Sarawak Energy Awarded US$ 226 Million In Contracts to Malaysian Chief Minister’s Family
Malaysian power supplier’s Norwegian CEO asked to resign over corruption allegations
(KUCHING, SARAWAK / MALAYSIA) Torstein Dale Sjøtveit, the Norwegian CEO of state-owned Malaysian power supplier, Sarawak
Energy, is in the middle of a new controversy about corruption in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. According to a
report released today by Swiss NGO, Bruno Manser Fund, Sarawak Energy awarded contracts worth 680 million Malaysian
Ringgit (US$ 226 million) to three companies closely linked to the family of Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud
("Taib").
All the contracts were granted during Mr. Sjøtveit’s tenure as CEO of Sarawak Energy, a company that is wholly owned by
the state of Sarawak. The beneficiaries of the contracts are Sarawak Cable, Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS) and Naim Holdings.
Sarawak Cable, a cable and wire manufacturer, is chaired by Taib’s son Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, who is also the company’s
largest shareholder. It received three contracts for power transmission lines linked to Sarawak Energy’s hydropower
projects, worth 237 million Ringgit (US$ 79 million). In 2010, Sarawak Energy sold its profitable subsidiary, Sarwaja
Timur, to Sarawak Cable, securing the Chief Minister’s son another 13 million Ringgit (US$ 4.3 million) in public
contracts.
Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS) is the flagship of the Taib family business empire. 42.7 % of CMS's shares are held by Taib’s
late wife and his four children, and another 8.4% of shares are controlled by Taib through the state-owned Sarawak
Economic Development Corporation. In 2012, CMS received a contract worth 23 million Ringgit (US$ 7.7 million) from
Sarawak Energy for the construction of a resettlement site for indigenous Penan communities displaced by the Murum dam
project.
Naim Holdings ("Naim") is chaired by Hamed Sepawi, the Chief Minister’s cousin, who is also the chairman of Sarawak
Energy and, as such, Mr. Sjøtveit’s direct superior. Hamed Sepawi is also one of Naim’s largest shareholders. In 2009,
Naim was granted a contract worth 209 million Ringgit (US$ 70 million) for a power transmission line linked to the
building of the Bakun dam. In March 2012, Sarawak Energy commissioned Naim to construct the resettlement site for
indigenous Penan communities displaced by the Murum dam for a total of 197-million-Ringgit (US$ 65.9 million).
"The extent of conflict of interest in Sarawak’s energy sector is shocking", said Bruno Manser Fund director, Lukas
Straumann. "It is particularly disturbing that the Taib family is directly benefiting from the displacement of
indigenous communities."
"Mr. Sjøtveit should step down immediately for unduly favouring the Taib family and also his superior, the Chief
Minister’s cousin. We are calling on the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission, MACC, and on Norway’s Økokrim to
investigate these contracts and expect prosecutors to implement the relevant anti-corruption legislation."
Taib Mahmud has been Chief Minister of Sarawak, Malaysia’s largest state, since 1981. For over three decades, he has
systematically abused his public office to enrich his family, whose global assets are estimated at US$ 20 billion. In
June 2011, Malaysia’s Anti Corruption Commission opened an investigation into Taib over allegations of corruption and
abuse of office. The investigation is still ongoing.
Torstein Dale Sjøtveit has been CEO of Sarawak Energy since November 2009 when he succeeded the Chief Minister’s
brother-in-law at the helm of the Malaysian power provider. Last week, 600 Penan natives of Sarawak appealed to the
Norwegian King to call Mr. Sjøtveit home to Norway.
Mr. Sjøtveit is a board member of the International Hydropower Association whose World Congress is being held in
Kuching, Malaysia, from 21 to 24 May 2013.
ENDS