Jabu short-changing the Dayaks again

By: Mark Bujang

MIRI, 27 April 2009 – The Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Rural, Infrastructure and Communications Development, Alfred Jabu once again is short-changing the Dayaks through one of the Sarawak State Government’s most praised native customary land development scheme more commonly known as ”konsep baru”. The communities involve this time were the Ibans from Rumah Belili and Rumah Ranggong situated at Ulu Niah, Miri Division.

Last Thursday, at the handing over ceremony of ASSAR’s dividends and bonuses to the participants of the Ulu Niah NCR Joint Venture (JV) Project, Jabu handed out a total of RM436,708.20 to 226 participants of the said scheme from Rumah Belili and Rumah Ranggong.

At first glance, the total amount seems reasonable if the payment of dividends and bonuses are for the year 2008, but upon inquiry from the scheme participants, this is the first time in 10 years that the JV project has paid out any dividends or bonuses for that matter.

If we were to make the assumption that the dividends and bonuses are divided equally among the scheme participants, each participant would receive about RM1,932. Divide that by 10 years, each participant would only get RM193 per year. This is a far cry from the government’s promise that this scheme would uplift the socio-economic status of the Dayaks.

According to Snek Ak Bagat, one of the residents of Rumah Ranggong who was seen visibly upset said, “I was looking forward to receive the dividends and bonuses from our investment (in the JV project). However, I was shocked to find out that our investment only yielded 50 cents per month after ten years. Not enough, to buy even a cup of coffee!”

Why hand out dividends and bonuses after 10 years? Why does the government and the JV company have a sudden interest with the NCR landowners after they have been neglected all these while? Is it because that the community of Rumah Belili and Rumah Ranggong are suing the private investor, BLD Resources Sdn. Bhd. for not keeping its end of the bargain?

Previously, in 1999, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between BLD Sdn. Bhd. (sister company of BLD Resources), Sarawak Land Development Board (SLDB) and the NCR landowners at Ulu Niah, where Rumah Belili and Rumah Ranggong were the participating longhouses, to develop the Ulu Niah NCR land based on the konsep baru scheme. Jabu and the then Sarawak Minister for Housing, Celestine Ujang handed out the 10 per cent upfront payment worth RM294,990 in 2001.

However, in 2008, one resident of Rumah Ranggong, Changgai Ak Dali was sued by BLD Resources for allegedly trespassing into BLD Resources’ plantation. When Changgai and his longhouse folks disputed this they discovered to their horror that their NCR JV project was cancelled – reason given was the government made a mistake saying the land is NCR. So, no NCR land, no NCR JV project.

Changgai Ak Dali, commenting on the dividends and bonuses received, “We thank Jabu for handing out the dividends and bonuses to us, but we are not happy with the amount. How come after all these years, this is how much we got? Jabu not once mentioned the status of our land during the ceremony. When I asked Jabu if he could withdraw the provisional lease of the company, he replied he does not have that authority.”

In another case, Jabu also handed out dividends amounting to RM52 million to 16,480 participants for the year 2008 in another NCR land development scheme managed by another state government agency, the Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra), where Jabu is also its chairman.

According to an article sourced from a blogsite, Anilnetto.com, Salcra should have netted profits amounting to RM292 million for 2008 taking into account the price of oil palm that year. Jabu announced that another RM22 million had been set aside for loan repayments. The article went on to say that the net balance after dividends and loan repayments should have amounted to RM218 million, or RM13,240 per participant.

The article questioned Salcra, where does the balance of the money went. The article went on to say even if 50 per cent is withheld to allow for reinvestment and replanting, that would still amount to RM109 million or RM6,620 per participant to be accounted for.

In another NCR JV scheme at Suai, Miri Division, the Penans from Kampung Ugos threatened to withdraw from the said scheme launched by Jabu himself in 1998 if the state government agency the Sarawak Land Development Board (SLDB) does not disclose transparently the official documents, records, JV agreements and statement of accounts of the JV company.

The Penans also complained that they do not know how SLDB arrived at the amount of dividends paid which is exactly RM500,000 and they do not even know which private investor company is in the JV. Some of the scheme participants have died not knowing what will happen to their land and their investment.

Ironically, Kampung Ugos is also the village of Datuk Hassan Sui, the favourite son of the state government in his role of promoting the JV scheme and how he always prides himself of his achievements in developing his community NCR lands which led him to be the first Penan millionaire. But what about his own community?

Time and time again we hear from the NCR landowners all over Sarawak that they feel betrayed and cheated by their own leaders which they elect time and time again come each General or State Election. How do hold our leaders accountable for their actions? According to James Masing, Sarawak Minister of Land Development, in an interview conducted by Al-Jazeera television news station, when he was asked the same question, his answer was straightforward, “The electorate. They (electorate) will decide whether you (elected leaders) are guilty or not…. They will know if you (elected leaders) have done wrong or not.”