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updated 2001-01-31
Aug 17, 2000
Penans stage peaceful protest
Malaysiakini Internet News (http://www.malaysiakini.com
or http://www.malaysiakini.com.my)
Ajinder Kaur
4pm, THURS: More than a hundred semi-settled Penans from the remote interior of Baram in northern Sarawak have staged a peaceful protest against three logging companies by erecting a wooden barricade across a logging road.
The Penans, comprising men, women and children from settlements in the Apoh and Tutoh region in Baram, Miri Division, have put up the blockade since Aug 11 to stop the private timber companies, namely Lajong Lumber (subsidiary of Rimbunan Hijau), Shin Yang and Rawood, from carrying out logging operations in the settlements.
According to the Penan village chiefs, the blockade will be manned and maintained until the higher authorities and government leaders come up with acceptable solutions and a written guarantee that the Penan rights to their traditional land and resources are respected by the timber concessionaires and contractors.
They added that their people resorted to the blockade after numerous verbal and written appeals made to the companies were ignored.
The village chiefs complained that the three companies involved simply encroached into the communal forest reserves of the Penans and logged out the timber resources without consultation with them.
They further complained that these companies simply bulldozed their planted fruit trees and burial sites and refused to pay compensation for the damage. They also alleged that the companies hired gangsters to harass the indigenous people so that they would not pursue their legitimate demands for compensation.
Meanwhile, environmental NGO Sahabat Alam Malaysia today urged the government and the relevant authorities to exercise restraint in dealing with the Penans involved in the blockade.
SAM president SM Mohd Idris, in a press statement to malaysiakini, said that the police and Forestry Department should not arbitrarily arrest, remand and charge the indigenous people without first conducting a proper investigation into their complaints and grievances.
"The ongoing occurrence of protests by the natives in their areas of settlement is a clear indication that the present forest management policy has serious weaknesses which need to be rectified," Mohd Idris said.
He reiterated the organisation's call to the Sarawak state government to review its forest management policy and laws so that the rights and privileges of the natives to the forest and its resources be recognised and protected.
"The natives should be given the right to control and manage the resources or at least be treated as equal stakeholders in the management and use of such resources so that they can meaningfully benefit from it," Mohd Idris said.
The Star Online
Friday, August 18, 2000
Penans set up timber blockade
By Stephen Then
MIRI: More than a hundred semi-nomadic Penans living in the deep interiors of Miri Division have set up a "timber blockade"-a desperate attempt to stop three logging companies from conducting operations in jungles they claim are ancestral land.
The group of protesters, comprising several Penan chiefs, their tribesmen, women and children, had erected wooden barricades across a road near the Long Kevok outpost in Tutoh in the far reaches of Miri Division.
Sources said the blockade was erected several days ago and were being manned day and night by the protesters.
The Penans are trying to stop the three local companies here from entering, felling or extracting timber from the Apoh-Tutoh jungles where they live.
They claimed that the companies had blatantly encroached into the communal forests there and had been extracting timber indiscriminately without consulting them.
One of the Penan chief, Ajang Kiew, claimed that workers from the companies had ignored appeals to stop destroying their crops.
He claimed that the companies had bulldozed their fruit trees, desecrated
their burial sites and refused to pay any compensation for the damages
done, adding that the barriers were "a last resort."
The protesters want government leaders in Sarawak and those from the forestry and district offices to intervene in the dispute.
They also want a written guarantee that an acceptable solution would be reached between the various factions and that the Penans rights in the region be recognised by the authorities and respected by the logging companies.
A check with the police in the Baram area showed that there had been no arrests so far.
It is learnt that a group of police personnel had entered the disputed area and have tried to resolve the problem amicably with the affected parties.
However, as of yesterday, the blockade was still in place and the protesters are showing no sign of relenting.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) field officer Thomas Jalong said the police and the authorities should exercise restraint when handling the protesters.
"Don't arrest or charge them without first looking into their grievances. The local authorities in fact, have been helpful in trying to resolve the matter but it seems the logging companies are not willing to negotiate.
"There seem to be a lot of contradicting stand. The ongoing protests is a clear indication that the present logging policies in the state have serious weakness that must be rectified as soon as possible.
"This is not the first such blockade. Such protests will continue unless the root cause of the problem is addressed," he said, noting that the Penans' land right claims have to be resolved.
Jalong said SAM was worried that the logging companies might resort to rough tactics to intimidate the protesters.
He called on the federal and state authorities to help negotiate a peaceful and fair settlement before the situation gets out of control.