Six Ibans arrested for collecting oil palm fruits from their NCR land

SRI AMAN: Six Ibans were arrested at 3.00 pm on Friday, 4 September 2009 after what they claimed, collecting oil palm fruits from their NCR land. But Pelita Tangga Akrab oil palm plantation in Pantu lodged a Police report accusing them of stealing their oil palm fruits.

Police personnel from Sri Aman made the arrests following the report lodged by an officer of the company. The Police also seized a lorry loaded with three tons of oil palm fruits.

The six are Giang Ak Junit, 37, Mansu Ak Kasi, 33, Banyat Ak Dundang, 40, Riky Ak Kunjin, 30, Robby Ak Juny, 23 and Fradaus Ak Liang, 19 all from Abok, Sri Aman.

They were released about six hours later from Sri Aman Police Station on Police bail after their lawyer, Dominique Ng intervened.

According to Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA), secretary general Nicholas Mujah, who accompanied Ng to the Police Station, the six denied stealing oil palm fruits belonging to Pelita.

They only harvested the oil palm fruits from their own NCR land which Pelita planted with oil palm without their consent. But Pelita claimed the fruits are from their plantation.

Early this year, four persons were arrested for collecting oil palm fruits from their NCR land at the same plantation.

Meanwhile, several NCR landowners had filed a court case against the company for illegally encroached into their NCR land. The case is pending hearing in the High Court.

Mujah said the case has been postponed several times.- The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Appeal to TYT to help settle NCR land issue

Residents of four longhouses of Ulu Suai, Batu Niah, Miri have submitted a memorandum to TYT Yang Dipertua Negeri Sarawak Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin seeking his help to intervene in their dispute with an oil palm company, Mega Jutamas Sdn Bhd over a piece of land of 313.54 hectares at Lot 95.

The memorandum was submitted on 27 August 2009 to the Astana by a seven-man delegation led by Siew Choon Siak. It was received by his Aide-de-camp.

Copies of the memorandum have been extended to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, State cabinet ministers and elected Dayak representatives.

The same group also sought the assistance of the Human Rights Commission in Sarawak which promised to raise it with its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

In the memorandum they appeal to the Head of State to intervene since he has been entrusted by the State Constitution to look after interests and welfare of the people of Sarawak especially the natives including the Dayak Ibans, saying that they have exhausted all avenues to solve the dispute with the oil palm company.

“We the poor people would like the Lot 95 that we have cleared and farmed much earlier than the company need to be defended and protected,” said Siew of Rumah Rajang.

He said that they also appealed to the Head of State to tell the company and its workers not to disturb and undermine their livelihood including threatening and frightening them by using gangsters and Police.

“We also want the land be given to us in accordance with the Federal Constitution that gives priority to the natives to be given land titles to their NCR land,” he said and appealed to TYT to urge the government to stop taking away their NCR land and to revoke the provisional lease on Lot 95.

The residents of the four longhouses – Rumah Rajang Ak Sengalang, Rumah Tapu Ak Galis, Rumah Aatat Ak Pengiran and Rumah Umpor Ak Lunsa - began planting the land at Ulu Suai, Batu Niah since 1996 with cash crops and oil palm.

According to Siew, the people have lived peacefully and harmoniously until the government leased the land to Mega Jutamas in May 2005.

Several meetings, he said, have been held with the company and the government and it seemed that the company simply ignored their request and did not respect their culture and their way of life.

Siew said that they have exhausted avenues to settle their dispute with the company including seeking assistance from the State Assemblyman for Kemena, the MP for Bintulu, the Minister of Land Development Sarawak, the Chief Minister and the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

“All our efforts have failed. Now we would like the Head of State to intervene,” he said, adding: “If nothing comes out from this appeal to the Head of State, then we raise the issue at the UN forum of indigenous peoples.

“And this can become a big issue that will have big impact not only on Malaysia palm oil exports, but also on Mega Jutamas oil palm company as well as other oil palm companies in Sarawak,” he said. – The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Malaysia Day celebrations: Let us spare a thought for these unsung heroes

Whether Malaysia is celebrating its 52nd or 46th anniversary on 31 August (Malaya obtained its independence 31 August 1957 and the federation of Malaysia was formed on 16 September 1963), is irrelevant to the issue that I am going to touch in this article. Nevertheless, during the 52 years or 46 years that Malaysia has been formed, we Malaysians have enjoyed tremendous development, security, peace and harmony.

Certainly there will be a lot of activities organised such as parades, funfairs, sports and games to celebrate our Merdeka. But how many of us realise, especially the younger generation, that what we enjoy today – peace, prosperity and harmony – is due on the main to the sacrifices made by our security forces – the Army, the Air force, the Navy, the Police, the Field force, the Border Scouts and especially the ordinary and unarmed people.

During the height of insurgency in Sarawak, the Sarawak Communist Organisation (SCO) which together with Indonesia opposed Sarawak joining Sabah, Singapore and Malaya to form the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. Indonesian National Army (TNI) working together with TNKU (Tentera National Kalimantan Utara) and SCO conducted armed raids into Sarawak’s territory. Communist terrorists (CTs) and TNKU were active in the then First Division, Second, Third and fourth Divisions.

We were fortunate that the British soldiers including the famous Gurkha soldiers helped to defend Sarawak. They worked very closely with the Police Field Force and Sarawak Border Scouts platoons which were formed by the famous Iban trekkers during the communist insurgency in Malaya in the 1950s. Although they scored many successes against the enemy, many among them also lost their lives in the defence of Sarawak.

But there were also unarmed civilians and ordinary people who had lost their lives just because they refused to cooperate with the communist terrorists. Instead they sacrificed themselves by supporting the government. I am thinking of people like Penghulu Imban of Sekuau and Penghulu Andok of Sarikei, Tua Kampong Bunseng Anak Munan of Kpg. Stunggang, Simin Anak Saji of Kpg. Sebamban and Jihos Anak Ginon, all of them from Lundu; Kulaw Anak Mawang of Kpg. Nibong. Serian, and countless others.

I recall being sent to Sarikei as a reporter to attend the funeral of Penghulu Andok who was cruelly and mercilessly murdered by the communists. That was in the 70s. The same fate befell Penghulu Imban. He was dragged from his longhouse in Ng. Skuau, and shot in front of the longhouse people. It was meant to be a public execution to warn the longhouse people not to support the security forces.

Had the people supported the CTs, Sarawak would have become a communist state by now. But the people refused to be intimidated. Rather the deaths of the Penghulus and Tua Kampong in the hands of the terrorists made the people in longhouses under their control not only very angry, but also inspired them to cooperate with the security forces. Their cooperation resulted in many terrorists killed as well as leading to communist terrorists’ surrender. The victory was celebrated in Simanggang in March 1974 and to mark the occasion, Simanggang was named Sri Aman.

It was due to unarmed people like Penghulu Andok and Penghulu Imban and so many others that we now enjoy peace, security and prosperity. But it seems that the government has forgotten the sacrifices made by these people. What is sadder still is that some of the terrorists and rebels who were once considered as the people’s enemy number one and who had murdered hundreds of civilians and security forces personnel and who had caused untold sufferings to thousands of Sarawakians, are now being upgraded, promoted and even recognised as heroes. Some have been given privileges to become rich, while others are now occupying or have occupied senior posts or highest post in the government.

The Malaysian history appears to be upside down now – terrorists are now considered as heroes, and the heroes are made to become villains. Worst still, their descendents’ NCR lands are being taken away and are given to big companies whose CEOs and personnel of these companies were once the backers and sympathizers of the CT organisation. Now their descendents are not fighting the CTs anymore, but ironically are fighting the state government and oil palm and timber companies that had once spawned communist terrorism.

Sad isn’t it for us who know history and truth? Nevertheless during this Merdeka day celebration, let us spare a thought for these unsung heroes and express our sympathies for those heroes who are still around and for their descendents regarding their current plight. Let us pray for the repose of the souls of those who had departed. This is the least that we can do for them. - The Broken Shield

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

Longhouse chief charged for defending his people’s NCR land

Belaga: Just how many Tuai Rumah (longhouse chiefs) or village chiefs nowadays dare to defend NCR land of their anembiak (followers) and risk being arrested and losing their RM450.00 monthly allowance from the government?

There are, but not many. Most of them are interested to help the government to take away the people’s NCR land, while others become agents (brokers) in selling their followers’ NCR land to big oil palm companies. This happens in Lundu, and I am sure elsewhere.

But for Longhouse head, TK Nyalang Tahe’ from Long Koyan in Belaga he is prepared to be arrested and charged in court in the defence of his people’s land. He is to appear in the Magistrate’s Court, Belaga on 12 October 2009 under Section 379 of the Penal Code for the alleged crime of theft.

He was charged for stealing an excavator belonging to Samling Plantation on 13 May 2009 which he denied. He was under police bond pending the case to be mentioned at the Belaga Magistrate Court.

TK Nyalang Tahe’ is a village leader who is dedicated and concerned with the welfare of his community. This laudable quality led him to defend their village Native Customary Rights (NCR) of Rumah Panjang Long Koyan (Long Koyan longhouse) in Belaga from encroachment by Samling Plantation for the establishment of an oil palm plantation.

The case arose from a police report that was made by a representative from Long Koyan Longhouse on 13 May 2009 about an encroachment taking place in their customary land by Samling Plantation sometime in the beginning of May.

In the report, longhouse representatives, led by TK Nyalang Tahe’ stopped an excavator, from bulldozing their farm lands and gardens in their NCR land. The report also mentioned that they confiscated the excavator keys to stop the workers from further encroachment.

On 21 July 2009, a warrant of arrest was issued to TK Nyalang and he was summoned by the police to surrender himself at the Sungai Asap Police Station. A large number of his longhouse residents went together with TK Nyalang to the police station that day.

According to Abun Sui Anyit, advisor of the Sarawak Native Customary Land Rights Network (TAHABAS), “This is clearly a dispute of rights to land. The police should have carried out a thorough investigation based on the reports lodged by the two parties in dispute.”

“The police should be neutral in handling the case without biased. But this was not so, as the police hastily framed TK Nyalang as a criminal by instituting charges against him,” Abun said.

TK Nyalang was not aware that the company had made another police report complaining that one of their excavators was stolen and he was the prime suspect and a warrant of arrest issued against him.

TK Nyalang and his residents argued with the police that the excavator was not stolen and it is still under the care of the workers of Samling Plantation. The keys are in their possession as it was passed to them by the plantation workers. They said it is even stated in their police report.

TK Nyalang said that they have made numerous police reports against Samling Plantation, but no action was taken. He and his residents wanted to know why the police are so swift to take action when the company makes a police report and why TK Nyalang is being charge for a criminal offence when it is the company that is committing an offence of trespass.

Realising the crowd’s anger, the police decided not to arrest TK Nyalang but he is required to sign a police bond and ordered to appear at the Belaga Magistrate Court on the 21 August to answer to the charges of stealing the company’s excavator. - The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Another heartless act against the natives?

Some 24 smallholder oil palm farmers from Ulu Suai in Niah, Miri are asking Saremas to immediately repair the road that they had dug up, rendering it unusable for more than a month. The road, they said, leads from the main road directly to their farms and they use this road to transport their harvested oil palm to the nearby mill.

The farmers are from the following longhouses: Rumah Rajang, Rumah Atat, Rumah Umpur and Rumah Tapu. Because of Saremas’s actions in destroying the road, they are now unable to transport their oil palm harvests and sell their fruits. Their lives and primary source of income has now been disrupted.

Syarikat Saremas (PPB Oil Palm Sdn Bhd) is a company that also owns oil palms in the Ulu Suai, Niah area. On 14 July 2009, the company started digging up and cutting off the farm road in question.

The villagers feel that they have suffered many losses. On 14 July, the village headman, Tuai Rumah Tapu, also a farmer, made a police report in Batu Niah against the company. They have also appealed to the company however the company has refused to entertain their appeal. They say that the manager initiated the action on a directive from the top management, which suspects the villagers of stealing from the company’s plantations.

According to Siew Choon Siak of Rumah Rajang, Suai, one of the farmers’ representatives, “Saremas may have been acting all this while together with another oil palm company, Megajutamas to pressure the village people into giving up and selling their land to that said company.”

“But we did not suspect that Saremas was connected with this land case until our gardens were destroyed and our livelihoods lost.

“The villagers themselves tried to fill in and repair the road on 13 August 2009 but on 14 August 2009, the heartless Saremas dug up the road again”, he said.

Village head, Tuai Rumah Rajang, appealed to government representatives and other authorities to help them resolve the issue between the company and the villagers.

According to him, “If the problem is not resolved quickly, the livelihoods and daily income of the longhouse would be affected as this is our only source of income.”

Punai anak Beriak of Rumah Umpur and a committee member of the Rural Women’s Association of Sarawak (WADESA) also expressed her dissatisfaction with the company’s action. She appealed to the company to not be so cruel and destroy the lives of the villagers.

She said, “This is the only money from the smallholding that allowed our families to send our children to school.”

Jelita anak Bum from Rumah Atat said, “This whole month we were not able to harvest our fruit and all our hard work and income was destroyed because they destroyed the road.”

Amy Alus from Rumah Tapu hoped that the government or top representatives would be able to solve this problem quickly. She was concerned that this oppression by the company would result in a repeat of Ulu Niah history. She did not think the longhouse villagers would be problematic but they were now getting desperate.

According to them, a few months before, Megajutamas had also closed the road of the longhouses in the Ulu Suai area.

Siew, who is also a committee member of the Sarawak Native Customary Land Rights Network (TAHABAS), said that the prior land conflict with Megajutamas started in 2005 and has still not been resolved until today. He said that Saremas deliberately instigated a new problem for the villagers and villagers feel that they do not respect their native rights.

Siew also feels that the problem is not being handled sensitively by a government that carries the PM’s slogan ‘1Malaysia, Nation first’. Government representatives are aware that the community does not want the commercial oil palm company to enter into their communal land area because the company does not respect their rights as indigenous peoples (Orang Asal).

“We want our rights to be respected. We are against all suppression of our rights”. – The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Legal tools to grab Dayak land

Paul Raja, a lawyer who has been representing NCR land owners against the state government has revealed that there are a few laws that are used as tools to take away Dayak lands.

“Besides the Land Code, there are the Land Custody and Development Authority Ordinance, Sarawak Land Development Board, The Forests (Planted Forests) Rules, 1997, and the Agropolis Ordinance.

"Among these, the two most notorious tools are the Land Custody and Development Authority or LCDA (jokingly referred to as the acronym for ‘Let’s Chase Dayaks Away’) law and The Forests (Planted Forests) Rules, 1997,” said Raja in a statement to the Dayak Nation blog,

He said: “The LCDA is used to designate certain areas as ‘development areas’. Most of the time, these areas will affect the native lands. But the native lands are always erroneously and deceptively termed as ‘state land’. These lands are then alienated to certain companies.

“These companies can be LCDA partners or individually owned. In most cases, those lands individually owned are sold to a third party, to make a quick buck. These deals normally earn these individuals millions of Ringgit.

“The normal price rates for these provisional leases range between RM1,000 per acre to RM3,000 per acre. The areas of these provisional leases range from 1,000 acres to 20,000 acres,” Raja said.

He said while these huge transactions were taking place in the cities, the people in the villages were sleeping soundly in the longhouse, until a few months or years later. Then they woke to see bulldozers moving onto their lands.

“This is the common scenario of land grabs in Sarawak. The main victims are the poor Dayaks. This predicament of the Dayaks community is just one aspect of the many problems they are facing.

“Yet the Dayak elected representatives or YBs will not admit these problems, for they expose the YBs as total failures. The YBs become very defensive instead,” he said and asked: “where will these lead us to”?

For the past 15 years Raja’s legal practice has been defending native communities against Sarawak State government aggression. The State government works hand in glove with the rich and powerful timber companies and now plantation and tree-planting companies. The native communities have always been on the receiving end.

As one who comes from the native community, the defence of natives’ land rights is challenging, and the task an arduous one for him.

“Often, we are considered aliens amongst our peers, at times a nuisance. There are always those who purposely make us feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. I pity their narrow-mindedness,” he said.

In the 1980s through the 1990s, defenders of native customary land rights were portrayed by the state-controlled media as “anti-government”, “anti-development” and “anti-social”. These defenders were subjected to all sorts of negative perception, he said.

“When I first ventured to do native land cases in the mid-90s, some of my lawyer friends even warned me that I would be blacklisted by the Special Branch of the Police Department. Those were some of the challenges that we faced,” he said.

It was an onerous task for native plaintiffs to establish their NCR claims. The might of the State government machinery always overawed the courts and the native claimants. To a certain extent, there was always the firm belief that ‘the state can do no wrong’ and ‘the state is immune in any of its conduct, right or wrong’, he said.

Obstacles on the ground

Moving from the courtroom to the ground, even the very people that they were defending were divided, with some supporting our cause and others opposing angrily. In many cases, they spent a lot of time trying to extricate their clients from the intrigues by the opposing members of the community concerned.

“Having fought many cases and having gone through many humiliations in court, we realize that the natives’ land problem is not merely a legal problem. We saw that the root of the problem lies in the law that governs land tenure in Sarawak.

“Since the introduction of the Land Code [Cap.81] in 1958, the land rights of the natives have been continuously eroded. Now the natives are in the worst position they have ever been in. Apart from land, they lose out in almost every aspect of life.

“Whenever the plights of the natives are highlighted, the so-called Dayak leaders, instead of lending support to the plight of the rural poor, are the first to condemn the whistle-blowers,” Raja said, pointing out that the Dayaks were the worst affected where their lands, properties, wealth, identity and dignity had been taken away from them.

“Now with the advent of oil palm plantations, dam construction, forest replanting schemes, almost all the Dayaks lands have been obliterated. This is despite the often-repeated propaganda by BN elected representatives, that the government does not take away peoples’ land,” Raja stressed. – The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Any support for Tiong from SPDP?

It was reported today in The Borneo Post that more than 800 leaders from MCA divisions, Youth and Wanita wings yesterday expressed support for their troubled president Ong Tee Keat.

At the three-hour, Ong briefed them on the latest political developments regarding allegations that he received RM10 million from Tiong King Sing and used KDSB jet for free. Apparently the members who were fully satisfied with the explanations pledged their full support for the leadership of the party president.

I am wondering, so are many others, why Tiong’s party, SPDP seems to be indifferent towards “problems” faced by their treasurer general? I believe this is the time that the party leaders should express full support for their leader. And this is the time that they must sink and swim with him.

We know that during the last supreme council meeting, Tiong was mad with a number of party supreme council members. And there are also rumours that Tiong is going for the number two of the party.

Or is their silence over the Tiong issue meant that they do not support their treasurer general? Or is the party divided over Tiong’s case?

But then in this time of party’s “crisis” there should be es’prit de corps among the members. The party interest should be above personal interest. This is where MCA has shown the way. All Dayak-based parties should emulate this fine example. – The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com