Key Baram dam supporter bags USD 20 million in public contracts
USD 20 million (MYR 63 million) in public contracts for Jacob's Dema Tega Sdn Bhd
(KUCHING, SARAWAK / MALAYSIA) Dema Tega Sdn Bhd, a construction company owned by the family of the Malaysian Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry, Jacob Dungau Sagan, has received public contracts worth over 63 million Malaysian Ringgits (USD 20 million) over the last five years. This has been disclosed by the Bruno Manser Fund today. According to the Swiss NGO, more than half of the projects are connected to a rural water supply system funded by Malaysia's Federal Government and commissioned by the Public Works Department of Sarawak, Malaysia's largest state on the island of Borneo.
Jacob Dungau Sagan, a native Kenyah MP from Sarawak's interior, is a staunch supporter of the 1,000 MW Baram dam, one of twelve major dam projects in Sarawak. It is believed that corruption is the main motive behind Jacob's support for the controversial project that would drown 26 villages in his constituency and force 20,000 indigenous people to give up their native lands and move to resettlement sites.
Dema Tega Sdn Bhd is jointly owned by Jacob's wife, Winnie Jolly, his brother, Peter Usang Sagan, and his sister-in-law, Roseline binti Andrew Gayu, who are believed to be proxies for Jacob himself. Public contracts are the main source of revenue of Dema Tega Sdn Bhd, which has a share capital of MYR 750,100 MYR (USD 250'000).
Last week, Jacob Dungau Sagan came under fire for his secret involvement in trading Belian timber, an endangered tropical hardwood species. Jacob, his wife Winnie and his daughter Sharon are the owners of Milisha Holdings Sdn Bhd and Winjac Sdn Bhd, which have been granted Belian-harvesting licences by Abdul Taib Mahmud, the Sarawak Chief Minister and main promoter of the Sarawak dam folly.
The Bruno Manser Fund calls on the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission to open an investigation into Jacob's controversial businesses and his unhealthy relationship with the Sarawak Chief Minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud.
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