14:26:00

Greedy Geneids Grabbing Again – EXCLUSIVE!


Greedy Geneids Grabbing Again – EXCLUSIVE!

Posted: 24 Nov 2013 10:19 AM PST

Greedy Geneids Grabbing Again – EXCLUSIVE!
Local people highlight the latest Taib family land grab.

Local people highlight the latest Taib family land grab.

Once again local people in Sarawak have been forced to come out and protest against a greedy and un-regulated land grab.

Once again a place of great natural beauty and enormous scientific importance is under threat.

And once again it is the greedy Taib family who are behind the raid on one of Sarawak's most sacred mountains and an area of unique historical significance.

This weekend people from 17 Bidayuh villages gathered at Siniawan Bazaar to highlight Sarawak's latest land grab on their sacred Serumbu Mountain.

They report that for two months a quarry company has been clearing the area and preparing to make off with valuable granite.  No consultations have been held with the local people about this destruction of their sacred and important water catchment area, nor have any environmental impact assessments been produced.

The community has already lodged 2 police reports and written no less than 5 letters to the company, as well as to the Lands & Surveys Department. Copies of their letters were also extended to their elected representatives.

I describe myself as a philanthropist - Director of Serambu Quarry, Robert Geneid

I describe myself as a philanthropist – Director of Serambu Quarry, Robert Geneid

Yet, in a sadly familiar scenario, they have received no reply from the institutions supposed to be protecting the interests of the public.

Permission has been granted almost without question, it seems, to the company, which goes by the deceptively mis-spelt name of Serambu Quarry Sdn Bhd

And there is a clear reason why.

Sarawak Report can reveal that the Director of this company is none other than Robert Geneid, the former Managing Director of CMS Property Development and brother in law of the Chief Minister.

And it will, therefore, be of little surprise to learn that the largest registered shareholder of Serambu Quarry Sdn Bhd is his wife, the Chief Minister's sister, Raziah Geneid.

As we have demonstrated time and again, Raziah and her husband Robert Geneid have proved in recent years to have been one of Sarawak's most greedy and notorious land grabbers.

Yet for numerous reasons this unannounced raid on Mount Serumbu is in a league of its own.  As one of Sarawak's most historic sites its destruction by this self-proclaimed 'philanthropist' and 'promoter of culture and tourism' ranks as extreme vandalism.

By co-opting the Geneids into their company did the Yong family reckon they would be able to access permissions that would be otherwise denied?

By co-opting the Geneids into their company did the Yong family reckon they would be able to access permissions that would be otherwise denied?

For the past three days Sarawak Report has detailed how Robert Geneid extracted millions of public money from the CMS Bandar Samariang project, which had been supported by Taib on the excuse that it was helping the poor.

Fond of her jewels - Raziah Geneid

Fond of her jewels – Raziah Geneid

However, there have been numerous other companies and land grabs associated with this couple, who have relentlessly exploited their connections to the all-powerful Chief Minister to lay their hands on heritage sites, including the Berawan territories of Mulu, the Iban area of Sebangan, the Ensengei Forest Reserve and numerous other regions of Sarawak.

The couple run a string of companies from their offices in Kuching, many of which have received large state contracts and huge tracts of land, all thanks to the influence of Raziah's brother Taib.

The role of these companies is to operate as 'shells', sub-contracting  the actual work to companies that are more qualified to perform the job, while siphoning off huge sums of money for their "turnkey" services.

Just as lucrative has been Raziah's habit of joining the boards of ambitious companies, which are looking for permits.

The corruption of the state government under Taib means that the only way to be assured the opportunity to receive licences or contracts is to take on his family members as Directors and give them major shareholdings in the project.

Raziah became a Director of Quality Concrete, for example, a company which was forced to relinquish an illegally acquired logging permit in Sebangan, after a major campaign by locals to save their NCR land.

Likewise, it seems, Raziah and Robert have now similarly joined this latest venture by the Yong Family to gain access to an area of extreme fame and sensitivity in Sarawak.  Raziah's price was half the shares!

Price of influence - the biggest shareholding went to Raziah!

Price of influence – the biggest shareholding went to Raziah!

But if the Geneids got the biggest share in return for their influence, the smaller shareholding in the company is also a sad reflection on the way Sarawak is governed under Taib Mahmud.

Datuk Leo Chai is the Former Director of Forests.  He more than anyone should be aware of the paramount importance of keeping such an area of outstanding environmental and historical significance protected from logging and quarrying.

Astonishing natural heritage that still clings on to such regions of Sarawak

Astonishing natural heritage that still clings on to such regions of Sarawak

However, he more than anyone must still retain knowledge and influence over where Sarawak's remaining timber reserves are and how to exploit them!

Mount Serumbu and the "Sarawak Law"

Mount Serumbu and its stunning scenery represents one of the most important sites in Sarawak in terms of historical significance and its world class natural heritage.

It was here that the first Rajah James Brooke built his first cottage, as many tourists and walkers come climbing to see.

Even more importantly, this was the place where the famous naturalist and co-discoverer with Charles Darwin of the theory of evolution laid down what he called his 'Sarawak Law'.

Wallace statue, unveiled to the London public earlier this month.

Wallace statue, unveiled to the London public earlier this month.

Alfred Wallace had been invited by Rajah Brooke to spend time at Serumbu and here he penned the first plank in the discovery of natural selection:

"Every species has come into existence coincident both in space and time with a closely allied species" [Sarawak Law, written by Wallace, surrounded by species diversity on Serumbu Mountain]

This is the very year of the Alfred Wallace Centenary, which has been celebrated with a major series of lectures and events all over the world, including a lecture by the famous naturalist David Attenborough at London's Natural History Museum earlier this month and the unveiling of a statue of the naturalist in his honour (see film).

How sad to see the destruction of such a significant location in his life beginning on the very same date as his recognition in this way.

Back in the last century Alfred Wallace saw the likes of Taib Mahmud coming. He begged governments and scientific institutions to take care of the amazing nature and wildlife that still remained on our planet in the tropical regions like Sarawak.

At the very moment that people were making huge discoveries by observing nature, he realised, it was in danger of being destroyed by the worst of all sins, greed, before our very eyes"

"If this [preserving Sarawak's heritage] is not done, future ages will certainly look back upon us as a people so immersed in the pursuit of wealth as to be blind to higher considerations. They will charge us with having culpably allowed the destruction of some of those records of Creation, which we had it in our power to preserve; and while professing to regard every living thing as the direct handiwork and best evidence of a Creator, yet, with a strange inconsistency, seeing many of them perish irrecoverably from the face of the earth, uncared for and unknown."

What better description of the actions of Taib Mahmud and the insane greed of his family, who at every opportunity can be seen promoting themselves as the supporters of religion and rescuers of the environment?

The Geneids even went so far as to invite Prince Albert of Monaco to Mulu and then sponsor an Islamic Fashion Show in Monaco, all to support his Foundation dedicated to……… saving the environment.

Raziah and Robert Geneid welcome Prince Albert of Monaco to their forest playground of Mulu - as part of their support of his Foundation to 'save the environment'!

Raziah and Robert Geneid welcome Prince Albert of Monaco to their forest playground of Mulu – as part of their support of his Foundation to 'save the environment'!

The poor and simple, yet decent and brave Bidayuh people of Serumbu deserve the support of Malaysia and the wider world as they strive to save their heritage from the bulldozers of the Mahmuds

‘Modular Housing’ Scandal Brings Shame On CMS

Posted: 24 Nov 2013 04:47 AM PST

'Modular Housing' Scandal Brings Shame On CMS
Guaranteed structural integrity? This five year old house makes a poor advertisement!

Guaranteed structural integrity? This five year old house made a poor advertisement!

Question No 2 in the Frequently Asked Questions guide about their Modular Housing by Cayha Mata Sarawak Berhad (CMS) has an unequivocal reply.

In response to "What guarantees are given to the customer?" it answers "The structural integrity of the system is fully guaranteed and customers are furnished with a ten (10) year warranty".

Such claims were not born out, however, when the first big storm hit the area just a few years later in 2009 and 80 roofs flew off, including plenty more damage to walls and structures.

Local people say the costs of repair were not fully born out and the incident fully illustrated how flimsy the company's pre-fab structures are.

Ten year guarantee

Ten year guarantee – not fulfilled when the roofs blew off and structures proved un-sound

The false claims behind CMS's so-called Modular Housing for the poor and the collapse of its "low cost housing" programme are the final, shocking outcome of a scandalous land grab, orchestrated by the Chief Minister for his family firm in Bandar Samariang outside of Kuching.

Click for Phase 1 of our Bandar Samariang expose -

Click for Phase 2 of our Bandar Samariang expose -

A decade on and the Taib family firm has attempted to put the so-called Modular Housing episode behind it, while it coins money from selling land it got for free in the name of helping the poor.

"high structural stability"?

"high structural stability"?

However, thousands of people in Bandar Samariang are still suffering from the ill-effects of CMS's sub-standard housing.

And thousands more urban poor are still waiting for houses promised 15 years ago at the launch of the Bandar Samariang development.

Taib's brother in law Robert Geneid was behind the project, in his role as Managing Director of CMS's Property Development Division.

In a blatant conflict of interest he and brother in law, CMS Chairman, Onn Mahmud sold the concept of Modular Housing, manufactured by their own company, Total Pride Sdn Bhd, to CMS for tens of millions of ringgit.

Geneid boasted that the brand new building fabric and construction technique (invented by a close family connection, who was paid RM2million for the patent) would

Man in charge

Man in charge – 1997-2005

enable CMS to build thousands of excellent quality homes cheaply and quickly.

Yet the newly patented system appears to have been untested for such a purpose.

Despite the uncertainties, CMS brochures claimed the Modular Housing method could provide 5,000 homes, at a rate of over a thousand built in 21 weeks and that this construction was 'superior' to established building methods:

"Conventional construction comprising masonry wall structure, roof trusses and metal sheet roof is susceptible to environmental deterioration. Moreover, the design life of a conventionally built house is difficult to quantify due to the inherent variability in materials and workmanship on each dwelling.  However, the CMS Modular Housing system has superior components which ensures consistent quality control and hence a guaranteed design life". [Q 14, CMS brochure]

A thousand homes in 6 months...

A thousand 'homes' in 6 months…

That these untried and untested caravan style habitations have none of the charm and beauty of the traditional homes of Sarawak goes without saying. There is no space for the community, like in a normal kampung.

However, neither did they turn out to have the superior house building qualities that had been claimed.  In fact these ugly pre-fabs have proved to be inferior to conventional housing on every count, despite being sold to poor buyers by the Housing Commission for up to RM35,000 per unit.

Quality guarantee

Simply the best building material?

Simply the best building material?

The pre-fabricated components of CMS's Modular Housing initiative were manufactured in a factory set up by a private company owned by Geneid and his partners (a Lebanese, Australian relative and CMS Chairman Onn Mahmud) in Bako Road, called Total Pride Sdn Bhd.

This was later sold on to CMS and re-branded as CMS Modular Housing Sdn Bhd.

The fulsome claims for the strange product, which appeared to be a variation on caravan technology, give an impression of a tried and tested winning formula.

For example, the 'Insul Roof" product was particularly promoted as being tough and structurally sound, as well as waterproof and needing "virtually no maintenance"

"CMS INSUL ROOF combines external roofing, structural strength, insulation, and internal lining into a one, easy-to-handle building panel. It is available in a range of sizes, finishes, and colours. Insul Roof panels are easily joined using a simple overlapping jointing method which is strong, water-tight, and eliminates heat transfer.CMS INSUL ROOF combines external roofing, structural strength, insulation, and internal lining into one, easy-to-handle building panel."[CMS former website]

Designs and drawings enthusiastically littered out from the company stating the superior nature of the wonder concept.  The CMS publicity even claimed the caravan style dwellings were attractive!

Two men can construct 160sq metres of house in one day!

Two men can construct 160sq metres of wall in one day!

More importantly, according to the company, two men could hammer together 160 square meters of wall in one day for "fast, simple installation".

While Geneid clearly was not prepared to accept a cheaper price for this product, it was claimed that this speed of construction was what created savings for the project.

Q3. What is the advantage of CMS Modular Housing System as compared to conventional Construction?

A : The system has the following advantages over conventional construction : better quality finishes, rapid construction time (hence saving in holding and financing costs), superior thermal performance, high structural stability, low cost and ease of maintenance.

Box that claims to be insulated from heat.

Box that claims to be insulated from heat.

Q4. Is the cost of the system lower than conventional construction?

A : The cost of system is comparable with conventional construction, but by taking into account the hidden costs involved in a project, substantial savings can be achieved by reducing financing charges and overhead costs resulting from more rapid construction time.

Middle back row - part of the line up of Taib family managers of CMS.

Middle back row – Geneid formed part of the line up of Taib family managers of CMS.

What goes up quick can come down quick

One other particular claim stands out in Mr Geneid's list of questions and answers about the product invented by his  family contact Nabil Nazri.

Question 8 dealt with the matter of what happens in strong wind?  Since this product was entirely new, the confidence of the reply perhaps seemed foolhardy?

stronger than other buildings in wind!

Specially engineered to withstand wind!

However, the lack of suitability of these squat and stifling little caravan constructions had become plain long before the wind hit in 2009, say insiders.  According to one source close to the project:

"After using the system for a few hundred houses, it was found to be unsuitable. CMS then tried selling only the roofing component to Housing Commission forcing Housing Commission to use the roofing sheets in housing projects undertaken by the Housing Commission."

Strong roof?

Strong roof?

The claims made for CMS Modular Housing 'Insul Roof' are certainly as confident and positive as anything else in the brochure.

Summing up its promotion it describes the product as 'unique'

"A unique insulated roofing and cladding system which has all the advantage of traditional insulated roof and cladding construction, but it is more economical; Easier and quicker to install; Energy efficient; Virtually maintenance free"

By the time the storm hit in 2009, blowing off 80 of these roofs, the uniqueness of the method was indeed assured.  It is unlikely that anyone else will ever purchase the formula and in 2006 CMS accepted the inevitable and closed down its once vaunted multi-million dollar modular housing factory project.

Robert Geneid had already resigned his position as Managing Director in 2005, having long since transferred the costs of Total Pride to CMS.

The full story was not told

The full story was not told by CMS

Misery in Bandar Samariang

But, while Geneid could move on to other projects, those poor families who had been encouraged to take up loans by the state in order to purchase the poorly constructed housing have faced nothing but problems.

Paper thin walls

Paper thin walls

CMS refused to acknowledge that faulty design was the cause of the problem that saw 80 roofs blow off in one night, and so the proud guarantee was never fulfilled.

Locals say there was some money handed around in the aftermath by the government, but not sufficient to cover repairs.

Meanwhile, the poor quality of the constructions with flimsy interior walls made of plywood and even asbestos has often resulted in breakages even before the occupants move in.

The biggest problem for many of the local people here has been hanging on to their houses in the face of unsympathetic treatment by loan companies and the State Government's own Housing Commission, which encouraged these poor families to invest in the first place.

Resident Pak Aziz - in his 60s he is struggling to finish his payments on the 20X20 home in Bandar Samariang, The deeds have been withheld, so he cannot even sell out!

Resident Pak Aziz – in his 60s he is struggling to finish his payments on the 20X20 home in Bandar Samariang, The deeds have been withheld, so he cannot even sell out!

The low cost housing has been targeted at the poorest communities with least secure jobs and incomes.

However, they are still bound to pay between RM138 – RM176 monthly for 25 years to cover their loans for the RM35,000 homes.

It means they are paying interest and the eventual cost is around RM50,000 a home for these families.

Yet time and again the Housing Commission has proved heartless and ruthless when families find themselves unable to pay their dues.

Numerous vulnerable people have simply been turfed out of their homes, even during the period after the storm when they were facing enormous costs trying to repair the damage to these flimsy structures.

It is doubtless very hard for the cosseted and pampered members of the ruling BN party, who have grown up rich and who earn huge sums for very little beyond keeping loyalty to Taib, to understand how it feels to live on the edge of subsistence.

They prefer to assume poor people are lazy and wasteful, rather than contemplate a little more generosity towards impoverished buyers with mortgages to pay off.

BN Poster - this family was evicted shortly after supporting BN at the election

BN Poster – this family was evicted shortly after supporting BN at the election

Indeed shortly after the 2009 storm one BN minister (now tipped as Taib's successor) reportedly lectured the local people about owning cars and satellite dishes, while failing to take into account the lack of public transport into the area provided by his state government.

Numerous people who have paid their hard earned money for years have in the end lost their homes in Bandar Samariang because of this haughty attitude.

One of the most recent to be ejected was a family (left) who neighbours say had given over their house as a BN headquarters during the past May Federal Elections!

Elderly residents in the project are even more vulnerable.  One told Sarawak Report how banks refuse loans to older candidates. Because she is in her 50s and the husband in late 60s, the couple have been forced to obtain their loan in the name of somebody else.

"I worry that one day, after I finish the repayment, the "named owner" will not return the house to me", she confided.

When asked  "What do you think of the claim that CMS developed the area out of generosity?" she smiled " they do not care about us, we are poor people and they only want our money"

Struggling to make money - another resident of Bandar Samariang

Struggling to make money – another resident of Bandar Samariang

The quality of the properties are abysmal says the resident, many had broken partitions or windows even before people moved in.

Neither have any of the promised basic amenities been provided by CMS:

"CMS promised to build a hospital/clinic, yet still there is no clinic or hospital. We have to travel to seek medical attention"

However, even more shocking has been the apparent abandonment of the promises to build a futher 11,000 homes for the poor in Kuching.

Because, with the demise of the modular housing initiative, CMS and its new Chief Executive, the British businessman Richard Curtis, appear to have decided to quietly forget the original commitment to help house Kuching's poor and homeless.

Out of the 13,500 houses promised within 5 years by Taib's brother Onn Mahmud back in 1997, only just over 2,000 have been built.

Despite having been granted the vast development site on the specific excuse that the purpose was to benefit the poor, this Taib family company has now fully focused on high end housing and commercial properties.

Its 2012 Annual Report has bragged that the Bandar Samariang project looks set to generate RM474million for the Taib's family firm over the next 5 years alone.

Yet there is no mention at all of the outstanding commitment to build homes for the poor!

Abandoned - another personal tragedy as buyers are forced out for non-payments

Abandoned – another personal tragedy as buyers are forced out for non-payments

Noble Gesture? How Taib Family Cashed In On Samariang While Poor Buyers Suffered

Posted: 23 Nov 2013 09:22 AM PST

Noble Gesture? How Taib Family Cashed In On Samariang While Poor Buyers Suffered
CMS's 'modular housing' was supposed to provide a low cost solution to the pledge to build homes for the poor in Bandar Samariang.

Our "vast land bank" – CMS's 'modular housing' was supposed to provide a low cost solution to the pledge to build homes for the poor in Bandar Samariang.

Sarawak Report has investigated how members of the Taib family started cashing-in on the Bandar Samariang project, straight after the Chief Minister had placed the vast 5,200 acre site into the hands of his own company CMS.

The rip off has caused untold misery to poor house buyers, who have been left with sub-standard homes and little compensation.

Yet, Taib had promoted the Bandar Samariang project as a "noble gesture" by his family company, designed to assist poor families, desperate for low cost housing.

At the launch of the project in 1997 the Chief Minister announced that at least 3,000-5,000 new homes were needed in Kuching each year to address the problem of the homeless poor.

Bandar Samariang was supposed to provide 13,500 of these and during the same ceremony Taib's brother Onn Mahmud, as Chairman of CMS, pledged all the low cost homes would be built within 5 years.

During the same ceremony the then Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, praised CMS for what he described as a "noble project" to help the poor. Taib claimed most companies did not want to invest in the area and announced CMS expected to make "not much profit"!

But 15 years later a very different picture has emerged.

CMS expects to make RM474million in Bandar Samariang over next five years!

Clapped out already - poor materials and shoddy building work

Clapped out already – poor materials and shoddy building work

A decade after the completion deadline, only a fraction of the promised low-cost homes have yet been built, just 2,500 sor far.

Most of these are shabbily constructed and are already in an appalling state of deterioration.

Sarawak Report can demonstrate that the condition of these houses is directly owing to greedy attempts by Taib's own relatives in charge of CMS, to cash in on the publicly financed project.

Meanwhile, far from avoiding profit, the company has coined millions out of selling off more expensive housing, shop lots and land in the area, which it now openly describes as a "vast undervalued development land bank".

Given that Taib Mahmud's original excuse for giving the land to his private company was that it was expensive to develop and other companies did not want to invest in the area, we ask how come CMS now describes the region as "undervalued"?

"The [Property Development] Division has strong potential for long-term sustainable growth given the vast undervalued development land bank that is now being unlocked", [CMS Annual Report 2012] 

In its latest Annual Report CMS proudly announces that its property division made RM60million revenue last year.  And over the next five years it expects to make a a cool RM474million out of Bandar Samariang!

So much for Taib's claim that CMS was only interested in the project because they did not want poor people "to remain without houses" and so much for making "not much profit"!

RM474million –

RM474million – "Vast undervalued development land bank" handed by Chief Minister to his own family company! [2012 Ann. Rpt]

 

Public subsidises boosting CMS profits

Shoddy and insubstantial. Locals say internal walls are plaster board and asbestos

Shoddy and insubstantial. Locals say internal walls are plaster board and asbestos

The story of self-sacrifice and generosity by CMS unravels when one examines how Taib mobilised public finances to shore up his family's property enterprise.

In the first place he made sure that the State of Sarawak's Housing Commission placed an advance bid for the first tranche of 2,500 low cost houses to be built by CMS, in its handy joint venture with the Employee Provident Fund.

These were then sold on to buyers for a a substantial RM35,000 each, on the basis of loans from banks like the Mahmud family's own Bank Utama.

Many have suffered under the harsh terms of these loans or have lost their homes because of delayed repayments.

Such victims include the owner of the house that served as a BN headquarters during the latest general election. Following the election in May the family was forced out say neighbours!

This family couldn't afford the repayments. So much for BN!

This family couldn't afford the repayments. So much for BN!

Now, instead of targeting the hard-core poor, CMS's Bandar Samariang project is clearly focused on high end housing and big profitable commercial enterprises.

The CMS sales teams are advertising in Sibu, Miri and other prosperous communities for houses selling little short of half a million ringgit.

What happened to the 11,000 houses still promised to Kuching's poor?

What happened to poor local people?

Fancy houses, shops and big revenue – what happened to those poor local people?

Taib has also shored up the project by directing state investment in key infrastructure projects.

T11995These include the Federal Administrative Centre road which linked Bandar Samariang directly to the Sarawak River toll bridge and to the newly-built loop road running north-south through it.

The Borneo Post has also pointed out the completion of the road widening and upgrading works at Jalan Sultan Tengah to ease traffic congestion between Bandar Baru Samariang and Kuching.

What the State of Sarawak has signally failed to do, however, according to local people, is invest in proper public transport to the area.

The bus services to Kuching are useless, leaving locals stranded and dependent of cars they cannot afford.  This has not stopped BN ministers from criticising local people for being 'profligate' in buying cars and for pointing out there are satellite dishes on the roofs.

Locals retort that these satellite dishes were mainly given out as free promotions by Astro and no longer work, because they could not afford to take up the service long term.

Infrastructure of roads, but few buses for the poorer residents!

Infrastructure of roads, but few buses for the poorer residents!

Modular Housing debacle 

Most scandalous of all has been the Taib family profiteering from this public project.

Innovative 'Modular Housing'- CMS Ann Rpt 2000

Innovative 'Modular Housing'- CMS Ann Rpt 2000

Sarawak Report has now investigated how various relatives running CMS appear to have enhanced their personal profits even further out of this vast enterprise funded by the state and carried out in the name of the poor.

We refer to the new Chief of the CMS Property Division in 1997, the Lebanese Australian, Robert Geneid - husband of Taib's sister Raziah,

And we also refer to the Chairman of the company, Taib's own brother, Onn Mahmud.

Geneid claims to have had a successful career in property development in his current website.

However, interestingly he does not refer to his 8 years as the Chief Executive of CMS's 'vast' Property Development Division 1997-2005.

Not quite all about me - no reference to CMS's Modular Housing disaster!

Not quite all about me – no reference to CMS's Modular Housing disaster!

Today, Geneid focuses only on his positions at the helm of his wife Razia Mahmud's various 'construction' companies, which have received a series of major contracts and vast lands in Miri from her brother Taib Mahmud's state government.

In reality these companies, which include Miri Properties, Kumpulan Parabena and Kumpulan Construction, lucratively sub-contract the work to other builders.

As one person linked to Kumpulan Parabena told Sarawak Report, "the company doesn't even own a wheelbarrow!".

However, back in 1997, when Geneid assumed his senior management job alongside other family members at CMS, he clearly saw the position as a major opportunity.

This was before the debacle over his 'modular housing' initiative and the apparent collapse of CMS's drive to house Kuching's poor.

All in the family - sons Abu Bekir and Suleman, brothers Arip and Onn, son in law Aziz Alwee and brother in law Robert Geneid

All in the family – sons Abu Bekir and Suleman, brothers Arip and Onn, son in law Alsree Alwee and brother in law Robert Geneid

Total Pride Sdn Bhd

The evidence trail goes back to the string of private companies, which Geneid and his wife operated out of offices based at 154-6 Jalan Sungai Pandingan in Kuching, at the same time as he was working at CMS.

According to our research, one of these private companies was called Total Pride Sdn Bhd, set up in 1997 at the time Geneid acquired responsibility for CMS's 'low cost housing' initiative.

The shareholders of Total Pride included a company owned by a Lebanese relative of Geneid's from Sydney, the developer Nabil Nazri Gazali; a company 'owned' by the secretary and nominee of Onn Mahmud (then Chairman and largest shareholder of CMS) and an off-shore company owned presumably by Geneid himself and his wife, called Blue Azure.

Whittaker Company was one of the Hong Kong companies run by Onn Mahmud. Geneid relative Nabil Nazri owned Philbeach

Whittaker Company in Hong Kong was run by Onn Mahmud; Geneid's relative Nabil Nazri owned Philbest Pty Ltd. Australia

Whittaker Company was one of the companies in Hong Kong 'owned' by Onn's secretary Shea Kin Kwok, whereas Philbest Pty was owned by Geneid's relative Nabil Nazri.

According to our information Total Pride bought a brand new invention from Nabil Nazri, which he had patented under the name of Modular Housing.

Modular Housing patent gained in 1998 and first sold to Total Pride

Modular Housing patent gained in 1998 and first sold to Total Pride

This invention was based on a fabric that was originally designed for caravans, we have learnt, and indeed another company was also set up at 154-6 Jalan Sungai Padingan, called Viscount Caravans Sdn Bhd at the same time.

Caravans or modular houses - same fabric ?

Caravans or modular houses – same fabric ?

However, the new Chief of CMS's Property Development Division and his Chairman, Onn Mahmud, clearly had very grand plans about the exciting potential of this as yet untried method for producing cheap pre-fabricated paneling and roofs.  They decided it could marketed to CMS to build the thousands of cheap homes commissioned by the Sate Housing Commission.

The system was bought for RM48million from a company controlled by the Geneids, Onn Mahmud and Nabil Nazri.

The system was bought for RM48million from a company controlled by the Geneids, Onn Mahmud and Nabil Nazri.

Total Pride, built a factory to produce Nabil Nazri's invented products on the Bako Road to Kuching and then managed to first rent the factory to CMS Property Development and then sell on the patent for RM48million to CMS.

The factory was then re-branded under the company CMS Modular Housing Sdn Bhd, which was soon promoting its new formula for making quick, cheap housing, amid great claims that it was guaranteed to last better than normal materials.

Could CMS Housing chief Robert Geneid and his boss and fellow shareholder Onn Mahmud have had any influence in the CMS decision to purchase this new construction idea from their very own company?

And, given the political influence of the Mahmud family, is it any surprise that the State Housing Commission was equally compliant in agreeing to purchase the untested product from CMS?

Significantly, back in at the launch ceremony for Bandar Samariang in 1977, Total Pride's major shareholder, Onn Mahmud, was already advertising that CMS was planning an "innovative system" to fulfil its commitments for low cost housing.

In the same speech, recorded by the Borneo Post, Onn also repeated the promise that the 13,500 low cost housing units would all be built in five years:

"The first phase… will consist of low-cost houses totalling 13,500 units and this will be built within a span of five years. Once the first phase is completed, Onn is confident that it will be able to overcome the problem of the high demand for low-cost houses. All these houses would later be sold to the State Housing Commission (Perumahan), he said, adding that these houses would be built with an innovative system.He said the first 3,000 units were expected to be ready by mid 1999. [Borneo Post, May 21 1997]

But, at no time did either of these two top executives at CMS, both Taib family members, declare the blatant conflict of interest in selling their 'bright idea' for making cheap housing to the public company they were Directors of for millions of dollars.

Robert Geneid and Onn Mahmud sold the whole concept to CMS for millions of dollars.

Robert Geneid and Onn Mahmud sold the whole concept to CMS for millions of dollars.

From 1998 Robert Geneid set about promoting the 'Modular Housing' concept as CMS's perfect solution for building cheap homes.

All details on modular housing have now been removed from the CMS site!

All details on modular housing have now been removed from the CMS site!

CMS Modular Housing made claims that its "innovative method" was a guaranteed, superior and best of all, extremely cheap method of rapidly building low cost housing.

Was this perhaps not a little foolhardy, given that the method was only just patented and had not been tested or tried anywhere else in the world?

Were Robert Geneid's claims on behalf of the system not perhaps influenced by the fact that he had sold his factory and the entire process invented by his relative to his employers for RM48million?

Residents of Bandar Samariang soon found out that the raft of claims about the strength, resilience and water-tight nature of Nabil Nazri's modular housing invention did not stand the test of reality, once they had started paying out for their quick build constructions.

In fact the units were flimsy and unsound and they did not hold together as promised.  The quick method construction didn't even save CMS money either it turned out.  In 2006, a year after Robert Geneid had been eased out of his job as Chief of the Property Division CMS made this announcement:

The full story was not told

The full story was not told

Geneid and Onn Mahmud had sold a system that produced rotten housing for poor people at the expense of the State.

Even CMS lost money on this part of its business because of the self-serving decisions of its Directors.

But, the biggest losers were the poor people who bought into the sub-standard housing, paying more than they could afford for unstable constructions.

In Phase 3 of our story on Bandar Samariang we will expose the full, shoddy truth of the CMS Modular Housing system and how it failed the poor buyers, who were conned into paying hard earnings into CMS's sub-standard, "low cost housing".

Gerry built - with CMS Modular Housing 'Insil Roof'

Jerry built – with CMS 'Modular Housing' with flimsy 'Insil Roof'