Iban farmer arrested for defending his NCR land

Matek Anak Geram, an Iban farmer, a member of TAHABAS (Sarawak Native Customary Rights Network) and Committee Member of Jaringan Orang Asli SeMalaysia (JOAS) was arrested by the police on 13 August 2009 for the crime of allegedly restraining the workers of an oil palm plantation.

Unarmed, he was taken into custody by 10- fully-armed police personnel at 8.45 am and detained for two hours at the Mukah Police Station and charged for allegedly wrongfully restraining the workers of an oil palm plantation company, Saradu Plantations Sdn. Bhd. under section 341 of the Penal Code before being released on bail.

For over a year, Matek and his immediate family have been guarding their property against Saradu Plantations who have been encroaching on their native lands.

In individual shifts, they have blocked an access road built on their land.

JOAS questions the heavy use of force and intimidation against one unarmed man and calls for neutrality of the state infrastructure in this legal dispute between the private company and indigenous peoples.

Saradu Plantation Sdn. Bhd. is a Sarawak oil palm company, which has been given 15,000 hectares of land by the state government to develop oil palm in Balingian.

Saradu is also linked to the Sarawak Chief Minister as his brother-in law, Robert Geneid and sister, Raziah Mahmud are majority shareholders of the company.

JAOS said: “Matek Geram’s case is just one of hundreds of land encroachment and conflict cases between indigenous peoples and oil palm plantation companies in Sarawak.

“In light of this, JOAS reiterates its support for the recent call from TAHABAS and other indigenous peoples organisations for a moratorium on plantation development projects.

“JOAS reiterates its position that the State Government-issued provisional leases are encroaching illegally into our constitutionally-recognised customary lands and forests.

“Until the government moves towards a meaningful solution with the full and effective participation and consent of indigenous peoples, incidences like Matek Geram will continue to take place throughout the state, to the detriment of the rights of indigenous Sarawakians, the sustainable development of the Sarawakian population and the image of the state of Sarawak and Malaysia,” it said.- The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

SPDP is in “trouble”?

SPDP treasurer general and MP for Bintulu, Tiong King Sing who is the Chief Executive Officer of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) has been involved in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

In the latest news, Tiong claimed that he had donated RM10 million to Ong Tee Keat, MCA president and Transport Minister for MCA divisions’ activities. But Ong has denied receiving the money.

He accused Tiong of carrying out smear tactics and character assassination. The disclosure by Tiong, he said, had several motives including allegation away from the alleged irregularities by the Task Force.

Port Klang Authority chairman Lee Hwa Beng has lodged a Police report against Tiong’s company (KDSB) alleging irregularities and disputed claims between RM500 million and RM1 billion over the construction of the turnkey project of PKFZ.

But as a Sarawakian I am more concerned about the future of SPDP. In the event that something goes wrong with Tiong what will happen to SPDP? Will it survive without Tiong?

Currently, SPDP depends heavily on Tiong who is financing the party and its activities and even certain leaders depend on Tiong for their personal activities. Without Tiong, said one SPDP supreme council member, the party will “mati rangkai” (die due to financial dehydration).

Perhaps not to continue depending entirely on Tiong, the party has been looking for another “towkay” to help finance the party.

The case of the launching the Muara Tuang division on 14 July at Hunco restaurant was an example. There was a directive not to get Tiong as patron, but another “towkay”.

Apparently some SPDP leaders were still hurt by Tiong’s remarks during their last supreme council meeting. (Refer to the previous story – Can SPDP survive with the sting of scorpion?)

Meanwhile, there are also rumours among party members that Tiong may opt for the number two post of the party come its Triennial General Meeting (TGM) this November. It is understood that negotiations are gong on now between Peter Nyarok’s men and Tiong’s representatives on the number two post.

But the question is: where all these lead SPDP to? It is interesting to watch. – The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Leasing NCR land to plantation companies is illegal

The acts of the state government in issuing provisional leases over NCR land to plantation companies are illegal without the prior consent of the land owners, says Michael Jok, who represents several indigenous peoples organisations.

The organisations included Jaringan Tanah Hak Adat Bangsa Asal Sarawak (TAHABAS), Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (JOAS), Borneo Resources Institute Malaysia (BRIMAS), PACOS Trust Sabah (PACOS), Persatuan Wanita Desa Sarawak (WADESA), Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA) and SPNC and Orang Asli community Reps (Peninsular Malaysia).

In a joint statement issued to commemorate the international day of the Indigenous peoples of the world on 10 August 2009 which was held in Miri, Jok said: “We call on the state government to stop large-scale plantations and other activities on indigenous lands until effective measurers to safeguard their rights and the environment are in place.

“We are deeply concerned that the state government has issued licences for planted forests plantation over as large as 1,397,644 hectares in three areas of Belaga, Kakus and Tutoh.

“This still does not include oil palm plantation. Some of these forest plantation estates are established within the NCR land and water catchment areas of the native communities,” he said.

Jok said: “We are calling on the government to stop this arbitrarily issuance of provisional lease to any private companies for the purpose of plantation development projects. The companies that have been given the PL have encroached illegally into the NCR land of the native communities.

“The effect of this has resulted in disputes over rights to the land and resources. The acts of the state government in issuing provisional leases over NCR land are illegal without getting the prior consent of the natives.

“We strongly urge moratorium on any plantation development projects and call on the government to immediately bring about meaningful solutions to all these land disputes and land rights,” he said.

On the exploitation of timber, Jok said that over the past decades our indigenous communities have faced turbulent survival as a result of our forests being continuously exploited by timber companies.

“Logging has destroyed our fundamental existence of living, the plant varieties including medicinal plants, animals and fish have either become threatened or extinct.

“The bulldozed forests cannot be planted with crops as soil is compacted and disturbed; crop harvests are reduced and rivers on which the people depend for water became polluted.

“Forests produce become scare which threatens the survival of the people who have depended on it for hundred of years,” Jok said, adding that in Sarawak, native communities are yet to face the worst in the future.

He said as the sunsets on the timber industry in Sarawak, the state government energetically seeks to diversify and broaden its revenue base via land development for oil palm plantation and large scale trees plantation.

“This land development means taking on time and again the various indigenous communities on their native customary rights (NCR) lands and forests within our respective ancestral territories,” Jok said.

The state government considered all NCR land as “idle land” in need of large scale development to be brought to the native communities in order to alleviate their poverty.

This argument, he said, was used to promote logging in the 1970s and is now used to justify the introduction of oil palm plantations and industrial tree plantation.

“After more than three decades of extensive loggings and deforestation why are that most of our people living in the interior are now worse off than before?” he asked. - The Broken Shield

The PKR pledge on NCR Land

A Sarawak PKR leader has warned the Bidayuhs that the land on which they are standing now may be taken away from them.

“Be careful if anyone takes away your land, you will have no more land on which you stand,” said Baru Bian, a member of PKR political bureau at a dinner last night at a Bidayuh village in Bau.

"Like Lun Bawang which means natives of the country, Bidayuh as he is given to understand means someone standing on the land. But one day, Bidayuhs will have no more land on which they can stand as their land may be taken away. They will stand on the air” said Baru who is a Lun Bawang from Lawas.

He said that land especially the NCR land issue is a very hot issue now as the government is leasing them to giant companies for the planting of oil palm. And as a lawyer, he said he is currently handling more than 100 court cases against the government.

Altogether there are more than 200 cases pending in the High Court, he said.

“So we have to be very careful, as there are companies which want to take away our land. Even the governor’s NCR land is being taken,” he said, adding: “Land is our life. Without land we will die.”

Baru said that PKR had now made its own land policy when it took over the administration of the State government.

“First, we will survey all NCR lands and declare them as NCR land reserves. This is to be done along the line the Malay Land Reserves are being done in the Peninsula. No non-natives can buy or deal with them.

“Secondly, any NCR land owner wants his land to be surveyed and given title, the PKR government will comply with his request. This is being done in the States under the administration of the Pakatan Government,” Baru said.

He said in Sarawak the State government refused to survey NCR land saying the government had no money.

“That is not the reason. The reason is that government fears that once NCR lands are being surveyed, the whole of Sarawak will be under the NCR land,” Baru said.

He called on Bidayuhs to work together with PKR to see a new dawn is coming to Sarawak.

The dinner which was attended by 2,000 Bidayuhs from the three parliamentary constituencies of Mas Gading, Mambong and Serian was organised to welcome the visit of Anwar Ibrahim to Bau.

Datuk Sri Daniel Tajem, the former president of the defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak was also invited to the dinner where he met Anwar who called him “Chief” and Chua Jui Meng who described Tajem as the “greatest”. - The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Salang tells State leaders: Don’t divert federal allocation on infrastructure

MP Julau-cum-Deputy Minister of Information, Communication and Culture Joseph Salang has made it very clear to the State powers that be not to take away federal allocation for infrastructure development in Sarawak’s rural areas.

“The money must be rightly spent on such areas only. The implementing state agencies should follow the federal directives. There are reasons why the fund is specifically allocated to certain areas.

“The money should not be diverted else where,” he said when referring to RM4 billion federal allocation to upgrade infrastructure in the rural and interior regions of Sarawak and Sabah.

Salang’s warning is timely. Otherwise most of these monies will go to only SCORE areas, Mukah and Betong, thus other areas will be deprived of infrastructure development. It had happened in the past when allocation for the Simunjan/Punda Road was diverted to Kota Samarahan; allocation for a Pantu Secondary school was diverted to Betong. Many more had happened that you and I did not know.

Despite we are the richest State in the country with timber, oil and gas and land resources in plentiful, we are among the poorest in Malaysia. Why?

We know why Salang is so concerned about the federal fund being taken away, because at the moment the State government has no money. And we and Dayak leaders like Alfred Jabu, James Masing, and William Mawan should support Salang for daring to voice his concern rather than involved in the “sirat” issue.

A contractor friend of mine in Sarikei complained that the government owes him RM1 million, saying that the government has no money to pay him. Complaints of other contractors receiving no payment are also common.

Hotels will not receive service orders as a form of payment when civil servants go on travelling. Either cash or don’t stay in the hotels. That is the order from hotel managements.

According to my friend, the contractor, many will go bankrupt if the government does not pay for the completed projects: the contractor will go bankrupt, many of his workers who have houses and cars to pay will also go bankrupt and the hardware shoppers will also suffer.

So the question is: Why are we in this state of financial uncertainty and bankrupt? And where have the monies gone to? - The Broken Shield

Source: http://www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com/

Lim says: Dayak leaders look down on their own people

DAP secretary general and Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng has accused some Dayak leaders who opposed his idea of Dayak Endowment Board (DEB) are the ones who degrade the Dayaks because they do not want to help their own community.

“I am baffled as to why Dayak leaders are up in arms over my proposal for a Dayak Endowment Board which seeks to help the poor Dayaks in the State,” he said.

The proposal was not because he looked down on the Dayaks as what some leaders thought, but made out genuine interest to help those who have been struggling against poverty.

“I am just saying that we want to help those who have been marginalized. So I do not see what is wrong with that. Are we going to allow them to continue to be marginalized?” he asked when replying to adverse comments from Dayak leaders.

Lim said that with the setting up of the board, the government would not only be helping in terms of money, but also opportunities and he did not see what wrong with that.

The board would be run the way the Penang government carried out it “Partners against Poverty” programme in the State.

Dayak leaders are against Lim’s suggestion are PBB deputy president Alfred Jabu Anak Numpang, SPDP president William Mawan, PRS president James Masing, Balai Ringin state assemblyman Snowdan Lawan and State assemblyman for Bukit Begunan Mong Dagang.

If they do not agree with Lim’s suggestion, do they have ideas of their own to help their own people? Are we going to see the Dayaks suffering for another 46 years? – The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

TYT’s NCR land is not spared

It is not only the Dayaks’ NCR lands that have been leased to companies, but native customary right land belonging to our present beloved Governor (TYT) has also been leased to a company for prawn farming, said Baru Bian (pic below), a prominent NCR land lawyer.

“It is not only the Dayaks NCR lands are affected; in fact all the natives of Sarawak NCR lands are affected.

“I wish to state that even a NCR land belonging to our present beloved Governor was affected by the issuance of a Provisional Lease to a company for prawn farming, as revealed in one of the cases I handled, a decision, which is still pending in the High Court at Kuching, Sarawak,” he said in a statement.

“Such is the unbridled power of the present State BN Government of which these Dayak leaders are proudly part of. If the top civil servant’s NCR land can be affected, none of the ordinary Sarawakians NCR lands is protected and safe from such an abuse of power today.

Picture Credit: http://www.malaysianmirror.com

“How I hope that these Dayak leaders spent more of their political energies addressing pertinent issue like the deprivation and encroachment of NCR over land rather than a political rhetoric,” he said when commenting on remarks made by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

Hadi was reported to have said that the voters of Batang Ai did not know how to vote as they were still wearing loin clothes.

Bian who is a PKR leader in Sarawak said: “Some Dayak leaders who appear to have been angered and offended by such disparaging remarks should equally, if not be more moved with fervour and zeal in defending a more fundamental issue or rights affecting our Dayak community today, that is, the deprivation and encroachment of Dayak NCR lands and forests all over Sarawak by various companies.”

“This is more pertinent and crucial issue as the deprivation and encroachment of NCR lands threatens the very life and our existence as Dayaks and other natives of Sarawak, as land and the forests are the very source of their livelihood.

“To this day, none of the present Dayak leaders in the State BN Government dares to speak out on this very issue. Instead they have been found to echo the voices of their political master, Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud that the State Government does not grab or take any NCR lands belonging to the natives of Sarawak.

“I respectfully ask these so-called Dayak leaders to go to the ground and see for themselves how hectares and hectares of NCR lands had been given out to big investors and companies for oil palm plantations, tree plantations, timber licences, quarry licences and replanting licences from Lundu to Lawas,” he said.- The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com