BALINGIAN, (25 July 2001) - The Iban communities from 10 longhouses in the Sungai Pelugau area are staging a peaceful protest against Rosebay Enterprise Sdn. Bhd., an oil palm plantation company.

On Monday morning (23 July) barricades with 'piring' (religious offerings) hung to it were erected by the communities to prevent the company from continuing work until their demands are met.

The communities are claiming that since 1997 the company has been trespassing into their customary land and clear-cutting their communal forest for the purpose of setting-up an oil palm plantation. The company did not obtained any prior informed consent from the communities nor did any compensation was paid for the damages done to the communities' customary land and the timber extracted from their communal forest.

According to the communities' spokesperson, Usang Ak Labit said, "The clear-felling and planting of oil palm by the company in our native customary land has affected the livelihood of our community. The forest resources which we depend on for our livelihood such as food, valuable medicines, wildlife and other produce are getting scarce. Pesticides and herbicides used by the company flows into our rivers, thus killing the fishes."

He also said that the communities have complained and protested numerously to the company and the authorities concerned but unfortunately their pleas were ignored. The only reply they got was that the area where the company is currently working is on State Land by virtue of the Provisional Lease issued by the Land and Survey Department, Sibu Division.

The communities are demanding that the company pay adequate compensation for the damages done to their land, crops and timber extracted from their communal forest. A warning was made to anyone that dismantles the barricade without the prior informed consent of the communities would be fine according to the communities' customary law.

To make it certain if the company's Provisional Lease has overlapped the customary land, the communities engaged Borneo Resources Institute (BRIMAS), a social civil society institution based in Miri to map the extend of their native customary rights land boundary. BRIMAS started mapping the area in the January and February last year and discovered that the Provisional Lease named Lot 3 Pelugau Land District did overlapped an area of about 1,476 ha of the communities' claimed customary land.

The communities has also filed a legal representative action in the Sibu High Court in November 1999 naming the Superintendent of Land and Survey Department Sibu Division, the State Government of Sarawak and Rosebay Enterprise Sdn. Bhd. as the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd defendant respectively. The communities are challenging the legality of the Provisional Lease that overlapped the communities' native customary land.

In spite of the legal action, the company was still adamant of continuing work and therefore the communities have no choice but to stop the company by erecting the barricade.

The 10 longhouses that are protesting are Rumah Garai, Rumah Siew, Rumah Memuas, Rumah Ngindang, Rumah Gedong, Rumah Chendai, Rumah Kuching, Rumah Tabor, Rumah Encharang and Rumah Lipu all in Upper Balingian of Mukah District in Sibu Division, Sarawak.