Angry native landowners act against Sarawak oil palm company
By Tony Thien, Malaysiakini
About 400 people from 20 Iban longhouse communities in Machan, located in Sarawak’s Kanowit district, have stopped a joint venture company from entering their oil palm plantation for failing to pay dividends to them.
At one access point into Ladang Kelimut situated on the right bank of the Rajang River, the villagers placed their own people to prevent workers from entering the estate.
At another access road, they erected two barriers across, according to local NGO Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia) secretary-general Nicholas Mujah today.
Many more villages are expected to join them in the blockades until they, who are owners of the land, get what they have been promised to them by the company.
Ladang Kelimut is already planted with about 2,000 hectares of oil palm which have already matured and harvested.
According to Baru Bian, the lawyer appointed by the villagers, except for an initial advance of RM1,200 paid to each scheme participant in 1997, not a single cent in dividends have been paid to the NCR landowners up to now.
The NCR landowners agreed to let the company in which Boustead Plantations holds 60%, the NCR landowners 30% and the Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA) 10% of the equity, to develop their NCR land on a number of other conditions.
According to Baru, the 30% equity is being held on their behalf by LCDA, a state government agency.
In the agreement, roads are to be built to connect all the longhouses in the area, there will be electricity and piped water supply, a kindergarten will be built in each of the villages and 60-year land titles will be issued to the NCR landowners.
But after the company reneged on the promises, including failing to pay the dividends despite the fruits being harvested for many years now, the natives could no longer bear it and decided to take action to protect their interests.
Police report lodged
They lodged a police report in Kanowit recently, saying the company had failed to pay dividends to them and that they were giving the company notice unless such payment was made soon they would have to take the case to court and at the same time stop the company's operations.
The NCR landowners have formed a joint action committee headed by Linus Ak Simon Agong.
The Ladang Kelimut area is part of a 20,000 hectares NCR land that landowners - all Ibans - in the Kanowit District agreed in 1996 to be developed as the first project under what is known as 'Konsep Baru' (new concept), said to be a brainchild of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.
Machan state assemblyperson and assistant minister Gramong Juna had campaigned hard to persuade the NCR landowners to participate. It is now said that many of the NCR landowners are unhappy with him as well.
About 14,000 hectares have been planted to date.
Part of it is located on the other side of the bank of the Rajang River where the company has set up a mill.
Initially only three longhouse communities took action in April but other affected communities joined in later to make the present 20 with more expected to join in the weeks or months to come.
The company could not be contacted immediately for comment.
Entrance blocked
Meanwhile, in Sematan, Lundu District, about 70km from Kuching City, a group of angry Dayak Selako NCR landowners blocked the entrance at Mile 12, Sematan Road, to the site of an oil palm area the government has leased out to another joint venture company involving the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation and a private investor company.
The natives had lodged a police report saying that they saw trespassers on their NCR land and went to the site on Friday last week and allegedly set alight the pondok or guard house and closed the entrance to prevent the company workers moving in.
According to a Sadia spokesperson, police did not turn up even though they were informed by the company.
Sara-HL Sdn Bhd, the company, has an oil palm plantation lease of about 3,000 hectares. The local natives say it affects their NCR land.
Several NCR landowners filed for action in court against the authorities and the company but due to a misunderstanding on the dates the plaintiffs did not turn up in court in April this year.
The judge set it aside together with the injunction granted against the company earlier, and the lawyer representating the defendants wrote to the land and survey department in Lundu informing them of the court's decision.
The company had planted between 1,000 and 2,000 oil palm trees when the injunction against the company was granted last year after the plaintiffs filed the action in court.
(23 June 2008)
