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Extracted from
Malaysiakini
Natives vs quarry: Villagers asked to sign 'dubious' documents
Erik
Wang | Jul 9,
A group of 
v:shapes="_x0000_s1026"> court injunction against politically well-connected
company Naim Cendera Lapan from encroaching their
native customary rights (
Naim Cendera Lapan, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Niam
Cendera said to be closely linked to powerful state
politicians, has sought to extract stones from a mountain range, which is part
of
Kampung Bengoh, about an
hour's drive south of Kuching, has existed for more than a century, and the
villagers depend on shifting cultivation for food crops and the harvesting of
birds' nests for their livelihood.
It is learnt that the quarry licence has been given
to a contractor to extract stones for construction works relating to the RM365
million Bengoh Dam nearby over a period of five years.
The dam project was awarded to Naim Cendera, which in turn sub-contracted the work out to a
Chinese company, Sino Hydro, for half the original contract sum.
Last week, the villagers won a temporary injunction to stop Naim
Cendera Lapan from entering
their farmland. The natives argued that the stone quarry would cause damages to
fruit trees and other crops in their
It the latest development, villagers claimed that they were asked to sign a
document purportedly requesting the company to repair the Sungei
Abang bridge, build a fence around the primary school
as well as a hut (pondok) for the local Rela, the controversial local voluntary security unit.
The villagers said that the bridge was not in need of repairs.
Village chief lodges police report
Bengoh village headman Kayis
Genyai said he had refused to sign the document when
approached on Monday night, and had yesterday lodged a police report naming the
two individuals who had sought signatures from the villagers.
The two are fellow villagers - Henry Karas, a
committee member of the local village security unit and Anyew
Sawes, the Bengoh village
chairman of the ruling PBB party and who also works for Naim
Cendera as a watchman at its dam project site.
Bengoh villagers had gone to court after the company
cleared parts of their
The affected landowners and the village head said they had not been consulted
by the company in the quarry project.
Affected villagers had been previously approached on numerous occasions by
company representatives to sign various documents.
In affidavits filed with the Kuching High Court on June 30, two villagers have
detailed how they were made to sign documents after their lands and crops had
been destroyed and alleging underhanded tactics in getting them to ink the
documents.
When asked why he decided to lodge the police report, village chief Kayis gave three reasons:
·
As
headman, he was not even informed about the bridge repairs and other projects
which were supposedly requested by the villagers.
·
If
there were problems later, the villagers would blame him because he is their
headman.
·
There
is no information from relevant authorities that such projects would be
provided to the community.