US human rights report shines spotlight on Penan tribe
19 April
A new US government human rights report has highlighted the Penan tribe’s battle to protect their rainforests in Sarawak, in Malaysian Borneo, from logging.
The US State Department document cites claims by indigenous rights groups that Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s government has leased the Penan’s land ‘to logging companies and land developers in exchange for political favors and money’.
Taib Mahmud has been in power for 30 years, and won state elections last week. Thousands of Penan tribespeople were unable to vote because they have not been issued with identity cards.
The US report describes accounts that ‘logging companies harassed and sometimes threatened vocal Penan leaders’ and that ‘workers from two logging companies… regularly sexually abused Penan women and girls’. A government minister has confirmed the rapes, but no action has been taken against the perpetrators.
The hunter-gatherer Penan are fighting to keep their last remaining rainforest safe from the logging companies. One Penan woman told Survival, ‘Our land and our river have been destroyed by the logging company, by the oil palm plantation. It brings hardship and suffering to our land.’
Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘The State Department report adds weight to growing worldwide condemnation of the Sarawak government’s treatment of the Penan. The Penan’s human rights are being ignored, their forests destroyed, and their survival threatened.’
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7228
Showing posts with label sarawak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sarawak. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Sunday, March 06, 2011
Rainforest Robbery - Made in Malaysia
CAMPAIGN UPDATE: Rainforest robbery - How Sarawak's Chief Minister became a billionaire
Please forward this e-mail to your friends +++
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends, the latest edition of Tong Tana, the BMF newsletter, is now online under: http://www.stop-timber-corruption.org/resources
Please read the compelling account of how Taib Mahmud, Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Sarawak since 1981, became a billionaire and transferred vast sums overseas. The newsletter includes the following chapters:
- Rainforest robbery: How to become a billionaire by logging and corruption
- Samling and the Taibs: collaborators in rainforest destruction
- The Boyert case and the FBI
- The Taibs' Swiss Monaco connection
- Taib's Canadian black money imperium
- Put a Stop to the Rainforest Mafia! - Demands of the Bruno Manser Fund
The newsletter is available in English, French and German. Please help us to highlight the Taib corruption case with anti-corruption and anti-money-laundering authorities around the globe and sign the online petition!
Your BMF team
Please contact us for more information: Bruno Manser Fonds, Socinstrasse 37, 4051 Basel / Switzerland, +41 61 261 94 74
www.bmf.ch, www.stop-timber-corruption.org.
PS: Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/bmfonds
Please forward this e-mail to your friends +++
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends, the latest edition of Tong Tana, the BMF newsletter, is now online under: http://www.stop-timber-corruption.org/resources
Please read the compelling account of how Taib Mahmud, Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Sarawak since 1981, became a billionaire and transferred vast sums overseas. The newsletter includes the following chapters:
- Rainforest robbery: How to become a billionaire by logging and corruption
- Samling and the Taibs: collaborators in rainforest destruction
- The Boyert case and the FBI
- The Taibs' Swiss Monaco connection
- Taib's Canadian black money imperium
- Put a Stop to the Rainforest Mafia! - Demands of the Bruno Manser Fund
The newsletter is available in English, French and German. Please help us to highlight the Taib corruption case with anti-corruption and anti-money-laundering authorities around the globe and sign the online petition!
Your BMF team
Please contact us for more information: Bruno Manser Fonds, Socinstrasse 37, 4051 Basel / Switzerland, +41 61 261 94 74
www.bmf.ch, www.stop-timber-corruption.org.
PS: Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/bmfonds
Monday, February 07, 2011
Malaysia Deforestation Is Three Times Faster Than Rest Of Asia Combined
(AP) - New satellite imagery shows Malaysia is destroying forests more than three times faster than all of Asia combined, and its carbon-rich peat soils of the Sarawak coast are being stripped even faster, according to a study released Tuesday.
The report commissioned by the Netherlands-based Wetlands International says Malaysia is uprooting an average 2 percent of the rain forest a year on Sarawak, its largest state on the island of Borneo, or nearly 10 percent over the last five years. Most of it is being converted to palm oil plantations, it said.
The deforestation rate for all of Asia during the same period was 2.8 percent, it said.
In the last five years, 353,000 hectares (872,263 acres) of Malaysia's peatlands were deforested, or one-third of the swamps which have stored carbon from decomposed plants for millions of years.
"We never knew exactly what was happening in Malaysia and Borneo," said Wetlands spokesman Alex Kaat. "Now we see there is a huge expansion (of deforestation) with annual rates that are beyond imagination."
The study was carried out by SarVision, a satellite monitoring and mapping company that originated with scientists at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
"Total deforestation in Sarawak is 3.5 times as much as that for entire Asia, while deforestation of peat swamp forest is 11.7 times as much," the report said.
Malaysia's peatland forests are home to several endangered animals, including the Borneo Pygmy elephant and the Sumatran rhino, as well as rare timber species and unique vegetation
Kaat said the study showed deforestation was progressing far faster than the Malaysian government has acknowledged.
Scientists say the destruction of the Amazon, the rain forests of central Africa and in Southeast Asia accounts for more than 15 percent of human-caused carbon emissions blamed for global warming.
Live forests soak up carbon from the atmosphere, while burning trees release that stored carbon – contributing to climate change in two ways at once. But emissions effect is amplified when trees are felled from the peatlands and the swamps are drained for commercial plantations.
Malaysia and Indonesia produce about 85 percent of the world's palm oil, an ingredient in cooking oil, cosmetics, soaps, bread, and chocolate. It also is used as an industrial lubricant and was once considered an ideal biofuel alternative to fossil fuel, but it has fallen out of favor because of earlier reports of widespread rainforest destruction for the expansion of plantations.
Indonesia has pledged to slow deforestation in its territory, and last year Norway pledged to give Jakarta $1 billion a year to help finance an independent system of monitoring and quantifying greenhouse gas emissions.
The report commissioned by the Netherlands-based Wetlands International says Malaysia is uprooting an average 2 percent of the rain forest a year on Sarawak, its largest state on the island of Borneo, or nearly 10 percent over the last five years. Most of it is being converted to palm oil plantations, it said.
The deforestation rate for all of Asia during the same period was 2.8 percent, it said.
In the last five years, 353,000 hectares (872,263 acres) of Malaysia's peatlands were deforested, or one-third of the swamps which have stored carbon from decomposed plants for millions of years.
"We never knew exactly what was happening in Malaysia and Borneo," said Wetlands spokesman Alex Kaat. "Now we see there is a huge expansion (of deforestation) with annual rates that are beyond imagination."
The study was carried out by SarVision, a satellite monitoring and mapping company that originated with scientists at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
"Total deforestation in Sarawak is 3.5 times as much as that for entire Asia, while deforestation of peat swamp forest is 11.7 times as much," the report said.
Malaysia's peatland forests are home to several endangered animals, including the Borneo Pygmy elephant and the Sumatran rhino, as well as rare timber species and unique vegetation
Kaat said the study showed deforestation was progressing far faster than the Malaysian government has acknowledged.
Scientists say the destruction of the Amazon, the rain forests of central Africa and in Southeast Asia accounts for more than 15 percent of human-caused carbon emissions blamed for global warming.
Live forests soak up carbon from the atmosphere, while burning trees release that stored carbon – contributing to climate change in two ways at once. But emissions effect is amplified when trees are felled from the peatlands and the swamps are drained for commercial plantations.
Malaysia and Indonesia produce about 85 percent of the world's palm oil, an ingredient in cooking oil, cosmetics, soaps, bread, and chocolate. It also is used as an industrial lubricant and was once considered an ideal biofuel alternative to fossil fuel, but it has fallen out of favor because of earlier reports of widespread rainforest destruction for the expansion of plantations.
Indonesia has pledged to slow deforestation in its territory, and last year Norway pledged to give Jakarta $1 billion a year to help finance an independent system of monitoring and quantifying greenhouse gas emissions.
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Sarawak: Blacklisted Illegal-Logging Tycoon Involved In Running Malaysian World Heritage Site
08 December 2010
Every tourist visiting the Gunung Mulu National Park contributes to enriching the Taib and the Yaw families - the main culprits in the destruction of Sarawak's tropical rainforest.
By Bruno Manser Fonds
Corruption scandal over the Gunung Mulu National Park widens as Samling owner Yaw Teck Seng and his family holding are identified as significant shareholders of the Royal Mulu Resort
Yaw Teck Seng, the controlling shareholder of the controversial Samling timber group, holds a significant equity stake in Borsamulu Resorts, a company that manages all the tourism activities in the Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak's UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site. Samling has recently been blacklisted by the Norwegian Government because of its involvement in large-scale illegal logging and environmental destruction in Malaysia and Guyana.
Every tourist visiting the Gunung Mulu National Park contributes to enriching the Taib and the Yaw families - the main culprits in the destruction of Sarawak's tropical rainforest.
By Bruno Manser Fonds
Corruption scandal over the Gunung Mulu National Park widens as Samling owner Yaw Teck Seng and his family holding are identified as significant shareholders of the Royal Mulu Resort
Yaw Teck Seng, the controlling shareholder of the controversial Samling timber group, holds a significant equity stake in Borsamulu Resorts, a company that manages all the tourism activities in the Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak's UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site. Samling has recently been blacklisted by the Norwegian Government because of its involvement in large-scale illegal logging and environmental destruction in Malaysia and Guyana.
Map of Gunung Mulu National Park
Research by the Bruno Manser Fund has shown that two companies, Sarawak Land and Plieran, who hold a 26% stake in Borsamulu Resorts, are closely related to Samling. Sarawak Land is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Yaw family holding that controls Samling. Plieran is jointly owned by Samling founder Yaw Teck Seng and four children of the Sarawak Chief Minister via two front companies, KBE (Malaysia) and Daya Syukra.
Last week's disclosure that Chief Minister Taib Mahmud has a personal stake in Borsarmulu Resort, a company directed by Taib's sister Raziah and her husband, has provoked a storm of outrage in Sarawak. The new findings mean that every tourist visiting the Gunung Mulu National Park contributes to enriching the Taib and the Yaw families - the main culprits in the destruction of Sarawak's tropical rainforest - while the local Berawan and Penan communities hardly benefit from the conservation area at all.
Berawan community protests against Borsarmulu Resort, the Taib- and Samling-owned management company of the Gunung Mulu National Park.
Corruption must not be allowed to be part of a World Heritage Site.
The Bruno Manser Fund is to lodge a complaint with the UNESCO World Heritage Committee concerning the management and ownership structures of the Gunung Mulu National Park. Corruption must not be allowed to be part of a World Heritage Site. The Bruno Manser Fund is asking the Sarawak state government to hand over the Royal Mulu Resort and the management of the park facilities to the local communities whose native lands have been taken off them for the National Park.
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
The gods must be crazy
Tue, 02 Nove 2010 06:38
By Maclean Patrick
It is human nature to remember your maker when things are bleak. Crisis and emergency and disasters remind us that there is a higher force at work, often times in conflict with the wants of mere mortals.
Who are we to question the heavens?
We accept the fact that we are mere dust in God's creation.
Yet, this mere fact has been turned into excuses by mortals seeking to hide the truth of the matter. Hiding fact behind a cosmic guise is nothing new. It has been practised by civilisations throughout history.
The Mayans cut out the hearts of captive soldiers to appease their gods when the harvest was bad or sickness hit the nation. The Egyptians believe that Pharaoh was a god in his own right, thus you should never question his word.
In Sarawak, the gods are the culprits for landslides and log jams and possibly the drought hitting the Rajang River.
The gods are responsible for putting Sarawak in the record books for staging the longest logjam in the world. And if that was not enough, the gods have been able to reduce the longest river in Sarawak, from mighty torrents of water to a mere stream.
Yes, the gods in Sarawak are really powerful. And with 10 pigs and 50 “piring” (small plates) and 200 people in attendance, the gods will promise not to break their record for the longest logjam and maybe turn a blind eye to the impoundment at the Bakun Dam and allow the Rajang River to flow again.
And before Barisan Nasionals start spinning the tale that disaster would strike Sarawak if Pakatan Rakyat takes over government, let’s look at the real disaster playing out under our noses.
Any sensible person, religious or not, would see that the logjam is man-made. Any sensible person, with basic common sense, would see that the drying up of the Rajang River can be traced back to the impoundment of the Bakun Dam.
Yet, we find none of these sensible people in the current establishment.
Scary reality
So far, there is no official report concerning the logjam, even though an investigation was promised to the people of Sarawak and various officials making trips to assess the situation.
Yet, reality seems too scary and it amounts to bad press for the establishment; hence, it takes the easy way out – blame the gods.
It is convenient to point the fingers at the gods and hold an appeasement ceremony. The gods are happy and no report is needed to explain things.
Who would question divine mischief? Aren’t the gods more superior to a report written by mere mortal man?
In one smooth move, the logjam has been swept under the carpet and the Ibans are made out to be really feeble-minded people who belong to the Stone Age.
Hooray for the government of Sarawak, which takes pride in dealing with the gods when it comes to man-made natural disasters.
How then will the drying up of the Rajang River be explained away? Will we need another 10 pigs and 50 “piring” to appease the gods of the Bakun Dam? Is nature to blame because the rains have not come on time or the gods have not allowed enough rain to fall in the Bakun area?
Clearly, the gods have gone crazy in Sarawak. And our sensible politicians are giving us the answers we all have been waiting for. It is a good thing that our local politicians have priestly backgrounds that allow them to mediate between this world and the nether-world in matters that defy explanation such as the logjam and the drying up of a river.
God from the machine
There is something wrong, seriously wrong, in Sarawak: people want to see Sarawak modernised and high-tech yet they won’t bat an eye to stooping down to old-wives tales in order to appease the masses.
The people of Sarawak want real answers to real problems. The logjam caused real problems to the people living along the Rajang River. It killed off large numbers of fish, prawns and river animals.
It stops everyday life for many riverside communities – children could not attend school, fishermen could not fish, commerce was at a standstill and river folks could not get much needed supplies.
And this is now compounded by the drying up of the Rajang River. With waters running dangerously low, the same effects of the logjam will be felt in the long term by the same communities who were just getting over the October logjam incident.
We want real answers and not mere “deus ex machina”.
The Latin “deus ex machina” meaning “god from the machine” points to a practice in ancient times in theatre which the script writer would employ to explain problems in the plot where no apparent solution can be provided to the audience.
Where no answer can be given, a god would appear on stage as it lowered down by a mechanical crane from the ceiling or raised via a lift through the floor of the stage.
This practice was considered bad writing and the practice was frowned upon by ancient writers such as Aristotle, who advocated a solution that was logical and acceptable based on the logic of the story.
The Sarawak government has pulled a “deus ex machina” on the people of Sarawak, and no amount of pigs or “miring” should blind the people to the fact that the government of the day has truly failed in looking after the welfare of the Rajang River communities.
Maclean Patrick is a webmaster based in Sarawak.
Source here
By Maclean Patrick
It is human nature to remember your maker when things are bleak. Crisis and emergency and disasters remind us that there is a higher force at work, often times in conflict with the wants of mere mortals.
Who are we to question the heavens?
We accept the fact that we are mere dust in God's creation.
Yet, this mere fact has been turned into excuses by mortals seeking to hide the truth of the matter. Hiding fact behind a cosmic guise is nothing new. It has been practised by civilisations throughout history.
The Mayans cut out the hearts of captive soldiers to appease their gods when the harvest was bad or sickness hit the nation. The Egyptians believe that Pharaoh was a god in his own right, thus you should never question his word.
In Sarawak, the gods are the culprits for landslides and log jams and possibly the drought hitting the Rajang River.
The gods are responsible for putting Sarawak in the record books for staging the longest logjam in the world. And if that was not enough, the gods have been able to reduce the longest river in Sarawak, from mighty torrents of water to a mere stream.
Yes, the gods in Sarawak are really powerful. And with 10 pigs and 50 “piring” (small plates) and 200 people in attendance, the gods will promise not to break their record for the longest logjam and maybe turn a blind eye to the impoundment at the Bakun Dam and allow the Rajang River to flow again.
And before Barisan Nasionals start spinning the tale that disaster would strike Sarawak if Pakatan Rakyat takes over government, let’s look at the real disaster playing out under our noses.
Any sensible person, religious or not, would see that the logjam is man-made. Any sensible person, with basic common sense, would see that the drying up of the Rajang River can be traced back to the impoundment of the Bakun Dam.
Yet, we find none of these sensible people in the current establishment.
Scary reality
So far, there is no official report concerning the logjam, even though an investigation was promised to the people of Sarawak and various officials making trips to assess the situation.
Yet, reality seems too scary and it amounts to bad press for the establishment; hence, it takes the easy way out – blame the gods.
It is convenient to point the fingers at the gods and hold an appeasement ceremony. The gods are happy and no report is needed to explain things.
Who would question divine mischief? Aren’t the gods more superior to a report written by mere mortal man?
In one smooth move, the logjam has been swept under the carpet and the Ibans are made out to be really feeble-minded people who belong to the Stone Age.
Hooray for the government of Sarawak, which takes pride in dealing with the gods when it comes to man-made natural disasters.
How then will the drying up of the Rajang River be explained away? Will we need another 10 pigs and 50 “piring” to appease the gods of the Bakun Dam? Is nature to blame because the rains have not come on time or the gods have not allowed enough rain to fall in the Bakun area?
Clearly, the gods have gone crazy in Sarawak. And our sensible politicians are giving us the answers we all have been waiting for. It is a good thing that our local politicians have priestly backgrounds that allow them to mediate between this world and the nether-world in matters that defy explanation such as the logjam and the drying up of a river.
God from the machine
There is something wrong, seriously wrong, in Sarawak: people want to see Sarawak modernised and high-tech yet they won’t bat an eye to stooping down to old-wives tales in order to appease the masses.
The people of Sarawak want real answers to real problems. The logjam caused real problems to the people living along the Rajang River. It killed off large numbers of fish, prawns and river animals.
It stops everyday life for many riverside communities – children could not attend school, fishermen could not fish, commerce was at a standstill and river folks could not get much needed supplies.
And this is now compounded by the drying up of the Rajang River. With waters running dangerously low, the same effects of the logjam will be felt in the long term by the same communities who were just getting over the October logjam incident.
We want real answers and not mere “deus ex machina”.
The Latin “deus ex machina” meaning “god from the machine” points to a practice in ancient times in theatre which the script writer would employ to explain problems in the plot where no apparent solution can be provided to the audience.
Where no answer can be given, a god would appear on stage as it lowered down by a mechanical crane from the ceiling or raised via a lift through the floor of the stage.
This practice was considered bad writing and the practice was frowned upon by ancient writers such as Aristotle, who advocated a solution that was logical and acceptable based on the logic of the story.
The Sarawak government has pulled a “deus ex machina” on the people of Sarawak, and no amount of pigs or “miring” should blind the people to the fact that the government of the day has truly failed in looking after the welfare of the Rajang River communities.
Maclean Patrick is a webmaster based in Sarawak.
Source here
-------
Ibans to invoke spirits against 'irresponsible' loggers
Tue, 02 Nove 2010 06:00
By Joseph Tawie
KAPIT: Some 200 Iban elders and chieftains will seek the help of their “Petara” (gods) to punish those who were responsibile for the logjam in Rajang River and its tributary Baleh River.
According to an Iban shaman, who refused to be identified, they will be performing the traditional “miring” (ritual) next month to seek the help of the spirits because the government has refused to act against those responsible for the logjam.
The logjam has caused so much hardship and misery to the people who live along the rivers.
“We have to call our ‘Petara’ (gods) to punish those responsible,” said the shaman.
Meanwhile, State Land Development Minister James Masing confirmed that a massive “miring” ceremony will be held next month in Kapit to appease the spirits whose anger was believed to have caused the logjam along the Baleh and Rajang rivers.
The ritual is also to calm the angry Ibans living along the Rajang and Baleh rivers as their livelihood is affected by the logjam.
Ten live pigs, 50 sets of “piring” (ritual ingredients) and foodstuff will be required for the ceremony.
Some 50 longboats will be needed to transport the longhouse chiefs and guests to Muara Sungai Meratai, which is a four-hour journey by boat from Kapit.
Kapit district officer, Simon Japut, who is involved in the planning of the ceremony, said that after the ceremony, the 10 pigs will be slaughtered, five on each of the river banks, and their carcasses hanged on rocks at the Muara Sungai Meratai.
Massive losses suffered
Japut said that after the ceremony, no one will be allowed to pass through the site for at least one week. The cost of organising the ceremony is about RM50,000.
He added that the estimated loss of properties and infrastructures caused by the logjam is RM1.8 million. This amount did not include the two bridges which were washed away by the debris at Meratai.
None of the longhouses along the Rajang and Baleh rivers had been damaged, but some of the longhouses were badly affected by soil erosion and needed urgent attention, especially on building retention walls.
The logjam was caused when the logs, which have been piling up over the years as a result of indiscriminate logging at Sungai Meratai, a tributary of the Baleh River, were washed away.
The logs drifted down on Oct 7 after a downpour and caused a jam which spread over 250km of the Rajang and Baleh Rivers, suffocating tonnes of fish and cutting off river communications.
Then a few days later, the Rajang River began to dry up soon after the impoundment of the Bakun Dam on Oct 13.
Source here
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Rajang River has no future
Rajang River has no future. Logging, then the logjam, then when Bakun Dam was dammed, you have Rajang river drying up so fast that 2 weeks ago it was floating with logs and today it is silting and drying up. I don't want to discuss the consequences anymore. But I know the ecosystem will never be the same again. Greed has taken over humanities. Blame it on the people that still vote for the greedy government.
Tuesday October 19, 2010
Rajang River is drying up
By PHILIP HII
The Star
SIBU: Less than two weeks after the logjam disaster in Rajang River, the country’s longest river is again a cause for concern for people living along its banks.
Express boats have not been able to ply the Sibu-Belaga-Sibu routes since Friday as the river is drying up due to the current dry spell. The only option left for travellers is the gruelling journey on the 190km Bintulu-Bakun road.
Floating pontoons at the Kapit Express Boat Wharf along Khoo Peng Loong Road here are now resting on a muddy river bed.
“This time the water level went down really fast. Just 10 days ago, it almost reached the road level, a drop of more than 2m,” boat skipper Lau Ah Kuok said.
Lau said he believed the drastic change in the water level was partly due to the impoundment of the 205m-high Bakun Dam which began last Wednesday.
The flooding of the dam, which is South-East Asia’s largest, is estimated to take seven months and in the process, would flood 69,000ha of land.
Social activist Wong Meng Chuo, who has a masters degree in Environmental Management from the Imperial College in London, said he was worried that a prolonged drought would pose severe environmental and ecological consequences below Bakun Dam.
Wong said the Rajang River was denied one-third of the water source with the impoundment of the dam.
“Firstly, river navigation in some areas will stop due to low water. Secondly, salty water from the ocean would come up to as far as Sibu. Thirdly, marine and river life will be affected,” Wong pointed out.
He explained that with less water in the river, there would be less oxygen which could cause some species of fish to die. Wong added there could also be more landslides along the riverbanks as the soil structure would be different.
He said it was unlikely that the impoundment of the dam would stop because it would incur a loss of RM330,000 per day to do so.
The low water level is also a cause for concern for the RV Orient Pandaw, the only cruise ship here.
“If the dry weather continues, I am worried our ship would have difficulties navigating near the Pelagus rapids,” the ship’s purser Neville Joseph said, adding that October to December were peak seasons with an average of 40 passengers per trip.
Durin vegetable farmer Kong Chiek Wak is worried the prolonged dry weather will seriously affect his vegetables.
“We only have a small water pump. It would be difficult to pump water from the Rajang for farm use if the water level is too low,” Kong explained.
The low water level will also affect the transportation of logs by barges and cargo boats from Kapit-Baleh areas to the sawmills in Sibu or for export through Tanjung Manis.
Sibu Water Board general manager Daniel Wong said he was monitoring the situation closely.
“The water supply in Sibu is normal and there is no cause for alarm now,” he said.
At about 4.30pm yesterday, heavy rain fell for about an hour on Sibu after a dry week.
Tuesday October 19, 2010
Rajang River is drying up
By PHILIP HII
The Star
SIBU: Less than two weeks after the logjam disaster in Rajang River, the country’s longest river is again a cause for concern for people living along its banks.
Express boats have not been able to ply the Sibu-Belaga-Sibu routes since Friday as the river is drying up due to the current dry spell. The only option left for travellers is the gruelling journey on the 190km Bintulu-Bakun road.
Floating pontoons at the Kapit Express Boat Wharf along Khoo Peng Loong Road here are now resting on a muddy river bed.
“This time the water level went down really fast. Just 10 days ago, it almost reached the road level, a drop of more than 2m,” boat skipper Lau Ah Kuok said.
Lau said he believed the drastic change in the water level was partly due to the impoundment of the 205m-high Bakun Dam which began last Wednesday.
The flooding of the dam, which is South-East Asia’s largest, is estimated to take seven months and in the process, would flood 69,000ha of land.
Social activist Wong Meng Chuo, who has a masters degree in Environmental Management from the Imperial College in London, said he was worried that a prolonged drought would pose severe environmental and ecological consequences below Bakun Dam.
Wong said the Rajang River was denied one-third of the water source with the impoundment of the dam.
“Firstly, river navigation in some areas will stop due to low water. Secondly, salty water from the ocean would come up to as far as Sibu. Thirdly, marine and river life will be affected,” Wong pointed out.
He explained that with less water in the river, there would be less oxygen which could cause some species of fish to die. Wong added there could also be more landslides along the riverbanks as the soil structure would be different.
He said it was unlikely that the impoundment of the dam would stop because it would incur a loss of RM330,000 per day to do so.
The low water level is also a cause for concern for the RV Orient Pandaw, the only cruise ship here.
“If the dry weather continues, I am worried our ship would have difficulties navigating near the Pelagus rapids,” the ship’s purser Neville Joseph said, adding that October to December were peak seasons with an average of 40 passengers per trip.
Durin vegetable farmer Kong Chiek Wak is worried the prolonged dry weather will seriously affect his vegetables.
“We only have a small water pump. It would be difficult to pump water from the Rajang for farm use if the water level is too low,” Kong explained.
The low water level will also affect the transportation of logs by barges and cargo boats from Kapit-Baleh areas to the sawmills in Sibu or for export through Tanjung Manis.
Sibu Water Board general manager Daniel Wong said he was monitoring the situation closely.
“The water supply in Sibu is normal and there is no cause for alarm now,” he said.
At about 4.30pm yesterday, heavy rain fell for about an hour on Sibu after a dry week.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Continuing the Raping in Iban Country
Photo source hereMonday, October 18, 2010
Taib's loggers: Sebuyau Ibans prepare to form a human shield
Taib's loggers: Sebuyau Ibans prepare to form a human shield
By Christina S Suntai
My brother Numpang anak Suntai and his wife, Helen Unchat, together with 11 tribal leaders and villagers from 11 longhouses are now camping in Ulu Sebangan as we speak. Today I want to refer to their make shift camp as “Langkau Ngintu Menoa.”
They are leading the villagers to form a blockade to stop bulldozers used by illegal loggers, Quality Concrete Holdings, whose Executive Chairman is Tiang Ming Sing, from further penetration into their native customary lands, which include rice fields, pepper vines, fruit trees, rubber plantations and communal forest at Ulu Sebangan.
The illegal loggers, Quality Concrete Holdings, whose Executive Director is Tiang Ching Kok and major shareholder is Rodiah Binti Mahmud, sister of CM Taib Mahmud remain relentless in their efforts to grab the valuable trees. They are bulldozing their way to get to the trees and destroy everything in their path! Every tree they killed for the timber, 28 other little trees will die with it. So far the loggers continue to steal the valuable trees when no one is around to stop them. Therefore the villagers decided to set camp in the jungle to guard the forest, to ensure that the valuable trees will not be stolen by Quality Concrete Holdings.
My brother Numpang anak Suntai and his wife, Helen Unchat, together with 11 tribal leaders and villagers from 11 longhouses are now camping in Ulu Sebangan as we speak. Today I want to refer to their make shift camp as “Langkau Ngintu Menoa.”
They are leading the villagers to form a blockade to stop bulldozers used by illegal loggers, Quality Concrete Holdings, whose Executive Chairman is Tiang Ming Sing, from further penetration into their native customary lands, which include rice fields, pepper vines, fruit trees, rubber plantations and communal forest at Ulu Sebangan.
The illegal loggers, Quality Concrete Holdings, whose Executive Director is Tiang Ching Kok and major shareholder is Rodiah Binti Mahmud, sister of CM Taib Mahmud remain relentless in their efforts to grab the valuable trees. They are bulldozing their way to get to the trees and destroy everything in their path! Every tree they killed for the timber, 28 other little trees will die with it. So far the loggers continue to steal the valuable trees when no one is around to stop them. Therefore the villagers decided to set camp in the jungle to guard the forest, to ensure that the valuable trees will not be stolen by Quality Concrete Holdings.
Read more here
More story here
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Unholy mess
Nature is unleashing the consequences of greed, courteousy of Pek More and cronies....
14 October 2010
By NST
The sight of thousands upon thousands of logs mingled with debris and mud clogging up Sungai Rajang for as far as the eye could see was reminiscent of scenes from the 2004 tsunami in Aceh. Even without the floating corpses and cars that accompanied the earlier event, it was not hard to comprehend that what happened in Sarawak last week was a disaster whose scale, though yet to be fully measured, was huge. Little wonder that local residents flocked to the river banks to look at the strange sight. Elders described it as a portent of the end of the world, God's punishment for mankind's rapacity. A combination of heavy rains upriver, denuded ground and a massive landslide resulted in this -- a 250km logjam starting from Ulu Baleh to Sibu -- nearly half the length of the mighty Rajang, Malaysia's longest river. The logjam cut off Kanowit, Song and Kapit from Sibu because express boat services could not traverse the river safely.
The sheer flood and mud flow killed fish and polluted the river, and may possibly affect the peat-swamp-rich area of the delta. If not recovered, the logs will wash out to sea and continue their destruction there. A fully grown tree can suck up five tonnes of water. It is for this reason that trees are described as nature's great flood mitigator. Without them, every time it rained heavily, water would hurtle downstream and flood the area there.
Whether further investigation proves this to be a natural or man-made disaster, the fact is that this is an environmental calamity. How is it possible for an entire mountain to collapse from the beating of days of heavy rains? Where did the logs come from that formed the initial debris dam that then broke and swept its deadly detritus downstream?
These questions have been implied by Baleh assemblyman Datuk Seri Dr James Masing, who has acknowledged that the area upstream is heavily logged. Heavy rain may be an "act of God", and humankind might be helpless in preventing it. But, for the trees that are felled and the ground laid bare, humankind must take responsibility. Eighty per cent of Sarawak's 12.3 million hectares is supposed to be covered by forests. The Sarawak Forest Department's remote-sensing system should gauge the state of forested areas to see whether what remains corresponds with legitimate logging activities. Perhaps, too, it's time to tighten laws, so that it is not possible to run out of forest cover, even by legitimate means.
We have been warned.
14 October 2010
By NST
The sight of thousands upon thousands of logs mingled with debris and mud clogging up Sungai Rajang for as far as the eye could see was reminiscent of scenes from the 2004 tsunami in Aceh. Even without the floating corpses and cars that accompanied the earlier event, it was not hard to comprehend that what happened in Sarawak last week was a disaster whose scale, though yet to be fully measured, was huge. Little wonder that local residents flocked to the river banks to look at the strange sight. Elders described it as a portent of the end of the world, God's punishment for mankind's rapacity. A combination of heavy rains upriver, denuded ground and a massive landslide resulted in this -- a 250km logjam starting from Ulu Baleh to Sibu -- nearly half the length of the mighty Rajang, Malaysia's longest river. The logjam cut off Kanowit, Song and Kapit from Sibu because express boat services could not traverse the river safely.
The sheer flood and mud flow killed fish and polluted the river, and may possibly affect the peat-swamp-rich area of the delta. If not recovered, the logs will wash out to sea and continue their destruction there. A fully grown tree can suck up five tonnes of water. It is for this reason that trees are described as nature's great flood mitigator. Without them, every time it rained heavily, water would hurtle downstream and flood the area there.
Whether further investigation proves this to be a natural or man-made disaster, the fact is that this is an environmental calamity. How is it possible for an entire mountain to collapse from the beating of days of heavy rains? Where did the logs come from that formed the initial debris dam that then broke and swept its deadly detritus downstream?
These questions have been implied by Baleh assemblyman Datuk Seri Dr James Masing, who has acknowledged that the area upstream is heavily logged. Heavy rain may be an "act of God", and humankind might be helpless in preventing it. But, for the trees that are felled and the ground laid bare, humankind must take responsibility. Eighty per cent of Sarawak's 12.3 million hectares is supposed to be covered by forests. The Sarawak Forest Department's remote-sensing system should gauge the state of forested areas to see whether what remains corresponds with legitimate logging activities. Perhaps, too, it's time to tighten laws, so that it is not possible to run out of forest cover, even by legitimate means.
We have been warned.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
A pittance for your rights, please
Tue, 28 Sep 2010 12:50
Source here
PETALING JAYA: How would you like RM250 in exchange for the inheritance that has been the source of your livelihood? That is how much the Sarawak state government is offering Iban villagers in rural Sebangan so that timber companies can have free rein of the rainforest.
Sebangan is a small range of rainforest in which there are 16 Iban villages. The Ibans have lived there for generations and depend on the forest for their livelihood.
Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Abdul Mahmud now has his eye on the area, according to Sarawak Report, a website dedicated to exposing alleged corrupt practices by Taib and his family.
It quoted Nicholas Mujah, secretary-general of the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association, as saying that loggers can reap 700 tons of wood from every hectare of the Sebangan jungle.
Taib's sister, Raziah Mahmud, is said to be a shareholder and director in Quality Concrete Holdings Berhad (QCHB), the company that wants the timber there.
“Taib traditionally demands a rate of RM100 per ton of timber,” says Sarawak Report, quoting timber industry insiders. “However, in this latest case the sum is likely to be substantially larger, given the value of the hardwoods at the Sebangan reserve.”
With 3,305 hectares of forest at his disposal, Taib would stand to gain at least RM250 million, it said.
Because of the land's Native Customary Rights (NCR) status, QCHB has been given a conditional occupation certificate valid for only a year. One of the conditions is that the company needs the permission of the NCR landowners to start logging.
However, QCHB appears to have taken wood from the forest without asking.
”Nobody warned or consulted us about anything,” said Sadun Ason, Kampong Ensika's headman, adding that he found out about the poaching when a villager spoke of logging equipment being shipped upriver on July 11.
Ason then contacted the local penghulu, who not only admitted to having knowledge of the poaching but also told the headman and his people that any form of protest was futile.
"We were told the whole matter was perfectly legal, and we had no rights," Ason told Sarawak Report.
Villagers bribed and tricked
According to the article, Taib elects his own headmen and penghulus for villages in the interior.
In the case of Kampong Ensika, he appointed an outsider and a member of his Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, as the penghulu a few weeks before QHCB's logging licence was issued.
The article also said that Forestry Department and Land Survey officials were friendlier with QCHB's representatives than with the villagers.
Despite records from the Land Registry stating that the land in question was gazetted as NCR land in 1956, the government agents claimed there was no evidence that the area had such a status.
Sarawak Report said QCHB had offered to pay each villager RM250 and each headman RM800 if they would sign away their rights to the forest.
It also alleged that in one instance QHCB bribed and tricked 11 villagers and three headmen into giving up their rights.
It said the victims, who were illiterate, were taken to Sibu in QHCB's vehicles for a dinner and were then asked to sign documents waiving their rights to their land without any lawyer being present. They did not get copies of the documents, it added.
“We have been threatened that if we oppose this, we are going against the government and opposing development,” a villager told Sarawak Report.
“But why does the government act like a common thief in this case and how much development can we achieve for RM250?”
The article also said Sebangan's villagers were expecting gangsters allegedly employed by QCHB to intimidate the indigenous population.
Sarawak Report said it would forward the information it had to a legal team headed by activist lawyer Baru Bian.
Source here
PETALING JAYA: How would you like RM250 in exchange for the inheritance that has been the source of your livelihood? That is how much the Sarawak state government is offering Iban villagers in rural Sebangan so that timber companies can have free rein of the rainforest.
Sebangan is a small range of rainforest in which there are 16 Iban villages. The Ibans have lived there for generations and depend on the forest for their livelihood.
Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Abdul Mahmud now has his eye on the area, according to Sarawak Report, a website dedicated to exposing alleged corrupt practices by Taib and his family.
It quoted Nicholas Mujah, secretary-general of the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association, as saying that loggers can reap 700 tons of wood from every hectare of the Sebangan jungle.
Taib's sister, Raziah Mahmud, is said to be a shareholder and director in Quality Concrete Holdings Berhad (QCHB), the company that wants the timber there.
“Taib traditionally demands a rate of RM100 per ton of timber,” says Sarawak Report, quoting timber industry insiders. “However, in this latest case the sum is likely to be substantially larger, given the value of the hardwoods at the Sebangan reserve.”
With 3,305 hectares of forest at his disposal, Taib would stand to gain at least RM250 million, it said.
Because of the land's Native Customary Rights (NCR) status, QCHB has been given a conditional occupation certificate valid for only a year. One of the conditions is that the company needs the permission of the NCR landowners to start logging.
However, QCHB appears to have taken wood from the forest without asking.
”Nobody warned or consulted us about anything,” said Sadun Ason, Kampong Ensika's headman, adding that he found out about the poaching when a villager spoke of logging equipment being shipped upriver on July 11.
Ason then contacted the local penghulu, who not only admitted to having knowledge of the poaching but also told the headman and his people that any form of protest was futile.
"We were told the whole matter was perfectly legal, and we had no rights," Ason told Sarawak Report.
Villagers bribed and tricked
According to the article, Taib elects his own headmen and penghulus for villages in the interior.
In the case of Kampong Ensika, he appointed an outsider and a member of his Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, as the penghulu a few weeks before QHCB's logging licence was issued.
The article also said that Forestry Department and Land Survey officials were friendlier with QCHB's representatives than with the villagers.
Despite records from the Land Registry stating that the land in question was gazetted as NCR land in 1956, the government agents claimed there was no evidence that the area had such a status.
Sarawak Report said QCHB had offered to pay each villager RM250 and each headman RM800 if they would sign away their rights to the forest.
It also alleged that in one instance QHCB bribed and tricked 11 villagers and three headmen into giving up their rights.
It said the victims, who were illiterate, were taken to Sibu in QHCB's vehicles for a dinner and were then asked to sign documents waiving their rights to their land without any lawyer being present. They did not get copies of the documents, it added.
“We have been threatened that if we oppose this, we are going against the government and opposing development,” a villager told Sarawak Report.
“But why does the government act like a common thief in this case and how much development can we achieve for RM250?”
The article also said Sebangan's villagers were expecting gangsters allegedly employed by QCHB to intimidate the indigenous population.
Sarawak Report said it would forward the information it had to a legal team headed by activist lawyer Baru Bian.
Sunday, September 05, 2010
A distant cry for help from the jungle
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Sim Kwang Yang
Source
The year was 1993, and I was serving my third term as an opposition member of parliament (MP) of Bandar Kuching.
In the Malaysian context at the time, the core of an MP’s job was to service the constituency, by solving the little problems created by inefficient administration, like looking after blocked drains, neglected garbage collection, and attending to minor daily problems faced by the constituents. That was how politicians saw their roles in Malaysians’ daily lives.
But I had different ideas about politics. I believed that the duty of our Wakil Rakyat was to serve the whole nation, and in the context of Sarawak, to serve all the people in the state. Therefore, I devoted my energies throughout the 1990s to the contentious battle to protect the forests of my home state, Sarawak. It was a tough job, because nobody was interested in environmental protection, and the powerful timber interests made sure that we were denied access to the mass communication media.
I fought the lonely battle against the timber interests with the help of a few environmental groups and our news faced a constant blackout by local newspapers and news agencies. The general voting population in the towns were completely apathetic regarding the suffering people in the rural areas, who had little access to the urban-centric media organisations.
It was some time in 1993, that one day, the then MP of Petaling Jaya, Kua Kia Soong, walked up to me and demanded what I would do for the poor Penans in upper Baram. He had received numerous reports about the anti-logging blockades in that isolated part of Sarawak from many international NGOs. Young children had been killed by the security forces trying to evict the Penans from the anti-logging protest sites, and one young girl was reported to have been raped. I promised him I would look into the issue upon my return to Kuching from Parliament.
When I arrived in Kuching, I discussed the issue with my political assistant, See Chee How, who was then working at my office fulltime.
See Chee How has since qualified as a lawyer and he is one of the most active human rights defenders in Malaysia. He has now taken up over a hundred court cases against powerful plantation owners and loggers to fight for the rights of the Sarawak natives. He has been winning native customary land cases that have created Malaysian legal history through landmark decisions).
Arduous journey for worthy cause
After some discussion, Chee How travelled alone all the way to the upper Baram area, to conduct his own fact-finding mission. His journey took several weeks to complete and he had to travel on foot through the deep forest, as well as take longboats and long journeys over land, before he could meet the Penans personally and hold interviews with them. Fortunately, Chee How was a healthy and strong young man.
Chee How returned to Kuching and told me he had been stopped on his way back by the police at Marudi, and he was searched and questioned by the police personnel. But he did hide his photographic films so he was able to show me his photos.
After that, Chee How attempted to send the affected Penans to Miri town, to lodge police reports about deaths and the rape case at logging blockades and the suffering inflicted upon the villagers in upper Baram. Those efforts at bringing the Penans to the attention of the police were unsuccessful. The police even refused to record their police reports.
The issue of the Penans and logging in Sarawak had become so sensitive to the state Barisan Nasional leadership that minimal information about the Penan protests trickled out to the outside world. The newspapers in Sarawak were mostly owned by the timber interests in the state and so, there was a clampdown on what the Penans and other Sarawak natives were saying against the logging.
I refused to feel hopeless, because we were the only hope for the Penans and other groups to voice out their suffering, and apathy and cynicism were luxuries we could not afford. In ordinary life, even a dog being kicked has a right to howl in pain.
The Penans are the most disadvantaged members of our society. It is the duty of all Malaysians to hear their cry of pain, in our political system that favours the rich and powerful at the expense of the weak and dispossessed.
The other added obstacle in my path was the nature of racial politics that permeated civil society in Malaysia. Malaysians view all things political through the racial lens, and to ask them to see politics over and above their narrow racial considerations has always been a near impossible task.
Breaking through information blockade
I had always considered myself a Sarawakian first, and a Malaysian second, and being a Chinese was just a minor consideration, by accident of birth. In my mind, much of our political rhetoric is tinged by our racially based prejudices and these are not real political issues.
The persecution of the Penans is a universal crime against humanity. The Penans are equal citizens of our nation. Their suffering deserves our national attention, especially when they are the weakest and the most marginalised group among our citizens.
Since it was so difficult for the Penans to gain access to reporters in town, I decided to call for a press conference to bring the reporters and the Penans together.
The press conference was to be held in Kuching a few months later in 1994, and the representatives of the Penans were transported from the deep interior: from upper Baram to Kuching city. It was a logistical nightmare, but with the help of Chee How and his NGO friends from inside and outside Malaysia, we pulled off the trip.
Nearly twenty village leaders representing fifteen Penan settlements in the Baram area made the long trip to Kuching city. There, they made a police report on the rape of a Penan girl and the death of two Penans at logging blockades, and held a series of events to highlight to the world, the plight of the poor Penans. – Hornbill Unleashed
(Sim Kwang Yang was Member of Parliament for Bandar Kuching, Sarawak from 1982 to 1995)
Sim Kwang Yang
Source
The year was 1993, and I was serving my third term as an opposition member of parliament (MP) of Bandar Kuching.
In the Malaysian context at the time, the core of an MP’s job was to service the constituency, by solving the little problems created by inefficient administration, like looking after blocked drains, neglected garbage collection, and attending to minor daily problems faced by the constituents. That was how politicians saw their roles in Malaysians’ daily lives.
But I had different ideas about politics. I believed that the duty of our Wakil Rakyat was to serve the whole nation, and in the context of Sarawak, to serve all the people in the state. Therefore, I devoted my energies throughout the 1990s to the contentious battle to protect the forests of my home state, Sarawak. It was a tough job, because nobody was interested in environmental protection, and the powerful timber interests made sure that we were denied access to the mass communication media.
I fought the lonely battle against the timber interests with the help of a few environmental groups and our news faced a constant blackout by local newspapers and news agencies. The general voting population in the towns were completely apathetic regarding the suffering people in the rural areas, who had little access to the urban-centric media organisations.
It was some time in 1993, that one day, the then MP of Petaling Jaya, Kua Kia Soong, walked up to me and demanded what I would do for the poor Penans in upper Baram. He had received numerous reports about the anti-logging blockades in that isolated part of Sarawak from many international NGOs. Young children had been killed by the security forces trying to evict the Penans from the anti-logging protest sites, and one young girl was reported to have been raped. I promised him I would look into the issue upon my return to Kuching from Parliament.
When I arrived in Kuching, I discussed the issue with my political assistant, See Chee How, who was then working at my office fulltime.
See Chee How has since qualified as a lawyer and he is one of the most active human rights defenders in Malaysia. He has now taken up over a hundred court cases against powerful plantation owners and loggers to fight for the rights of the Sarawak natives. He has been winning native customary land cases that have created Malaysian legal history through landmark decisions).
Arduous journey for worthy cause
After some discussion, Chee How travelled alone all the way to the upper Baram area, to conduct his own fact-finding mission. His journey took several weeks to complete and he had to travel on foot through the deep forest, as well as take longboats and long journeys over land, before he could meet the Penans personally and hold interviews with them. Fortunately, Chee How was a healthy and strong young man.
Chee How returned to Kuching and told me he had been stopped on his way back by the police at Marudi, and he was searched and questioned by the police personnel. But he did hide his photographic films so he was able to show me his photos.
After that, Chee How attempted to send the affected Penans to Miri town, to lodge police reports about deaths and the rape case at logging blockades and the suffering inflicted upon the villagers in upper Baram. Those efforts at bringing the Penans to the attention of the police were unsuccessful. The police even refused to record their police reports.
The issue of the Penans and logging in Sarawak had become so sensitive to the state Barisan Nasional leadership that minimal information about the Penan protests trickled out to the outside world. The newspapers in Sarawak were mostly owned by the timber interests in the state and so, there was a clampdown on what the Penans and other Sarawak natives were saying against the logging.
I refused to feel hopeless, because we were the only hope for the Penans and other groups to voice out their suffering, and apathy and cynicism were luxuries we could not afford. In ordinary life, even a dog being kicked has a right to howl in pain.
The Penans are the most disadvantaged members of our society. It is the duty of all Malaysians to hear their cry of pain, in our political system that favours the rich and powerful at the expense of the weak and dispossessed.
The other added obstacle in my path was the nature of racial politics that permeated civil society in Malaysia. Malaysians view all things political through the racial lens, and to ask them to see politics over and above their narrow racial considerations has always been a near impossible task.
Breaking through information blockade
I had always considered myself a Sarawakian first, and a Malaysian second, and being a Chinese was just a minor consideration, by accident of birth. In my mind, much of our political rhetoric is tinged by our racially based prejudices and these are not real political issues.
The persecution of the Penans is a universal crime against humanity. The Penans are equal citizens of our nation. Their suffering deserves our national attention, especially when they are the weakest and the most marginalised group among our citizens.
Since it was so difficult for the Penans to gain access to reporters in town, I decided to call for a press conference to bring the reporters and the Penans together.
The press conference was to be held in Kuching a few months later in 1994, and the representatives of the Penans were transported from the deep interior: from upper Baram to Kuching city. It was a logistical nightmare, but with the help of Chee How and his NGO friends from inside and outside Malaysia, we pulled off the trip.
Nearly twenty village leaders representing fifteen Penan settlements in the Baram area made the long trip to Kuching city. There, they made a police report on the rape of a Penan girl and the death of two Penans at logging blockades, and held a series of events to highlight to the world, the plight of the poor Penans. – Hornbill Unleashed
(Sim Kwang Yang was Member of Parliament for Bandar Kuching, Sarawak from 1982 to 1995)
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Who is lying?
A sample photo of a logged hill for oil palm?Friday September 3, 2010 MYT 9:17:00 PM
Protest against palm oil smear campaign in Aussie zoos
By STEPHEN THEN
Protest against palm oil smear campaign in Aussie zoos
By STEPHEN THEN
Star
MIRI: The Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) have submitted official protest to the Australian Government - to express its anger over the move by zoos in Australia to allow activists to blatantly smear Malaysia’s and Borneo’s image through anti-palm oil public posters.
MPOC Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Yusof Basiron told The Star Friday that his council had sent two memos to the Australian Government.
“We are countering the lies spread by these activists and making known our objections to the Australian authorities.
“The allegations against us are very serious and damaging to the image of not only our palm-oil industry, but also the reputation of peninsula Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah.
“The Aussie posters was also brought up to the attention of our Cabinet also. The posters used by these activists in Australia contained a lot of lies. We want the zoos to take down those posters,’’ he said in a telephone interview from his headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
The Star recently highlighted the move by environmental activists who put up posters in the Adelaide Zoo criticising the oil-palm projects in peninsula Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra and Papua New Guinea.
The posters, among others, claimed that the palm-oil industry had caused serious deforestation, wildlife abuse, global-warming and the genocide of Orang Utans.
The posters also called for pressure to be applied on the Government and policy-makers to force palm oil industralists to do more to protect the environment and wildlife.
One of the posters claimed that in Borneo, palm-oil developers are “killing up to 50 Orang Utans per week by using guns, machettes, wooden stacks and fire’’.
The Star found out about these poster campaigns during the visit to the world-famous Adelaide Zoo by Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen during her recent mission to promote Malaysia’s tourism spots.
Dr Ng protested against these posters and tried to counter the activists’ stance during her meeting with trade representatives and foreign journalists during her stop in New Zealand and Australia.
Yusof told The Star Friday, the MPOC found similar posters in other Aussie zoos.
“We have contacted politicians in Australia and also the management of the zoos and have asked that those posters be pulled down.
“We have hired independent researchers from overseas to come to Malaysia to carry out independent probes on the Orang Utan and have found no evidence of any killings by oil-palm workers.
“In fact, our studies showed that the Orang Utan population in Sarawak and Sabah have not even declined as claimed by these activists.
“As for claims on our forest destruction and wildlife abuse, the latest information we have is that the environment authorities have already taken steps to improve enforcement and penalise offenders.
“Making sweeping allegations against us is most unfair under the circumstances,’’ he said.
MIRI: The Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) have submitted official protest to the Australian Government - to express its anger over the move by zoos in Australia to allow activists to blatantly smear Malaysia’s and Borneo’s image through anti-palm oil public posters.
MPOC Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Yusof Basiron told The Star Friday that his council had sent two memos to the Australian Government.
“We are countering the lies spread by these activists and making known our objections to the Australian authorities.
“The allegations against us are very serious and damaging to the image of not only our palm-oil industry, but also the reputation of peninsula Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah.
“The Aussie posters was also brought up to the attention of our Cabinet also. The posters used by these activists in Australia contained a lot of lies. We want the zoos to take down those posters,’’ he said in a telephone interview from his headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
The Star recently highlighted the move by environmental activists who put up posters in the Adelaide Zoo criticising the oil-palm projects in peninsula Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra and Papua New Guinea.
The posters, among others, claimed that the palm-oil industry had caused serious deforestation, wildlife abuse, global-warming and the genocide of Orang Utans.
The posters also called for pressure to be applied on the Government and policy-makers to force palm oil industralists to do more to protect the environment and wildlife.
One of the posters claimed that in Borneo, palm-oil developers are “killing up to 50 Orang Utans per week by using guns, machettes, wooden stacks and fire’’.
The Star found out about these poster campaigns during the visit to the world-famous Adelaide Zoo by Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen during her recent mission to promote Malaysia’s tourism spots.
Dr Ng protested against these posters and tried to counter the activists’ stance during her meeting with trade representatives and foreign journalists during her stop in New Zealand and Australia.
Yusof told The Star Friday, the MPOC found similar posters in other Aussie zoos.
“We have contacted politicians in Australia and also the management of the zoos and have asked that those posters be pulled down.
“We have hired independent researchers from overseas to come to Malaysia to carry out independent probes on the Orang Utan and have found no evidence of any killings by oil-palm workers.
“In fact, our studies showed that the Orang Utan population in Sarawak and Sabah have not even declined as claimed by these activists.
“As for claims on our forest destruction and wildlife abuse, the latest information we have is that the environment authorities have already taken steps to improve enforcement and penalise offenders.
“Making sweeping allegations against us is most unfair under the circumstances,’’ he said.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Global warming: Aussie group to work with S’wak tribal leaders
Sun, 15 Aug 2010 11:23
By FMT Staff
freemalaysiatoday.com
KUCHING: Nine tribal leaders in Sarawak have signed an agreement with an Australian based grouping to certify carbon credits under the avoided deforestation program known as REDD+.
The agreement with the Indigenous Customary Land Owners of Sarawak will see Shift2Neutral, a grouping of individuals and companies committed to a sustainable future, work directly with the tribal leaders to achieve realistic change and ensure the protection of their native flora and fauna.
The move underscores regional concern over the increasing effects of global warming and the urgent need to save the world’s third largest island from indiscriminate deforesting.
“The immediate protection of tropical rainforests is critical if we hope to turn the tide on global warming, and the added benefits of conserving these sensitive ecosystems are immeasurable," said the group said in a statement issued recently.
The spokesman said via avoided deforestation, Sarawak could “ensure the protection of the carbon that is already stored in vegetation”.
"The cutting of forests releases billions of tons of greenhouse gases (from carbon stored in trees, plants and soils) into the atmosphere.
“Roughly 20% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions are caused by deforestation. By comparison, the entire global transportation sector is responsible for roughly 14% of annual greenhouse gas emissions,” the group said.
Explaining further, the group noted that Shift2Neutral believed that linking people's economic self-interest and the health of ecosystems was one way to generate interest in the conservation challenges facing the world today.
“We believe the business sector could pioneer new ideas, forge new partnerships and implement new solutions that will permanently halt unsustainable deforestation and allow the global society to protect the ecosystems.
“We believe this can be achieved with benefits to the local stakeholders.
“We must recognize the rights of indigenous peoples and the local communities involved," the spokesman said adding that "the total land area involved for the first phase alone more than 100,000 hectares or endangered forest.”
By FMT Staff
freemalaysiatoday.com
KUCHING: Nine tribal leaders in Sarawak have signed an agreement with an Australian based grouping to certify carbon credits under the avoided deforestation program known as REDD+.
The agreement with the Indigenous Customary Land Owners of Sarawak will see Shift2Neutral, a grouping of individuals and companies committed to a sustainable future, work directly with the tribal leaders to achieve realistic change and ensure the protection of their native flora and fauna.
The move underscores regional concern over the increasing effects of global warming and the urgent need to save the world’s third largest island from indiscriminate deforesting.
“The immediate protection of tropical rainforests is critical if we hope to turn the tide on global warming, and the added benefits of conserving these sensitive ecosystems are immeasurable," said the group said in a statement issued recently.
The spokesman said via avoided deforestation, Sarawak could “ensure the protection of the carbon that is already stored in vegetation”.
"The cutting of forests releases billions of tons of greenhouse gases (from carbon stored in trees, plants and soils) into the atmosphere.
“Roughly 20% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions are caused by deforestation. By comparison, the entire global transportation sector is responsible for roughly 14% of annual greenhouse gas emissions,” the group said.
Explaining further, the group noted that Shift2Neutral believed that linking people's economic self-interest and the health of ecosystems was one way to generate interest in the conservation challenges facing the world today.
“We believe the business sector could pioneer new ideas, forge new partnerships and implement new solutions that will permanently halt unsustainable deforestation and allow the global society to protect the ecosystems.
“We believe this can be achieved with benefits to the local stakeholders.
“We must recognize the rights of indigenous peoples and the local communities involved," the spokesman said adding that "the total land area involved for the first phase alone more than 100,000 hectares or endangered forest.”
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
When the hunter becomes the hunted
Ka ka ka ka.....
Mariam Mokhtar from London
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
malaysianmirror.com
The Penan are subject to intimidation, violence and exploitation. They struggle to provide for themselves. Their womenfolk and young girls have been sexually abused and raped. They feel hunted, just like the game they seek in the forests of Borneo.
On Tuesday, Taib Mahmud, Chief Minister of Sarawak, had a dose of his own medicine when he had to escape the clutches of demonstrators in front of the Said Business School, at the University of Oxford. He was there to address the “Inaugural Oxford Global Islamic Branding and Marketing Forum”. The protesters held placards reading ‘Penan tribe say NO to logging’ and ‘Malaysia: Stop destroying the Penan tribe’.
At the opening session, Taib’s address was “The Role of Muslim Nations in Rebuilding Today’s Global Economy”. This was followed by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Nor Mohamed Yakcop's, address “The View from Muslim Southeast Asia.
Little did Taib guess that he would have people demonstrating about the Penans and the destruction of the rainforest. The grand welcome he is used to, fizzled into nothing. His luxury car, carried a decoy to fool a group of protestors at the side entrance. Taib was probably transported in an embassy van, with diplomatic number plates and spirited via the kitchen, into the building.
A man who claimed he was in charge of security and who refused to give his name and the company he worked for, said, “We don’t care what the principal wants, we bundle him in, even if he does not like it.” He was suggesting that Taib may have probably wanted to make a grand entrance, but was prevented from doing so by the security detail.
Inside the conference centre, protesters were barred from entering the foyer to present their list of questions to Taib. A scheduled press conference at 12.30 p.m. just before the special speakers’ lunch, was cancelled possibly because of the risk of having to answer awkward questions.
A demonstrator who entered the foyer tried to take a photo of Taib but was immediately surrounded and forcibly ejected from the premises. She successfully took photos of him through the glass but this enraged members of Taib’s delegation who then lowered the blinds or placed screens against the glass-fronted building, to prevent Taib from being photographed.
Taib seemed like a wounded animal as he walked with Nor Mohamed Yakcop, who looked visibly angry that the demonstrators had hijacked Taib’s big day in front of the delegates who had paid £1,000 (RM 5,100) each to attend this Forum.
Evidently, Taib is surrounded by ‘yes’ men who cocoon him from dissenting views of the real world. He must have found it galling that thousands of miles away from the safe confines of his tropical riverside mansion, the Penan problem and the destruction of the forests would be haunting him in this centre of learning.
Instead of being able to sell Sarawak to the British, Taib has to justify his actions to the chairman of the British parliament’s All Party Parliamentary Group for Tribal peoples, MP Martin Horwood. The British MP has written to him about the serious allegations of the Penan. Instead of a warm welcome, Taib received a cold reception from the demonstrators and a letter from the MP whilst his host, will receive letters of protest and condemnation.
Taib may wish to reflect how it is to feel rejected, just like the Penans are rejected by their own leaders who continually thwart their attempts at seeking justice. For several years the Penan and other indigenous people have tried to seek peaceful methods to maintain their way of life. They have been harassed because they stood in Taib’s way and his get-rich schemes.
The large delegation accompanying Taib seemed bemused by the demonstrators. What they are used to is a violent reaction from the Malaysian police who are intolerant of protests, even peaceful ones.
One lady who was part of Taib’s delegation said that a child who held up a banner at yesterday’s demonstration was being subjected to “child labour.” Is she aware that Penan girls are being raped and the police in Malaysia are slow to act?
This demonstration has rattled Taib. If this seminar had been arranged during term-time, Taib would have been assured of a larger, more vocal and highly organised group. He is lucky. The police said the demonstrators were ‘well-behaved’ but the behaviour of members of Taib’s delegation was aggressive, in comparison.
Nevertheless, several questions remain unanswered.
Why did Oxford University embrace Taib with open arms knowing that his reputation is tarnished at home and abroad?
Why are his crimes - corruption, plundered wealth, destruction of the forests and land, not highlighted abroad? None of the UK national newspapers (UK) covered this event. Only the local Oxford paper attended.
How is it that the Kagame government or even the Mugabe regime can get centre-stage in the foreign news section of the UK national newspapers? Is Malaysian news insignificant? Or have Sarawakians more serious lobbying to do?
A few of the demonstrators were contemplating making a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) report against Taib. This apparently was how the British arms dealer BAE systems was prosecuted in the Saudi arms bribery scandal.
Pressure from the international community can only be effected by Malaysians when they bring it to the attention of the rest of the world. Naturally, Taib does not want to be in the news for the wrong reasons, as he has a very cushy number.
* The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysian Mirror and/or its associates.
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
malaysianmirror.com
The Penan are subject to intimidation, violence and exploitation. They struggle to provide for themselves. Their womenfolk and young girls have been sexually abused and raped. They feel hunted, just like the game they seek in the forests of Borneo.
On Tuesday, Taib Mahmud, Chief Minister of Sarawak, had a dose of his own medicine when he had to escape the clutches of demonstrators in front of the Said Business School, at the University of Oxford. He was there to address the “Inaugural Oxford Global Islamic Branding and Marketing Forum”. The protesters held placards reading ‘Penan tribe say NO to logging’ and ‘Malaysia: Stop destroying the Penan tribe’.
At the opening session, Taib’s address was “The Role of Muslim Nations in Rebuilding Today’s Global Economy”. This was followed by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Nor Mohamed Yakcop's, address “The View from Muslim Southeast Asia.
Little did Taib guess that he would have people demonstrating about the Penans and the destruction of the rainforest. The grand welcome he is used to, fizzled into nothing. His luxury car, carried a decoy to fool a group of protestors at the side entrance. Taib was probably transported in an embassy van, with diplomatic number plates and spirited via the kitchen, into the building.
A man who claimed he was in charge of security and who refused to give his name and the company he worked for, said, “We don’t care what the principal wants, we bundle him in, even if he does not like it.” He was suggesting that Taib may have probably wanted to make a grand entrance, but was prevented from doing so by the security detail.
Inside the conference centre, protesters were barred from entering the foyer to present their list of questions to Taib. A scheduled press conference at 12.30 p.m. just before the special speakers’ lunch, was cancelled possibly because of the risk of having to answer awkward questions.
A demonstrator who entered the foyer tried to take a photo of Taib but was immediately surrounded and forcibly ejected from the premises. She successfully took photos of him through the glass but this enraged members of Taib’s delegation who then lowered the blinds or placed screens against the glass-fronted building, to prevent Taib from being photographed.
Taib seemed like a wounded animal as he walked with Nor Mohamed Yakcop, who looked visibly angry that the demonstrators had hijacked Taib’s big day in front of the delegates who had paid £1,000 (RM 5,100) each to attend this Forum.
Evidently, Taib is surrounded by ‘yes’ men who cocoon him from dissenting views of the real world. He must have found it galling that thousands of miles away from the safe confines of his tropical riverside mansion, the Penan problem and the destruction of the forests would be haunting him in this centre of learning.
Instead of being able to sell Sarawak to the British, Taib has to justify his actions to the chairman of the British parliament’s All Party Parliamentary Group for Tribal peoples, MP Martin Horwood. The British MP has written to him about the serious allegations of the Penan. Instead of a warm welcome, Taib received a cold reception from the demonstrators and a letter from the MP whilst his host, will receive letters of protest and condemnation.
Taib may wish to reflect how it is to feel rejected, just like the Penans are rejected by their own leaders who continually thwart their attempts at seeking justice. For several years the Penan and other indigenous people have tried to seek peaceful methods to maintain their way of life. They have been harassed because they stood in Taib’s way and his get-rich schemes.
The large delegation accompanying Taib seemed bemused by the demonstrators. What they are used to is a violent reaction from the Malaysian police who are intolerant of protests, even peaceful ones.
One lady who was part of Taib’s delegation said that a child who held up a banner at yesterday’s demonstration was being subjected to “child labour.” Is she aware that Penan girls are being raped and the police in Malaysia are slow to act?
This demonstration has rattled Taib. If this seminar had been arranged during term-time, Taib would have been assured of a larger, more vocal and highly organised group. He is lucky. The police said the demonstrators were ‘well-behaved’ but the behaviour of members of Taib’s delegation was aggressive, in comparison.
Nevertheless, several questions remain unanswered.
Why did Oxford University embrace Taib with open arms knowing that his reputation is tarnished at home and abroad?
Why are his crimes - corruption, plundered wealth, destruction of the forests and land, not highlighted abroad? None of the UK national newspapers (UK) covered this event. Only the local Oxford paper attended.
How is it that the Kagame government or even the Mugabe regime can get centre-stage in the foreign news section of the UK national newspapers? Is Malaysian news insignificant? Or have Sarawakians more serious lobbying to do?
A few of the demonstrators were contemplating making a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) report against Taib. This apparently was how the British arms dealer BAE systems was prosecuted in the Saudi arms bribery scandal.
Pressure from the international community can only be effected by Malaysians when they bring it to the attention of the rest of the world. Naturally, Taib does not want to be in the news for the wrong reasons, as he has a very cushy number.
* The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysian Mirror and/or its associates.
Friday, July 09, 2010
United Borneo natives demand justice and respect
Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:46
By Roselind Jarrow
freemalaysiatoday.com
BAU: The Malaysian and Indonesian governments have been urged to ‘review all existing laws and regulations’ that undermine rights of Borneo’s indigenous peoples.
They were also asked to respect and recognise their rights to ensure the ‘full and effective participation’ of indigenous peoples in the respective countries' decision making process.
These were among the resolutions in the inaugural Krokong Declaration following a three-day Borneo Forests Conference attended by representatives from Sabah, Sarawak, West and East Kalimantan.
The conference was jointly organised by the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association, Borneo Resource Institute Malaysia, Building Initiative in Indigenous Heritage, Pascos Trust, Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara, Indonesia, and Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia.
The Krokong Declaration remindedto the two governments, who endorsed and adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), of their obligation to uphold the rights of the indigenous peoples.
It calls on the these two governments to:
Ensure the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in all development policies, plans, assessments and implementation related to indigenous peoples subject to our Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).
Impose a moratorium on development projects that have been identified to be implemented and planned in our territories that have violated our rights and do not have our FPIC.
Review all existing laws and regulations that undermine our rights as indigenous peoples.
Urge the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia to stop and investigate all forms of violence against our people, arising from all the common issues below.
What's the Krokong Declaration says:
“We, the indigenous peoples of Borneo, have very distinct cultures and relations to our land, territories and resources.
“We strive to maintain these distinct values through our Adat and norms that have been passed down to us from our ancestors for generations.
“We have lived and nurtured our traditional knowledge, innovations and practices since time immemorial, making us the true custodians of our land, territories and resources.
“We, the indigenous peoples of Borneo have suffered social injustices resulting from the imposition of development aggression on our lands, territories and resources. All these have been done without our free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).
“We have not been included in the decision making processes, thus we continue to be marginalised and discriminated regardless of our basic human and customary rights to land, territories and resources, as stated in state, national and international laws.
“We call upon our governments, Malaysia and Indonesia, who adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to fully uphold the rights contained in the declaration.
“We, the indigenous peoples of Borneo declare our solidarity and unity in declaring the Krokong Declaration to be respected and recognised towards its implementation in Malaysia and Indonesia.
“We are further united by the common threats that face us; mega dam projects, mining and other extractive industries, oil palm plantations, deforestation and forest degradation, and climate change on our island of Borneo. We recognise that these threats are faced by indigenous peoples in Malaysia and Indonesia as well as around the world.
“In Borneo, the development of mega dams has displaced and resulted in involuntary forced resettlement of indigenous peoples, causing losses of our customary land and source of livelihood, identity and culture.
“It will also contribute to climate change because of the emission of methane and carbon dioxide from forest clearing and from flooding of reservoir. Water-borne diseases like Malaria and Chikungunya happen more often in areas that surrounds the dam.
“The expansion of oil palm plantations is escalating in alarming and unprecedented proportions that destroy our customary land, territories and resources. This trend brings grave concern to us because it has adversely affected our social culture and livelihoods and unjustly deprived us of the very source of sustenance.
“Additionally, extractive industries such as mining and logging continue to encroach into our ancestral domains which have resulted in land and environmental quality degradation that further impoverish our people. All the extractive industries have contributed to climate change by emitting green house gases (GHGs).
“We are also adversely affected by climate change. Our rivers and land are drying, frequent occurrences of flash floods, unpredictable weather patterns and seasons that threaten our food security.
“Climate change mitigation schemes such as REDD can create potential threats to the ownership of our forests and our rights.
“All of the common issues above have increased the violation of our human rights in the form of intimidation, wrongful detention, criminalisation, killings, deployment of gangsters and the use of para-military force against Indigenous Peoples.
“Likewise, our traditional values, institutions, governance system and knowledge as well as cultural heritage are being eroded as a result of these,” the declaration says.
It also pledges that they work together as one people and one Borneo to respond to these threats in a united and systematic manner that will ensure the survival and dignity of the indigenous peoples.
“We therefore, will work for the establishment of the Borneo Indigenous Peoples Alliance (BIPA) as the expression of our united stand for life and dignity.”
The Krokong Declaration will be submitted to Malaysia and Indonesia as well as to the state and provisional governments. A copy will also be handed to the United Nations.
By Roselind Jarrow
freemalaysiatoday.com
BAU: The Malaysian and Indonesian governments have been urged to ‘review all existing laws and regulations’ that undermine rights of Borneo’s indigenous peoples.
They were also asked to respect and recognise their rights to ensure the ‘full and effective participation’ of indigenous peoples in the respective countries' decision making process.
These were among the resolutions in the inaugural Krokong Declaration following a three-day Borneo Forests Conference attended by representatives from Sabah, Sarawak, West and East Kalimantan.
The conference was jointly organised by the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association, Borneo Resource Institute Malaysia, Building Initiative in Indigenous Heritage, Pascos Trust, Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara, Indonesia, and Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia.
The Krokong Declaration remindedto the two governments, who endorsed and adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), of their obligation to uphold the rights of the indigenous peoples.
It calls on the these two governments to:
Ensure the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in all development policies, plans, assessments and implementation related to indigenous peoples subject to our Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).
Impose a moratorium on development projects that have been identified to be implemented and planned in our territories that have violated our rights and do not have our FPIC.
Review all existing laws and regulations that undermine our rights as indigenous peoples.
Urge the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia to stop and investigate all forms of violence against our people, arising from all the common issues below.
What's the Krokong Declaration says:
“We, the indigenous peoples of Borneo, have very distinct cultures and relations to our land, territories and resources.
“We strive to maintain these distinct values through our Adat and norms that have been passed down to us from our ancestors for generations.
“We have lived and nurtured our traditional knowledge, innovations and practices since time immemorial, making us the true custodians of our land, territories and resources.
“We, the indigenous peoples of Borneo have suffered social injustices resulting from the imposition of development aggression on our lands, territories and resources. All these have been done without our free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).
“We have not been included in the decision making processes, thus we continue to be marginalised and discriminated regardless of our basic human and customary rights to land, territories and resources, as stated in state, national and international laws.
“We call upon our governments, Malaysia and Indonesia, who adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to fully uphold the rights contained in the declaration.
“We, the indigenous peoples of Borneo declare our solidarity and unity in declaring the Krokong Declaration to be respected and recognised towards its implementation in Malaysia and Indonesia.
“We are further united by the common threats that face us; mega dam projects, mining and other extractive industries, oil palm plantations, deforestation and forest degradation, and climate change on our island of Borneo. We recognise that these threats are faced by indigenous peoples in Malaysia and Indonesia as well as around the world.
“In Borneo, the development of mega dams has displaced and resulted in involuntary forced resettlement of indigenous peoples, causing losses of our customary land and source of livelihood, identity and culture.
“It will also contribute to climate change because of the emission of methane and carbon dioxide from forest clearing and from flooding of reservoir. Water-borne diseases like Malaria and Chikungunya happen more often in areas that surrounds the dam.
“The expansion of oil palm plantations is escalating in alarming and unprecedented proportions that destroy our customary land, territories and resources. This trend brings grave concern to us because it has adversely affected our social culture and livelihoods and unjustly deprived us of the very source of sustenance.
“Additionally, extractive industries such as mining and logging continue to encroach into our ancestral domains which have resulted in land and environmental quality degradation that further impoverish our people. All the extractive industries have contributed to climate change by emitting green house gases (GHGs).
“We are also adversely affected by climate change. Our rivers and land are drying, frequent occurrences of flash floods, unpredictable weather patterns and seasons that threaten our food security.
“Climate change mitigation schemes such as REDD can create potential threats to the ownership of our forests and our rights.
“All of the common issues above have increased the violation of our human rights in the form of intimidation, wrongful detention, criminalisation, killings, deployment of gangsters and the use of para-military force against Indigenous Peoples.
“Likewise, our traditional values, institutions, governance system and knowledge as well as cultural heritage are being eroded as a result of these,” the declaration says.
It also pledges that they work together as one people and one Borneo to respond to these threats in a united and systematic manner that will ensure the survival and dignity of the indigenous peoples.
“We therefore, will work for the establishment of the Borneo Indigenous Peoples Alliance (BIPA) as the expression of our united stand for life and dignity.”
The Krokong Declaration will be submitted to Malaysia and Indonesia as well as to the state and provisional governments. A copy will also be handed to the United Nations.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
After Raping Forests, they rape daughters...
Look! Is this the support that you have been giving to these Barisan Najis animals from Sarawak??? Want to wait until they rape your daughter before you can wake up?
-----------
Living in fear of rape and destruction
Sun, 27 Jun 2010
freemalaysiatoday.com
FEATURE KUCHING: Like all Sarawak’s indigenous people, the Penan are faithful practicing Christians who treat their women with respect and do not take more than one spouse.
Despite the temptations of the modern world they live a simplistic god-fearing life eating mainly from the forest.
Last Sunday, several gun-waving policemen threatened the Penan community in Long Sebayang, who had erected a blockade in protest against the savage destruction of their hereditary lands by Lee Ling Timber Company, which incidentally is linked to Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s sister Raziah Mahmud.
The incident is not new.
The fact remains that the Penan are constantly harassed and intimidated by gangs of loggers - armed with heavy vehicles, chainsaws and weapons - and their foreign workers, who rape and destroy not only their rainforest but their women as well.
The Penan women live in constant fear of these intruders who prey on their villages when the men are out hunting or attack hitch-hikers looking for transport to the nearest towns and schools.
Last September, the federal government disclosed a report which revealed strong evidence of numerous rape attacks, many of them on young girls trying to get to school, some of them as young as 10.
A number of babies have been born as a result of this abuse.
Federal investigators also noted a number of cases where logging workers pressured Penan girls to enter into unwilling relationships with them.
The report said that some managers in the logging firms were indulging themselves by keeping up to “three wives” in this way.
On desperate Penan father had told the investigators that he had approached a manager asking that he choose one wife and leave the others alone, “but he dismissed our concerns.”
Said the father: “The loggers have taken away our land, so they think they can take everything even our daughters.”
BN ministers have failed to act
In spite of the findings contained in the official report, Sarawak BN ministers have remained tacit, dismissing these incidents. They have refused to take steps to bring the attackers to justice.
Instead these leaders have continued insulting the Penan and their women, blaming them for these problems.
In an interview with BBC earlier this year, Sarawak Land Minister James Masing had reportedly described Penan women as “naturally promiscuous” and “normally start relationships as young as 12 years.”
To add insult, he alleged that the Penan were “very good storytellers”.
The so-called “stories” told by the Penan community are not isolated. It also occurs in other native communities.
Under the new Score development plans announced in January, over half a million more Sarawakian natives will be pressed from their lands in the same way as the Penan.
All this so that BN ministers can continue to exploit their territories and the loggers their women.
-The original version first appeared in Sarawak Report.
Sun, 27 Jun 2010
freemalaysiatoday.com
FEATURE KUCHING: Like all Sarawak’s indigenous people, the Penan are faithful practicing Christians who treat their women with respect and do not take more than one spouse.
Despite the temptations of the modern world they live a simplistic god-fearing life eating mainly from the forest.
Last Sunday, several gun-waving policemen threatened the Penan community in Long Sebayang, who had erected a blockade in protest against the savage destruction of their hereditary lands by Lee Ling Timber Company, which incidentally is linked to Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s sister Raziah Mahmud.
The incident is not new.
The fact remains that the Penan are constantly harassed and intimidated by gangs of loggers - armed with heavy vehicles, chainsaws and weapons - and their foreign workers, who rape and destroy not only their rainforest but their women as well.
The Penan women live in constant fear of these intruders who prey on their villages when the men are out hunting or attack hitch-hikers looking for transport to the nearest towns and schools.
Last September, the federal government disclosed a report which revealed strong evidence of numerous rape attacks, many of them on young girls trying to get to school, some of them as young as 10.
A number of babies have been born as a result of this abuse.
Federal investigators also noted a number of cases where logging workers pressured Penan girls to enter into unwilling relationships with them.
The report said that some managers in the logging firms were indulging themselves by keeping up to “three wives” in this way.
On desperate Penan father had told the investigators that he had approached a manager asking that he choose one wife and leave the others alone, “but he dismissed our concerns.”
Said the father: “The loggers have taken away our land, so they think they can take everything even our daughters.”
BN ministers have failed to act
In spite of the findings contained in the official report, Sarawak BN ministers have remained tacit, dismissing these incidents. They have refused to take steps to bring the attackers to justice.
Instead these leaders have continued insulting the Penan and their women, blaming them for these problems.
In an interview with BBC earlier this year, Sarawak Land Minister James Masing had reportedly described Penan women as “naturally promiscuous” and “normally start relationships as young as 12 years.”
To add insult, he alleged that the Penan were “very good storytellers”.
The so-called “stories” told by the Penan community are not isolated. It also occurs in other native communities.
Under the new Score development plans announced in January, over half a million more Sarawakian natives will be pressed from their lands in the same way as the Penan.
All this so that BN ministers can continue to exploit their territories and the loggers their women.
-The original version first appeared in Sarawak Report.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Penan Attacked by Cronies of Pek Mor
Penan attacked as communities set up road blockade to protect their rainforests
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Source here and here
Instead of investigating a reported incident of violence against a Penan man by a timber company official, the police officers instructed the natives to dismantle their blockades. The police officers were using timber company vehicles, not police vehicles.
By Bruno Manser Fund
Lee Ling Group must stop violence in the Upper Limbang - Community rights must be respected
LONG SEBAYANG, SARAWAK, MALAYSIA. A Penan hunter has been attacked by a logging company official at a timber road blockade in Sarawak, East Malaysia. This has been reported this morning by Penan community sources.
According to our sources, a Penan named Aking Anung from Long Keneng was yesterday attacked by Ah New, a timber company official employed by a sub-contractor of the Malaysian Lee Ling timber group. Ah New had reportedly tried to attack the Penan hunter with a "parang" (bush knife). According to the Penan, Aking avoided being hurt by running away. He later lodged a police report in Limbang.
The incident took place at a newly erected timber road blockade near a timber camp at Long Sebayang in Sarawak's Upper Limbang region. The blockade had been set up jointly by Penan, Lun Bawang and Tabun natives in an attempt to prevent their land from being re-logged and converted into plantations by Lee Ling and its subcontractors.
"Our communities need support and we ask you to spread this news worldwide", a community spokesman said. The Bruno Manser Fund asks the Lee Ling Group to stop its violence immediately and to respect the native communities' customary rights in the Upper Limbang region.
Lee Ling Timber and the plantation company, Limba Jaya Timber, form part of the Lee Ling Group, which has its headquarters in Kuching, the state capital of Sarawak. The group is owned by the Tiang family and has been partly incorporated in Quality Concrete Sdn Bhd., which is listed on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange. Quality Concrete is linked to the family of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud. One of Taib's sisters, Raziah Mahmud, is a member of the company's Board of Directors.
Update:
We have just got the latest blockade update regarding the situation in the Upper Limbang region of Sarawak:
According to Penan sources, the Lee Ling Timber subcontractor brought in three plainclothes police officers to the blockade site at Long Sebayang on 20 June 2010. One of the policemen was armed with a pistol. Instead of investigating a reported incident of violence against a Penan man by a timber company official, the police officers instructed the natives (Penan, Lun Bawang, Tabun) to dismantle their blockades (two blockades have been erected one of which appears to have been dismantled). The police visit at the blockade took place on 20 June betweeen 3 and 4 p.m. The police officers were using timber company vehicles, not police vehicles.
After the police left, at around 8 p.m. local time last night, the timber company manager, whose name has been reported to be Ah New (spelling might be different), hit one of the blockade supporters, Bita Pelisi, on the face and left him with his nose bleeding. Following that, the Lee Ling subcontractor announced he would bring in "more gangsters to the blockade site".
The Penan, Lun Bawang, and Tabun went to Limbang to lodge a further police report on the issue but hitherto the police have not undertaken any action. The Bruno Manser Fund urges Lee Ling Timber and contractors to immediately stop the violences against the natives and respect the communities' legitimate demands. The Royal Malaysian police is asked to investigate these incidents and to stop colluding with Lee Ling Timber.
What you can do:
Please help the Penan communities by protesting with the Royal Malaysian Police and with Quality Concrete, in which part of the Lee Ling Group is incorporated, to stop all violence and respect the community rights:
Royal Malaysian police: rmp@rmp.gov.my
Quality Concrete Sdn Bhd.: info@qchb.com.my
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Source here and here
Instead of investigating a reported incident of violence against a Penan man by a timber company official, the police officers instructed the natives to dismantle their blockades. The police officers were using timber company vehicles, not police vehicles.
By Bruno Manser Fund
Lee Ling Group must stop violence in the Upper Limbang - Community rights must be respected
LONG SEBAYANG, SARAWAK, MALAYSIA. A Penan hunter has been attacked by a logging company official at a timber road blockade in Sarawak, East Malaysia. This has been reported this morning by Penan community sources.
According to our sources, a Penan named Aking Anung from Long Keneng was yesterday attacked by Ah New, a timber company official employed by a sub-contractor of the Malaysian Lee Ling timber group. Ah New had reportedly tried to attack the Penan hunter with a "parang" (bush knife). According to the Penan, Aking avoided being hurt by running away. He later lodged a police report in Limbang.
The incident took place at a newly erected timber road blockade near a timber camp at Long Sebayang in Sarawak's Upper Limbang region. The blockade had been set up jointly by Penan, Lun Bawang and Tabun natives in an attempt to prevent their land from being re-logged and converted into plantations by Lee Ling and its subcontractors.
"Our communities need support and we ask you to spread this news worldwide", a community spokesman said. The Bruno Manser Fund asks the Lee Ling Group to stop its violence immediately and to respect the native communities' customary rights in the Upper Limbang region.
Lee Ling Timber and the plantation company, Limba Jaya Timber, form part of the Lee Ling Group, which has its headquarters in Kuching, the state capital of Sarawak. The group is owned by the Tiang family and has been partly incorporated in Quality Concrete Sdn Bhd., which is listed on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange. Quality Concrete is linked to the family of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud. One of Taib's sisters, Raziah Mahmud, is a member of the company's Board of Directors.
Update:
We have just got the latest blockade update regarding the situation in the Upper Limbang region of Sarawak:
According to Penan sources, the Lee Ling Timber subcontractor brought in three plainclothes police officers to the blockade site at Long Sebayang on 20 June 2010. One of the policemen was armed with a pistol. Instead of investigating a reported incident of violence against a Penan man by a timber company official, the police officers instructed the natives (Penan, Lun Bawang, Tabun) to dismantle their blockades (two blockades have been erected one of which appears to have been dismantled). The police visit at the blockade took place on 20 June betweeen 3 and 4 p.m. The police officers were using timber company vehicles, not police vehicles.
After the police left, at around 8 p.m. local time last night, the timber company manager, whose name has been reported to be Ah New (spelling might be different), hit one of the blockade supporters, Bita Pelisi, on the face and left him with his nose bleeding. Following that, the Lee Ling subcontractor announced he would bring in "more gangsters to the blockade site".
The Penan, Lun Bawang, and Tabun went to Limbang to lodge a further police report on the issue but hitherto the police have not undertaken any action. The Bruno Manser Fund urges Lee Ling Timber and contractors to immediately stop the violences against the natives and respect the communities' legitimate demands. The Royal Malaysian police is asked to investigate these incidents and to stop colluding with Lee Ling Timber.
What you can do:
Please help the Penan communities by protesting with the Royal Malaysian Police and with Quality Concrete, in which part of the Lee Ling Group is incorporated, to stop all violence and respect the community rights:
Royal Malaysian police: rmp@rmp.gov.my
Quality Concrete Sdn Bhd.: info@qchb.com.my
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Survival urges Malaysia to uphold tribes’ rights
Survival’s director Stephen Corry has written to the Malaysian government, urging it to uphold the rights of the Penan and other tribes of Sarawak.
Malaysia’s Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said last month that the Malaysian federal and Sarawak state governments were, ‘in the process of finalising a mechanism on how to solve the issue of native customary rights land in the state,’ according to the government news agency Bernama. The minister made his statement during the run-up to a hotly contested by-election in the Sarawak town of Sibu.
The Sarawak government does not uphold indigenous peoples’ rights to their land, and allows logging and plantation companies to operate on it without the tribes’ consent. The Penan tribe rely heavily on the forests, and have repeatedly mounted blockades to keep the logging companies out.
In letters to the Prime Minister of Malaysia and the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Stephen Corry wrote, ‘The Sarawak government’s failure to uphold the Penan’s rights to their land is in violation of the principles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The activities of logging and plantation companies have impoverished them, destroying their sources of food and clean water. We are also concerned that Penan and other indigenous people are threatened with displacement for the construction of the Murum dam and other hydroelectric dams across the state, again without their consent.
‘I urge you to ensure that the rights of the Penan and other indigenous peoples of Sarawak are respected, and that all logging, plantations and other developments on their land without their consent are halted.’
Link to Survival International here
Malaysia’s Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said last month that the Malaysian federal and Sarawak state governments were, ‘in the process of finalising a mechanism on how to solve the issue of native customary rights land in the state,’ according to the government news agency Bernama. The minister made his statement during the run-up to a hotly contested by-election in the Sarawak town of Sibu.
The Sarawak government does not uphold indigenous peoples’ rights to their land, and allows logging and plantation companies to operate on it without the tribes’ consent. The Penan tribe rely heavily on the forests, and have repeatedly mounted blockades to keep the logging companies out.
In letters to the Prime Minister of Malaysia and the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Stephen Corry wrote, ‘The Sarawak government’s failure to uphold the Penan’s rights to their land is in violation of the principles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The activities of logging and plantation companies have impoverished them, destroying their sources of food and clean water. We are also concerned that Penan and other indigenous people are threatened with displacement for the construction of the Murum dam and other hydroelectric dams across the state, again without their consent.
‘I urge you to ensure that the rights of the Penan and other indigenous peoples of Sarawak are respected, and that all logging, plantations and other developments on their land without their consent are halted.’
Link to Survival International here
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Penans in search of tribesman appeal for food
Thu, 15 Apr 2010 06:45
By Roselind Jarrow
freemalaysiatoday.com
MIRI: A group of eight nomadic Penan families of Ba’ Puak are on the verge of starvation unless food rations are immediately delivered to them.
“We are seeking the help of the public at large to provide us with our daily necessities as our rations have drained out after carrying out almost five months of search and rescue (SAR) operation for one of our men who went missing around the forest in Loagan Bunut National Park last year,” said the headman of the group Jepery Moyong.
“We appeal to the general public to help us with foods and provisions to enable us to sustain our community SAR operation.
“We will be starving soon and have no choice but to ask for help since we are severely facing shortages of food,” he said, adding that it was not easy to find food in the peat forest.
Jepery also said that they did not want to cause trouble and be accused for illegal encroachment into the national park.
Emang Moyong, 33, went missing on Nov 2 last year after performing at a cultural event organised by Petronas at its gas pipeline project camp site in Tinjar.
Emang was then purportedly asked to do video filming on the Penan’s way of hunting with blowpipes at Loagan Bunut National Park.
He was said to have been threatened by the so-called film crews. Since then, the Penans have launched a community search and rescue (SAR) operation in the thick forest around the park area.
The Malaysian Police had also carried out a three-week SAR operation in November and December but were unsuccessful.
The police have since closed the case as their operations after failing to trace and locate Emang whereabouts.
“We the Penan families are determined to continue with our search even though the authorities have ceased their SAR operation.
“We will not stop our SAR operations as we believe that Emang is still alive,” he said.
Jepery said Emang was frightened and traumatised and and could be hiding from somebody.
“This situation can happen to any nomadic Penans as we are seldom in contact with outsiders,” he said.
Emang’s wife Usun Malin, 26 and two children Maria, 8 and Mathew, 6, are still hopeful to find him alive.
“We would only be relieved if his remains are found that is if he had died, and then we will go back peacefully to Ba’ Puak,” said Usun.
The nomadic Penan group of Ba Puak is among the few Penan nomads left in the rainforest of Sarawak.
There are about 15 families at their settlement in Long Selulung, Ba’ Puak in upper Tutoh River area in the interior part of Baram District in the northern region of Sarawak.
The Loagan Bunut National Park has an area of 10,736 hectares and was gazetted by the Sarawak State Government as totally protected area on 29 August 1991. It is more or less about 100km from Long Selulung in Ba’ Puak.
The national coordinator of Sarawak Conservation Alliance for Natural Environment (SCANE) Raymond Abin is sympathetic with the plight and distress of the nomadic Penan Ba’ Puak.
He called upon civil society organisations, government and private agencies and the public to help in the community SAR operation and provide assistance in-kind to the nomadic Penan Ba’ Puak.
He said all assistance can be done through Sarawak Conservation Alliance for Natural Environment (SCANE) at Lot 1046 Shang Garden Shoplot, Jalan Bulan Sabit, Miri, Sarawak. Tel: MY +60 85423044 +60 85423044 Call Email: scanenews@gmail.com
By Roselind Jarrow
freemalaysiatoday.com
MIRI: A group of eight nomadic Penan families of Ba’ Puak are on the verge of starvation unless food rations are immediately delivered to them.
“We are seeking the help of the public at large to provide us with our daily necessities as our rations have drained out after carrying out almost five months of search and rescue (SAR) operation for one of our men who went missing around the forest in Loagan Bunut National Park last year,” said the headman of the group Jepery Moyong.
“We appeal to the general public to help us with foods and provisions to enable us to sustain our community SAR operation.
“We will be starving soon and have no choice but to ask for help since we are severely facing shortages of food,” he said, adding that it was not easy to find food in the peat forest.
Jepery also said that they did not want to cause trouble and be accused for illegal encroachment into the national park.
Emang Moyong, 33, went missing on Nov 2 last year after performing at a cultural event organised by Petronas at its gas pipeline project camp site in Tinjar.
Emang was then purportedly asked to do video filming on the Penan’s way of hunting with blowpipes at Loagan Bunut National Park.
He was said to have been threatened by the so-called film crews. Since then, the Penans have launched a community search and rescue (SAR) operation in the thick forest around the park area.
The Malaysian Police had also carried out a three-week SAR operation in November and December but were unsuccessful.
The police have since closed the case as their operations after failing to trace and locate Emang whereabouts.
“We the Penan families are determined to continue with our search even though the authorities have ceased their SAR operation.
“We will not stop our SAR operations as we believe that Emang is still alive,” he said.
Jepery said Emang was frightened and traumatised and and could be hiding from somebody.
“This situation can happen to any nomadic Penans as we are seldom in contact with outsiders,” he said.
Emang’s wife Usun Malin, 26 and two children Maria, 8 and Mathew, 6, are still hopeful to find him alive.
“We would only be relieved if his remains are found that is if he had died, and then we will go back peacefully to Ba’ Puak,” said Usun.
The nomadic Penan group of Ba Puak is among the few Penan nomads left in the rainforest of Sarawak.
There are about 15 families at their settlement in Long Selulung, Ba’ Puak in upper Tutoh River area in the interior part of Baram District in the northern region of Sarawak.
The Loagan Bunut National Park has an area of 10,736 hectares and was gazetted by the Sarawak State Government as totally protected area on 29 August 1991. It is more or less about 100km from Long Selulung in Ba’ Puak.
The national coordinator of Sarawak Conservation Alliance for Natural Environment (SCANE) Raymond Abin is sympathetic with the plight and distress of the nomadic Penan Ba’ Puak.
He called upon civil society organisations, government and private agencies and the public to help in the community SAR operation and provide assistance in-kind to the nomadic Penan Ba’ Puak.
He said all assistance can be done through Sarawak Conservation Alliance for Natural Environment (SCANE) at Lot 1046 Shang Garden Shoplot, Jalan Bulan Sabit, Miri, Sarawak. Tel: MY +60 85423044 +60 85423044 Call Email: scanenews@gmail.com
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
This is Why We Need To Change the Corrupt, Racist & Plundering Government
Govt's relocation programme leaves S'wak natives in debts
Wed, 31 Mar 2010
By Joseph Tawie
Source Here
KUCHING: Thousands of natives, displaced by the Bakun dam project, are being asked to pay for a one-room house in the new settlement area, according to the Sarawak Dayak-Iban Association (SADIA).
SADIA secretary-general Nicholas Mujah said the natives, from the Kayans, Kenyahs and Punan communities, were now being “relocated to Sungai Asap and asked to pay RM15,000 for a one-room house.”
He said like the natives in Batang Ai, these natives were also given small plots of land for farming.
“But now the natives in Batang Ai, who also received a small plot of land for farming, are struggling to make a living and are unable to pay for the house.
“The jobs promised to them have never materialized.
“In the words of Nyipa Bato, an Orang Ulu leader, the Bakun was supposed to create at least 200 millionaires, but now it has made more than 2000 Orang Ulu bankrupt,” recalled Mujah.
The Bakun project, which was approved in 1986 and shelved three times, will submerge about 700 square kilometres of land, the size of Singapore, destroying some of the most unique longhouses, traditional native farms and hunting land.
The Bakun region has some of the rarest species of plants and animals that cannot be found anywhere on this planet.
The construction of Bakun Hydro which was originally supposed to supply electricity to West Malaysia through undersea cables has now been abandoned.
Instead it will now supply electricity to an aluminium smelting plant in Similajau some 180 km from the dam.
Mujah said recently, some 400 families who refused to move out from the Bakun area had their houses demolished by officers of the Lands and Surveys.
Fortunately, they applied to the Court to stop the Lands and Surveys from carrying out their tasks.
Similarly at the Bengoh Dam, there were four Bidayuh villages affected and they were directed to move out, failing which action would be taken against them.
Now another 12 dams are to be built and should be completed by 2020.
The dams which are to be located at Batang Ai, Ulu Ai, Metjawah, Baleh, Belaga, Linau, Belepeh, Murum, Baram, Tutoh, Limbang and Lawas will increase the total capacity of electricity in the State to 7,000 MW including Bakun’s capacity of 2,400MW.
Imagine the size of the land to be submerged and the sufferings and miseries the natives especially the Orang Ulu will endure.
Mujah asked: “Do we really need all these dams?
“While the environmentalists are worried about the effects on our ecological systems and the damage to the rarest specimens of flora and fauna, the natives are worried about losing their livelihood, cultural heritage and their NCR land – farming land, their gardens (pepper and rubber) temuda, tembawai, pemakai menua and pendam.
“The government only thinks of economic returns and business opportunities. But we know that companies owned by certain families only are going to reap not millions, but billions of ringgits.
“Companies like SESCO Enterprise, CMS (belonging to Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s family) and Naim Cendera (owned by Taib’s relatives), and timber companies.
“ Plenty of money will come from clearing of forests, the construction of roads, bridges and cables as well as accommodations. SESCO Enterprise will play the leading role in all these dam businesses,” he said.
Meanwhile Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) senior manager (power systems planning) Dr Lee Hau Aik reportedly said on Monday that the power demands of Sarawak was expected to surge some 3,000 MW by 2020 to meet the needs of the industries in the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score).
Dr Lee who presented a paper on “Hydropower for the long-term generation” at the third international conference on Water resources and renewable energy development in Asia yesterday, noted that industries in Score would initially be sourcing power from the Bakun and Murum hydroelectric dams.
The 2,400 MW Bakun dam is scheduled to begin power generation later this year while Murum dam comes on stream in 2013.
Wed, 31 Mar 2010
By Joseph Tawie
Source Here
KUCHING: Thousands of natives, displaced by the Bakun dam project, are being asked to pay for a one-room house in the new settlement area, according to the Sarawak Dayak-Iban Association (SADIA).
SADIA secretary-general Nicholas Mujah said the natives, from the Kayans, Kenyahs and Punan communities, were now being “relocated to Sungai Asap and asked to pay RM15,000 for a one-room house.”
He said like the natives in Batang Ai, these natives were also given small plots of land for farming.
“But now the natives in Batang Ai, who also received a small plot of land for farming, are struggling to make a living and are unable to pay for the house.
“The jobs promised to them have never materialized.
“In the words of Nyipa Bato, an Orang Ulu leader, the Bakun was supposed to create at least 200 millionaires, but now it has made more than 2000 Orang Ulu bankrupt,” recalled Mujah.
The Bakun project, which was approved in 1986 and shelved three times, will submerge about 700 square kilometres of land, the size of Singapore, destroying some of the most unique longhouses, traditional native farms and hunting land.
The Bakun region has some of the rarest species of plants and animals that cannot be found anywhere on this planet.
The construction of Bakun Hydro which was originally supposed to supply electricity to West Malaysia through undersea cables has now been abandoned.
Instead it will now supply electricity to an aluminium smelting plant in Similajau some 180 km from the dam.
Mujah said recently, some 400 families who refused to move out from the Bakun area had their houses demolished by officers of the Lands and Surveys.
Fortunately, they applied to the Court to stop the Lands and Surveys from carrying out their tasks.
Similarly at the Bengoh Dam, there were four Bidayuh villages affected and they were directed to move out, failing which action would be taken against them.
Now another 12 dams are to be built and should be completed by 2020.
The dams which are to be located at Batang Ai, Ulu Ai, Metjawah, Baleh, Belaga, Linau, Belepeh, Murum, Baram, Tutoh, Limbang and Lawas will increase the total capacity of electricity in the State to 7,000 MW including Bakun’s capacity of 2,400MW.
Imagine the size of the land to be submerged and the sufferings and miseries the natives especially the Orang Ulu will endure.
Mujah asked: “Do we really need all these dams?
“While the environmentalists are worried about the effects on our ecological systems and the damage to the rarest specimens of flora and fauna, the natives are worried about losing their livelihood, cultural heritage and their NCR land – farming land, their gardens (pepper and rubber) temuda, tembawai, pemakai menua and pendam.
“The government only thinks of economic returns and business opportunities. But we know that companies owned by certain families only are going to reap not millions, but billions of ringgits.
“Companies like SESCO Enterprise, CMS (belonging to Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s family) and Naim Cendera (owned by Taib’s relatives), and timber companies.
“ Plenty of money will come from clearing of forests, the construction of roads, bridges and cables as well as accommodations. SESCO Enterprise will play the leading role in all these dam businesses,” he said.
Meanwhile Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) senior manager (power systems planning) Dr Lee Hau Aik reportedly said on Monday that the power demands of Sarawak was expected to surge some 3,000 MW by 2020 to meet the needs of the industries in the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score).
Dr Lee who presented a paper on “Hydropower for the long-term generation” at the third international conference on Water resources and renewable energy development in Asia yesterday, noted that industries in Score would initially be sourcing power from the Bakun and Murum hydroelectric dams.
The 2,400 MW Bakun dam is scheduled to begin power generation later this year while Murum dam comes on stream in 2013.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Sabah & Sarawak don't even trust Peninsular
Well, this show that our Peninsular Wildlife caretakers are below par as compare to Sabah & Sarawak. I have the opportunity to visit some of the wildlife sanctuary and parks in Sabah and Sarawak and would agree 101% that Peninsular's parks are nothing compare to Sabah and Sarawak. So many failed wildlife parks were in Peninsular...and they still never learn the reasons. The one in Perak (Bukit Merah) is successful because it was a private company that run the centre. It would have failed if it was under the government's authority.
Want to know the reasons?
1. Corruption
2. Food for wildlife being hijacked
3. Lazy staff
4. Uncaring for wildlife
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March 21, 2010
Sabah, S'wak unwilling to send their orang utan to KL
By RINTOS MAIL
Want to know the reasons?
1. Corruption
2. Food for wildlife being hijacked
3. Lazy staff
4. Uncaring for wildlife
----------
March 21, 2010
Sabah, S'wak unwilling to send their orang utan to KL
By RINTOS MAIL
Star
KUCHING: Sarawak and Sabah are not willing to relocate their orang utan to a new sanctuary for the primate in Kuala Lumpur.
Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit said both states wanted their orang utan to stay where they were and, therefore, the government now had to look for orang utans from a small island in Perak.
He said the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) had allocated about 200 acres in Kepong to set up the new eco-tourism attraction that was similar to the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre here and the Sepilok orang utan sanctuary in Sandakan.
“We are going to transfer some of the orang utan from the island in Perak since the population has increased and exceeded the island’s caring capacity, which makes it difficult for the primates to get enough food,” he said opening SK Siburan Baru Parent-Teacher Association’s annual general meeting here Sunday.
Dawos said the species in Perak, the Borneon orang utan (Pongo pygmaeus), was similar to that in Sarawak and Sabah.
He was not certain when the project would start.
However, he said the government would not go back on its plan because an orang utan sanctuary in Kuala Lumpur would be a big success as it would leave a lasting impression on visitors in line with the government’s intention to make eco-tourism a more prominent sector.
“I cannot ascertain when we can make it a reality. But this is a directive from the Prime Minister, which is why we must do it,” he said.
KUCHING: Sarawak and Sabah are not willing to relocate their orang utan to a new sanctuary for the primate in Kuala Lumpur.
Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit said both states wanted their orang utan to stay where they were and, therefore, the government now had to look for orang utans from a small island in Perak.
He said the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) had allocated about 200 acres in Kepong to set up the new eco-tourism attraction that was similar to the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre here and the Sepilok orang utan sanctuary in Sandakan.
“We are going to transfer some of the orang utan from the island in Perak since the population has increased and exceeded the island’s caring capacity, which makes it difficult for the primates to get enough food,” he said opening SK Siburan Baru Parent-Teacher Association’s annual general meeting here Sunday.
Dawos said the species in Perak, the Borneon orang utan (Pongo pygmaeus), was similar to that in Sarawak and Sabah.
He was not certain when the project would start.
However, he said the government would not go back on its plan because an orang utan sanctuary in Kuala Lumpur would be a big success as it would leave a lasting impression on visitors in line with the government’s intention to make eco-tourism a more prominent sector.
“I cannot ascertain when we can make it a reality. But this is a directive from the Prime Minister, which is why we must do it,” he said.
---------
Monday March 22, 2010
Questions over big ape sanctuary
Star
KUCHING: Mystery surrounds a proposed new orang utan sanctuary in Kuala Lumpur, which nobody seems to want.
Sarawak and Sabah are not willing to relocate their orang utan to the sanctuary, said Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit.
He said both states wanted their orang utan to stay where they were and therefore, the government now had to look for orang utans from a small island in Perak.
He said the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) had allocated about 200 acres in Kepong to set up the new eco-tourism attraction which was similar to the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre here and the Sepilok orangutan sanctuary in Sandakan.
“We are going to transfer some of the orang utan from the island in Perak since the population there has increased and exceeded the island’s caring capacity which makes it difficult for the primates to get enough food,” he said after opening SK Siburan Baru Parent-Teacher Association’s annual general meeting here yesterday.
Dawos, who is a FRIM board member, said the species in Perak, the Borneon orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), was similar to that in Sarawak and Sabah. He was not certain when the project would start.
However, he said the government would not go back on its plan because an orang utan sanctuary in Kuala Lumpur would be a big success and it would leave a lasting impression on visitors in line with the government’s intention to make eco-tourism a more prominent sector.
“I cannot ascertain when we can make it a reality. But we must do it,” he said.
FRIM director-genereal Datuk Dr Abd Latif Mohmod, however. said the institute had never requested for the setting up of an orang utan sanctuary.
“Orang utan conservation comes under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Perhilitan. We are a forest research centre focusing on flora,” he said.
--------
Comment: FRIM DG was right. Forest research should only focus on flora. Botanic Gardens once had a mini zoo and kangaroo park but all the animals dead. Teluk Bahang Forestry Park had a mini zoo too, but all the animals dead. These were only two examples from Penang. Have they not learnt enough? Do we have enough animal experts to take care of the animals? Stupid policy maker! Stupid politician!
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