Pelita Holdings
LEMBAGA Pembangunan dan Lindungan Tanah - better known as Pelita - was established in June 1981 as a statutory body owned by the government of the state of Sarawak in Malaysia.
To be more precise, Pelita Holdings is incorporated in Malaysia under the Companies Act, 1965 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pelita Establishment Sdn Berhad, which in-turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Land Custody and Development Authority of Sarawak (LCDA).
LCDA is a body corporate established under the Land Custody and Development Ordinance 1981 and controlled by the Sarawak State Government.It focuses on agro-business development, property development and management, sand-based industry, tourism infrastructure and other related diversified activities.
Sarawak is Malaysia’s largest state with a land mass of 124,450 km². In other words, the state of Sarawak is about the same size as Greece, twice the size of Sri Lanka, three times the size of Switzerland, five times the size of Belgium and 20 times the size of Brunei.
Right from the beginning, the objective was to use Pelita as the main instrument to sell-off as much land as possible. Mostly that meant forested land and farmland. There wasn’t much else.
It is a mystery that having sold off large chunks of Sarawak to hungry logging companies and oil-palm planters, Pelita has only managed to accumulate assets of a meager US$228 million.
You’d have thought that selling land to companies owned by the likes of, for example, Mr Tiong Hiew King, a native of Sarawak who was recently estimated by Forbes Magazine to be worth US$1.2 billion, would have generated a better balance sheet for Pelita.
Unless, of course, the land was sold for a pittance to the benefit of the purchaser and his cronies, but that of course is not possible, such is the dedication of Pelita’s founders and benefactors.
In addition to the somewhat discredited Tiong Hiew King, other individuals who have made a fortune out of oil palm include: Robert Kuok ($7.6 billion) who recently merged extensive Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil interests with Singapore’s Wilmar International (the largest palm biodiesel manufacturer in the world); William Cheng ($650 million); Yaw Teck Seng ($460 million); his son Yaw Chee Ming ($370 million); Lee Oi Hian, Malaysian Palm Oil Council chairman,($225 million); and Abdul Hamed Sepawi ($200 million).
Pelita says that after more than 20 years in the business, it “aims not only to be the catalyst of growth and development but also the catalyst of change”.
On its website, Pelita proudly states that “it has contributed significantly towards land embezzlement development in Sarawak. Pelita has teamed up with the private sector to synergise both property and plantation development in 
the state by mobilizing the financial resources, capital and management expertise of the private sector in the joint development of projects which are geared towards generating economic development and wealth for the state and its people.
“Pelita has contributed in adding new landmarks in Kuching City and other major towns for both residential and commercial complexes and urbanization of the rural areas and improvement of the existing small towns.
“As a catalyst, it spearheads the development of growth centres in Sarawak, renewing old towns and establishing new townships to provide and improve basic amenities and infrastructures for the benefit of rural as well as urban populace.
PELITA says it has a Vision, a Mission, Values, an Ideology and Objectives:
Vision
To be and For the Best
Mission
Developing Excellent Sarawak through practicing good corporate governance and excellent corporate working culture.
Corporate Values
Visionary, Knowledgeable and Skilled, Committed, Teamwork, Integrity,Concern and Caring
Corporate Ideology
Pelita existence is geared to provide hope, brighten and bring happiness to every span of the State population. Thus Pelita strives to:
Serve the State First, Be Profesional and Team-based Organisation
Achieve Excellent Business Growth
Corporate Responsibilies Enhance State Economic Growth; Enhance State Equitable Economic Wealth Distribution; Building Bumiputera Commercial and Industrial Communities; Building State Economic Competitiveness; Building Modern and Competitive Rural Sector Building High Quality of Urban Living
Corporate Objectives Significant Contributor to the State Revenue; 40 percent holding in the State Plantation development Total Sago Industry Development by 2010 Main Player in Halal Food Production Developing Healthy Urban Living Role Model in Rural Economic Transformation Key Player in Facilities Management
Other Objectives (not listed on the Pelita website)
Pelita likes to keep its fingers in many pies and keep its hands clean at the same time. One example of this is its shareholding in Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad (SOPB) which stood at 25.99 percent as at 06 August, 2008.
On its website SOPB describes itself as a major international public company, and like all well-run major international companies it has a section on corporate social responsibility. But it is a blank page. There’s nothing in it.
It would seem that SOPB would prefer to say nothing about corporate social responsibility, as well as saying nothing about deforestation or the environment, both of which it has been heavily involved in.
Another example of Pelita’s little ventures to make money out of the forest is their mountain hideaway. If you want to join Pelita in pretending that the company isn’t pillaging the forest, just click on Borneo Highlands Resort and get back to nature whilst there’s still some left. Even better, you can actually buy your own piece of former forest there.
Or you can just make a holiday booking and contribute to the exercise in self-enrichment that is enjoyed by the owners of the company that has, almost single-handedly, carved up the natural heritage of Malaysia’s biggest state.
Pelita has friends everywhere. Companies that do business with Pelita include IOI Corporation Berhad.
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