Sarawak PKR says Salcra is short changing native landowners

KUCHING: Sarawak PKR has accused the Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra) of short changing native participants in its schemes.

Nicholas Bawin, who leads the party’s Lubok Antu division, said that despite Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu Numpang’s “big talk” about dividends accruing from the Salcra oil palm estates, the payout to the natives was paltry.

He cited the amount received by families living in Rumah Empirong, the 30-door longhouse he comes from. “This year, each family is getting only RM350.”

Bawin was commenting on a recent statement by Jabu that Salcra’s profits were high because of prudent management. Jabu said the 16,374 landowners participating in Salcra schemes would receive RM100.9 million in dividends this year.

Salcra was established in 1976. It has about 51,000 hectares planted with oil palm. However, Bawin said, it had brought little benefit to native landowners.

“Salcra is supposed to help the poor native landowners, but with the small dividends they receive each year, how can their economic wellbeing be improved?” he said. “Is it worthwhile for the NCR (native customary rights) landowners to participate in Salcra?”

Bawin is a former deputy president of the Council of Dayak Customs and Traditions.

He also complained about the unreliability of water supply to 21 longhouses in the Batang Ai resettlement scheme. These longhouses were transferred from areas now submerged by the Batang Ai dam.

Bawin said there should not be any problem supplying water to these families because the source is the huge Lemanak River. “But what we experience regularly is that there are often interruptions of water supply to our homes.” -  Free Malaysia Today

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COMMENT: Who is to be blamed for this blunder? Of course Jabu, as he is the man who has personally selected someone as general manager who lacks experience as an oil palm planter. He is only an accountant? Or did he pass it?

Because of his lack of experience Salcra oil palm estates have not progressed. Not even a plant had been planted under its expansion programme in the eighth, ninth and tenth Malaysia Plans. But the GM is very arrogant blaming everybody for his failures. Most of the senior staffs who have been with Salcra for the last 20 to 30 years are really expert on oil palm plantation, but the GM would not listen to them.

Many could not tolerate his arrogance so they either asked for early retirement or asked to be transferred to other departments which need their expertise. Now filling those posts are mostly his relatives or cronies who are given much higher salaries than the senior civil servant in Salcra. The way it looks, Salcra is not making money. But it is projected to pay millions of ringgit of dividends.

Now that Land Development Minister is back to control Salcra, he should do something about it before it is too late.

What do the readers think?

The Sunday Star headline: Give us our due

Quoted by The Sunday Star, SUPP president George Chan said in Miri that the Chinese community cannot remain silent anymore about their unhappiness with issues that affect them.

They have to be more vocal and demanding and he hoped the government would give the people what is due to them and correct any unfairness.

Chan said he would convene a meeting with SUPP leaders to discuss their next course of action to fight for the rights of the Chinese and their position in the local political scene.

“We must not be afraid to speak our minds any more. We must correct any injustice and unfairness and not remain silent, if you feel that there are things that are not right and that the Chinese are not getting their due, join us SUPP and get things corrected.

“We must let the government know what we feel. I am sure the government will not deny what is due to the Chinese,” he said.

Suddenly Chan and SUPP are very vocal. They have to otherwise they will be wiped out in the coming state election. The writing is already on the wall.

By the way, the way Chan said his piece, as if the government has not helped them. Look at its representation at the federal level, it has five MPs consisting of one full minister, two deputy ministers, and at the state level, it has two ministers, and five assistant ministers, a number of political secretary and mayors.

Many of its cronies have been given timber concessions and provisional leases to plant oil palm in Dayaks’ native customary rights land.

Sibu, Sarikei, Miri and certain parts of Kuching are “owned” by SUPP where its cronies are given huge government contracts.

The question here is: Is SUPP effective in looking after the interests of the Chinese? The answer is “yes” and “no”.

Yes, it has helped many of the elite Chinese businessmen, and during almost 30-year of Abdul Taib Mahmud’s chief ministership, some 2,000 Chinese have become billionaires, not millionaires, but billionaires, and hundreds of Chinese big companies have become rich overnight.

No, thousands of small Chinese contractors have closed shops as there are no businesses for them. Small and big businesses have been taken by SUPP’s cronies. These “small” men in the Chinese community are blaming SUPP for its failure to help them. Many Chinese are landless, and SUPP cannot help them. Judging by the mood on the ground, they are certain to teach SUPP a lesson in the coming election. SUPP leaders know about it. That is why SUPP leaders threaten to quit BN, hoping that BN under Najib at federal and under Taib at state levels will do something. They are now like a cry baby.

But do you think they will quit? But to me, quitting or no quitting SUPP is in a quandary. Quitting from BN like “mati apai” (like the death of a father) and staying put in BN like “mati indai” (like the death of a mother).

This is where the Dayaks can come in and play smart politics. Like the Chinese, the Dayaks should also make demands. For the past 44 years or so, the Dayaks have been neglected – no roads, no electricity and no clean water to their longhouse. For the past 44 years, our cries have felt on deaf ears. Kapit for example has no road connection with other towns in Sarawak. Only now we have heard about the promise to build roads.

To win in Sarawak, BN will have to rely on the Dayaks. Do not be too naïve and be satisfied to receive only RM30.00 in exchange for your votes and suffer the next five years. Think of your children’s future. Think of your native customary rights land. And if Taib continues to ignore us, we also vote him out. The power is in our hands. – The Broken Shield.

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Will Dayaks benefit from NEM?

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on Tuesday (30 March 2010) announced the government’s new economic plan, the New Economic Model (NEM), to ensure fairer and more equitable distribution of wealth based on needs and merits.

“Our priority must be to eradicate poverty irrespective of race. We cannot have the high-income, sustainable and inclusive economy we seek when disparities in income and not addressed.

“So there will be renewed affirmative action policy in NEM with focus on raising income levels of all disadvantage groups,” he said.

NEM’s three principles are:
# high income – making a quantum leap from a current US$7,000 per capital annual
income to US$15,000 in ten years;
# sustainability – a commitment to sustainability in economic activities with its impact on environment and precious natural resources in consideration; and
# inclusiveness – harness the potential of all Malaysians that all share in the proceeds of increased national prosperity.

NEM’s 8 strategies reform initiatives:
# Re-energising the private sector to lead growth,
# Developing a quality workforce and reducing dependency on foreign labour
# Creating a competitive domestic economy
# Strengthening the public sector
# Putting in place transparent and market friendly affirmative action
# Building knowledge base infrastructure
# Enhancing the sources of growth
# Ensuring sustainability

NEM’s 4 principles in eradication of poor:
# market friendly
# merit based
# transparent
# needs based

New economic growth areas:
# electrical and electronic sector
# resource based industries in the palm oil
# oil and gas
# agriculture, biotechnology and life sciences
# tourism, medical tourism, eco-tourism, luxury market tourism
# high value agriculture sector
# green industries and technology
# financial services industry, Islamic financial services, capital market
# information technology industry.

NEM policies are similar to policies espoused by previous economic policies such as New Economic Policy 1970-1990, National Development Policy 1990-2000, National Vision Policy and VISION 2020.

Although the past policies have achieved certain degree of successes like creating several millionaires among the Malays, they have, however, failed to eradicate poverty among the rural people especially the Dayaks.

Today, between 80 percent and 90 percent of longhouses do not have 24-hour supply of electricity and clean water. Not to mention tar-sealed roads, even rough roads have not been built to connect longhouses with bazaars and towns.

Even the “nine buses” (nine Malaysia plans) have missed the Dayaks. So today Sarawak is still the third poorest state in Malaysia despite the fact that it has oil and gas, timber resources and coal. More than half of one million Dayaks may be categorized as hard poor if the RM720 poverty line is taken as a barometer.

NEM may have high sounding policies, but such policies will not be able to help the Dayaks. In fact NEM policies will further complement “Politics of Development” espoused by Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, that is, taking away native customary rights land of the people and leasing them to rich and powerful cronies for the planting of oil palm and trees.

In Balai Ringin alone, some 741,000 acres of land, the bulk of which are NCR lands, are to be leased to companies linked to Taib.

In other parts of Sarawak, scores of natives have been jailed for defending their rights over land and many have sued the government for taking away their lands without their consent.

Being chased away from their land, the Dayaks will surely become poorer and poorer as they have no more land on which they can plant padi, cash crops and fruit trees through which they earn a living. Perhaps they (authorities) like the Dayaks to continue selling paku, miding (ferns), bamboo shoots, tapioca leaves and other “daun babas” (wild vegetables).

Whose fault is this that we Dayaks continue to be poor? And who should be blamed for all the miseries the Dayaks are facing now? Are Dayaks themselves and Dayak leaders to be blamed? – The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com