(KUCHING, MALAYSIA). Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud is facing massive criticism after Rio Tinto Alcan’s decision to scrap its planned US$2 billion investment in an aluminium smelter in the East Malaysian state in Borneo. While environmental campaigners hailed the decision by the Australian mining giant as a breakthrough in their attempts to halt twelve planned hydro-dams in Sarawak, they also accused the long-term governor of the state, Taib Mahmud ("Taib"), of being greedy, highly corrupt and economically incompetent. "With its rich biodiversity and its wealth in natural resources, Sarawak could have become a model state for sustainable development. Instead , Taib has turned Sarawak into a private gold mine for his voracious clan.", a spokesperson for the Swiss Bruno Manser Fund said. Research by the Bruno Manser Fund has shown that the Taib family have acquired stakes in over 400 companies, worth billions of US dollars, in 25 countries and offshore finance cen