Aluminium smelter a goldmine for Taib's kin

The deal to sell off Sarawak Aluminium Company Sdn Bhd (Salco) could bring a financial windfall to Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud's family, said whistleblower website Sarawak Report.

The website in a report on Thursday said that negotiations are under way to sell Salco to giant multinational Rio Tinto Alcan headquartered in Montreal, Canada, in a deal it said would earn "a fat multi-billion profit" for Taib's family in return for their paltry investment of RM2.

It detailed how ownership of the aluminium smelter company can be traced to Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS), a conglomerate owned by Taib's late wife and his children.

"We can reveal that Salco, the company that has been handed a licence to build a vast smelter in Simalaju, powered by cheap electricity from the (Bakun) dam, is secretively entirely owned by the Taib family company, CMS," reported the website.

The report detailed Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) records that show how Salco's two RM1 shares are owned by Samalaju Aluminium Industries Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samalaju Industries Sdn Bhd.

"And this Samalaju Industries Sdn Bhd is 100 percent owned by CMS," it said.

"Our revelation sheds light on a classic money-making scam, that is still in its early stages for the chief minister, but where the planned outcome is plain to see."

Sarawak Report asked how the Sarawak government could give a RM2 company with "no credentials" in the aluminium smelting business the licence to built a smelter.

"Remember, Taib has so far invested just RM2. Yet this factory is expected to absorb an enormous RM7 billion in construction costs and it is then expected to produce at least 550,000 tons of aluminium a year, worth an annual RM2.4 billion to Malaysian GDP (gross national product).

"This could be extended to a full capacity of 1.5 million tons," it said, citing Rio Tinto Alcan's press information.

"So, why would CMS, with such a project under its control, hand over 60 percent of it to Rio Tinto Alcan for less than a commensurate price?

"In fact, once a nice cheap electricity deal has been cut with Sarawak Electricity Board (run by Taib's cousin and proxy Hamed Sepawi), CMS will be in a position to make a fat multi-billion ringgit profit out of their tiny two ringgit investment in Salco," it said.

Salco's elusive joint venture

The report further delved into Rio Tinto's history in relation to Salco, disputing earlier official statements that it was a joint venture partner by way of being signatories to a Heads of Agreement in 2007 to explore the possibility of investing in the smelter project.

"And whenever the project is referred to, whether in press releases, statements by ministers, interviews by CMS executives or, indeed, on Salco's own website it has always been clearly suggested that the company is 60 percent owned by Rio Tinto and 40 percent owned by CMS."

Apart from showing the Salco in fact had only one owner, Samalaju Aluminium Industries, the report added that Rio Tinto had confirmed that it has yet to own shares in Salco.

It cited a Rio Tinto spokesman telling the whistleblower that the company as yet has no direct investment in Sarawak, and that it would not buy into Salco "unless the price is right".

"We are actively participating in the negotiations for the power purchase agreement for the feasibility studies to commence," the spokesman reportedly told the website.

Sarawak Report said the deal, whose negotiations that included Taib's Canadian brother-in-law Robert Geneid (far right) as reported inBorneo Post last month, a common scam to make money.

"Such RM2 companies have been the method by which corrupt politicians in Malaysia have exploited their positions for years, passing huge contracts and concessions into these empty shells, so that they can then be sold or the work sub-contracted to a real working concern.

"Now, it is plain for all to see that Taib once again stands to make himself even richer off the back of this particular scam.

"The question is, why does Rio Tinto Alcan, a supposedly respectable multinational, think it is appropriate to become involved?" it asked.