their return from Kapit yesterday.

According to one of the leaders, they told the BN secretary general that they would never return to the fold of SPDP as they have no more trust on the party leadership.

“The real root cause of the problem is that the president has been lying to us many times in the past.

“We cannot stand it any longer,” they told him.

In replying to a question posed by The Broken Shield regarding the solidarity dinner, Gani said: “We can forget the empurau as we prefer to go for smaller and less expensive fish, the one we can afford. Even ikan pusu is good for us.”

“You can tell SPDP leaders that we can only return if the three leaders step down,” he said, refusing to reveal the names of the three leaders.

Isn’t the shield of the SPDP going to be broken? Any bet? – The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

PKR welcomes the renegades

Sarawak Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is willing to accept Peter Nansian and his group to join the party if they cannot join Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) after they have found Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) losing its idealism, said its chairman Baru Bian (pic above).

Baru was asked to comment on the current problem faced by the five elected representatives of SPDP who have abandoned the party due to their unhappiness and lack of trust on the party leadership.

The five – State Assemblyman for Tasik Biru, Peter Nansian, the State Assemblyman for Marudi, Sylvester Enteri, State Assemblyman for Batu Danau, Paulus Gumbang, State Assemblywoman for Bekenu, Rosey Yunus and the Mas Gading Member of Parliament Dr. Tiki Lafe – have cited loss of confidence on President William Mawan’s leadership.

They are seeking to merge with another BN component party Parti Rakyat Sarawak, but PRS president James Masing cannot simply merge with them as they have not been authorized by the party to do so. Masing wants “full merger” with SPDP.

Nor can they be parked temporarily with PRS due to strong opposition from other BN component parties especially SPDP.

“Well, if that is the problem, it is better for them to join us in PKR as it is the only multi-racial and multi-religious party in the country.

“In PKR there is no one dominant race. Each leader is fighting for every Malaysian,” he said, pointing out that political parties based on race and religion are no longer relevant in the country.

Previously such parties might flourish, but nowadays they should be dismantled. And the country needs a party of multi-racialism, he said.

He added: “What is important is what the party is fighting for. What is the dasar (policy) of the party? For PKR it is true to the word – keadilan (justice).”

Baru who chaired the meeting of the State leadership council told the Press that by the end of March, State PKR will come up with the State policy taken from the National policy such as on land issues, economy, petroleum and so on.

He said the central leadership has agreed to recognise the 18 points of Sarawak’s guarantees in the federation of Malaysia and they want to impose them.

“The other attractive point in the national policy is the decentralization of the state economy and this is important in the federation such as the federation of Malaysia.

“What Kuala Lumpur gets from Sarawak so much, but what we in Sarawak get in return are only peanuts. We want to reverse it. Currently we are the 4th poorest state in the country and through this decentralization of state economy we will be one of the richest States in the country.

“I am sure we will be able to transform Sarawak and the coming election is the golden opportunity for us to do so,” he said.

Baru also disclosed that the Register of Societies (ROS) has approved another 14 of its divisions bringing to 29 it has formed so far. Only two more are yet to be formed. Each division represents one parliamentary constituency.

“We are also discussing issues pertaining to the reorganization and the setting up of our divisions and structures with a view to prepare ourselves for the coming election. Prime Minister Najib was here and his presence was an indication of an early election.

“We are moving to every division. And we have some leaders from Kuala Lumpur to come to Sarawak to see our party members and opinion leaders,” he said.

On the allocation of seats, Baru said that they have not finalised it and he would be meeting with leaders from DAP, PAS and SNAP very soon.

They hoped that in every state constituency of the 71, we will challenge the BN on a one to one basis, he said. - The Broken Shield

Source: http://www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Nansian and Co have built a bridge to PRS!

Show of unity...The "SPDP Group of 5" at a press conference chaired by Masing at PRS headquarters on 24 Feb

KUCHING – As the year of the tiger starts to unfold with uncertainty, so is the relationship between two rural based parties, Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) and Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS). The relationship is not only getting jittery but also becoming wider and wider apart.

The reason: five SPDP lawmakers unhappy with their president over a number of issues including not keeping his promise of maintaining a status quo after the party’s triennial general assembly are anxious to “jump ship” to PRS under the pretext of “merger”.

During the party’s supreme council meeting last month, the five – State Assemblyman for Tasik Biru Peter Nansian, State Assemblyman for Marudi Sylvester Enteri, State Assemblyman for Batu Danau Paulus Gumbang, State Assemblywoman for Bekenu Rosey Yunus and MP for Mas Gading Dr. Tiki Lafe and three Supreme Council members namely George Garai, Peter Gani and Eda Egar walked out of the meeting when president William Mawan announced Nelson Balang Rining as a replacement for Enteri.

Initially Enteri was the leader and he gave reasons why they walked out, and one of them was that they were unhappy with the president who failed to keep his promise of keeping Enteri as secretary general. They met Prime Minister Najib and Chief Minister Taib Mahmud why they wanted to abandon SPDP and join PRS as temporary “political parkers” until the next State election.

After some time it was suggested that Peter Nansian should take over, firstly because he was a senior vice president and secondly they did not want the public to have the perception that Enteri was a “cry baby” or a sour grape if he were to continue to lead. But when Nansian took over as the leader of the renegades, they changed their intention to be parked in PRS to that of merger. This, they believed, would justify their jumping ship even though “merger” has already dead years ago.

On 24 February at a Press conference, when PRS president James Masing announced the so-called formation of merger committees of both parties, Nansian who was present again explained the justification of them reviving the merger proposal and claimed that the party president William Mawan and his deputy, Peter Nyarok of being controlled by someone so much so that they are unable to make decisions for the party including the proposed merger with Parti Rakyat Sarawak.

“We cannot move if we are being controlled by someone,” he said.

“The merger proposal has been there, five years already and nothing has moved as our president and his deputy have to refer to someone before making a decision,” he said at the joint press conference.

“We have to do it (merger) now and we are in fact doing a favour for the party and the members since they cannot do it,” said Nansian, who is also member of the SPDP merger committee.

Nyarok is the chairman of the committee. The other member is Sylvester Enteri.

“We must have the courage to do the things for the people and the country and that is why we have to start the ball rolling, because in the merger we work together in a bigger body in order to serve the rakyat better.

“We believe that what we are doing is the best and only time will tell,” he said, adding that they were serious about it and had actually discussed a roadmap as to what to do.

Asked to name the “someone” who controlled the party, Nansian said: “You know whom I refer to”.

Earlier Masing introduced members of the “group of five” to the press at PRS headquarters. Except for Dr. Tiki Lafe, MP for Mas Gading, the others present were Nansian, Enteri, Paulus Gumbang, state Assemblyman for Batu Danau and Rosey Yunus, state Assemblywoman for Bekenu.

Rosey flew all the way from Miri just to attend the Press conference.

The “group of five” and three other members of SPDP supreme council have been in the limelight after they walked out from a SPDP council meeting last month due to major disagreements with the party president.

They have told the Press that they would never come back to SPDP and are seeking a “merger” with PRS in order to remain in the Barisan Nasional.

Commenting on their move, Masing said that PRS was very happy to welcome Nansian and his group to discuss the proposed merger between SPDP and PRS.

“This Press conference is to formally reply to Nansian’s request for merger with us. We are confident that we will be able to talk to Nansian and his group and I believe they are very serious about it.

“The merger must be genuine and must be in the spirit of cooperation; it must be inclusive, meaning to say that others can also come and join the merger.

“It is very urgent now and we cannot afford to waste time any longer especially in view of the coming election. We have to strengthen the rural-based constituencies,” he said, pointing out that the rural-based constituencies are the “battle grounds” for the coming election.

“Whoever controls the rural areas be it BN or PRM that coalition will control the state,” he said.

Asked whether Johnichal Rayong, State Assemblyman for Engkilili and Larry Sng, State Assemblyman for Pelagus, who are both partyless be invited to join the merger, Masing said that Larry could not be invited as he has been sacked from the party.

He said Rayong also could not come in due to technical reasons. Masing did not explain.

In the meantime, SPDP will hold its supreme council meeting this Sunday (28 Feb) at its headquarters, Badruddin Road, Kuching. Top of its agenda is expected to be the “group of five elected representatives” and three other members of the supreme council who have defected to PRS through what they called “merger”.

Will the eight attend the supreme council meeting?

Nansian on behalf of the rest said: “We will cross the bridge when we come to it.”

Of course, they cannot cross the bridge, after all they have already burnt it, and what I understand is that they are going to cross another bridge to a supreme council meeting of PRS in Kapit this Saturday, 27 Feb 2010, where and when their membership will be deliberated (and accepted). - The Broken Shield

Source: http://www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Native Land owners have the last laugh

Pic taken from www.dayaknation.com/blog

The State government has to spend colossal amount of money unnecessarily on court cases and land compensations to be paid to native land owners who have sued the government for illegally taking away their land and leasing them to companies for the planting of trees or oil palm.

Such court costs and compensations for a land case may run to one million ringgit or more as they have to pay for damages to the land, the destruction of fruit trees and cash crops, the demolishment of their houses and loss of incomes. Imagine the amount of money the government has to pay for the 20 cases that the natives have so far won. The amount could be over RM20 million.

Of course the companies which were given the provisional leases have also come up with compensation money.

And there are 203 cases pending in the Court.

The latest victory (on 23 February 2010) involved land owner Agi Anak Bungkong and 196 Iban families of Selezu, Setulai and Sepadok in the Sebauh District, Bintulu when they successfully won their case against the State Government and company which had applied for stay of execution against a High Court decision on 21 January 2010.

The land owners from 15 longhouses were represented by Messrs Baru Bian Advocates and Solicitors, Kuching, while J.C. Fong represented the government.

The land owners had sued the government and company over native customary rights land in and around their longhouses in Selezu, Setulai and Sepadok in the Sebauh District, Bintulu.

They claimed that they had native customary rights over those lands which were not merely lands. Lands, they said, constituted their life, and from where they derived food, valuable medicines, wildlife and natural produce fore their livelihood and sustenance.

They cultivated padi, fruit trees, rubber, cocoa and other essential trees and crops on those lands. Hence, they argued that native customary rights land, comprising lands and forests, were not just a source of livelihood but life itself.

They said that their NCR over their lands was recognised in and by law and expressly acknowledged and honoured by the government of the day.

However, possibly due to an act of recklessness and negligence of the 4th defendants (Land and Survey Department) and the 5th defendants (the State Government) or in disregard of the plaintiffs’ acquired, vested or accrued rights in the native customary land, two provisional leases over Lot 2 Block 4 Selezu Land District and Lot 2 Block 34 Kemena Land District were issued to the 2nd defendants (Lembaga Tabung Haji) and 3rd defendants (Semai Mekar Sdn Bhd) on 2 December 1996.

The said provisional leases covered and included a substantial part of the plaintiffs’ said native customary rights land.

High Court Judge David Wong granted that the plaintiffs have native customary rights over the lands they cleared on 21 January 2010.

The judge ordered that the NCR lands should be ratified and excluded from the provisional leases.

The plaintiffs must be given vacant possessions forthwith, he said.

The judge ordered that damages for the plaintiffs to be assessed 4% interest per annum from the date of encroachment to the date of judgment and 8% from the date of judgment to the realization of the payment.

Costs to the plaintiffs are to be assessed by the Court.

Against this decision, the State Government and company applied for stay of execution.

In today’ hearing, High Court Judge Linton Albert dismissed the government’s application and awarded costs to the land owners.

Following the Court decision, See Chee How of Baru Bian Advocates and Solicitors said the company must completely vacate the land and deliver the same to the plaintiffs.- The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Is SPDP’s Shield going to be broken?

Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) is heading towards a big trouble when five of its elected representatives and three members of the supreme council are abandoning the party and are applying to join Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), another member of the Barisan Nasional (BN).

The five are State Assemblyman for Tasik Biru, Peter Nansian, the State Assemblywoman for Bekenu Rosey Yunus, the State Assemblyman for Marudi, Sylvester Enteri, State Assemblyman for Batu Danau, Paulus Gumbang and the MP for Mas Gading Dr. Tiki Lafe and three supreme council members – George Garai, Peter Gani and Eda Egar.

They want to join PRS under the pretext of merger so that their “transfer” to PRS will be smooth. More are expected to join them. The “group of eight” is aptly applying the SPDP principle – "Sapa Pedis Dulu Pansut".

But SPDP deputy president Peter Nyarok in a statement today has taken to task the group led by Datuk Peter Nansian for acting on their own accord without the sanction of SPDP for hastening and negotiating the merger with Parti Rakyat Sarawak.

“The group needs to be reminded that SPDP has already appointed a committee under my chairmanship,” Nyarok said, stressing that the committee has to work jointly with the committee from PRS to discuss and chart out the roadmap for the merger.

The chairman of the PRS’s appointed committee for the merger was the late Datuk Dublin Unting Ingkot and is now replaced by Dato Billy Abit Joo.

The joint-committee, co-chaired by the two chairmen, has met three times and to date it has shown progress, although a lot more areas have to be covered and resolved.

“The wishes and views of party members at branch and divisional levels must be taken into account and respected before any major decision such as the proposed merger can be made.

“SPDP wishes to reiterate that no individuals or groups other than the appointed Merger Committee are authorized to speak or negotiate on matters relating to the merger on behalf of SPDP.

“Those refusing to comply with this procedure are deemed to be acting on their own accord and SPDP does not recognize their action,” said Nyarok.

”It must be acknowledged that the merger is a complex and tedious process as it involves looking into the interests and sentiments of leaders and members of both political parties.

“It is a process that cannot be forcibly hurried by some individuals who fail to see the big picture and are not able to operate according to the order and discipline of their party,” he said.

Background to the crisis

It is indeed a pity that SPDP which broke away from Sarawak National Party (SNAP) in 2002 is facing a similar problem – all due to big towkays. During SNAP’s crisis, the “gang of nine” as the group was then known walked out from a CWC meeting when the meeting decided to expel Tiong King Sing from the party. Ironically, the “gang of nine” who was unhappy with the decision to expel Tiong was led by William Mawan who later formed what is now known as SPDP.

This time the “Group of eight” was not happy with the party president’s decision to replace Sylvester Enteri with Nelson Balang as secretary-general after the president did not honour his promise to maintain status quo in the party prior to the party’s triennial general assembly. Initially Balang refused to accept the appointment, as he knew that his appointment might cause a split in the party. But after a week of persuasion, he finally agreed.

It was also understood that the president wanted Kilat Briak, a prominent lawyer who hails from Saratok to be appointed as secretary-general. But Nyarok vehemently opposed it as he did not want Kilat to be too strong in the party. Nyarok does not want Mawan to groom Kilat to replace him in the Krian constituency. Nyarok, the sources said, wants his son-in-law to replace him perhaps in the coming state election.

But for the “group of eight” Enteri’s termination as secretary-general is a mere excuse. The problem in the party has been brewing up for the past one year or so especially when the president has allegedly failed to perform as a leader such as not keeping his promises made to some senior members of the party as well as not having a mind of his own; he listens too much to one man, the man who treated every member of the supreme council of the party as small children.

And during the last TGA, the man really showed his authority when he made decisions on behalf of the president such as deciding the list of the president’s men as well as the list of SPDP youth. When anyone questioned him, he shouted at him as if he was a beggar.

Mawan has been reminded about these insults, but he ignored them. Now he is paying the price of not listening to the party members. And the “gang of eight” has made up their mind to abandon SPDP and join PRS. They had first informed Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud. It is understood the two leaders seemingly agreed with their decision.

All the Dayak-based parties have shields as their symbols. And we have seen by now how the symbols of Dayak-based parties - the Shield of Sarawak National Party and the Shield of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) being broken; and how the Shield of Pesaka absorbed into Parti Bumiputra and how the Shield of PRS was almost broken. Is the Shield of SPDP going to be broken as a result of the current crisis? – The Broken Shield

Source: http://www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com/