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Extracted from Malaysiakini
Anti-deforestation campaign launched
in Mulu
Tony Thien | Jun 18,
Some
1,000-strong Berawan people - a native group of
The
area is located in Baram in northern
Those
opposed to the project have formed an action committee and are planning to
derail the signing of an agreement between the company, Pusaka KTS Plantations
Sdn Bhd, and what a spokesperson for the action committee called "the
representatives of Kampung Long Terawan", scheduled for Saturday.
"The
vast majority of the people of Kampung Long Terawan do not agree with the offer
made by Pusaka KTS," the action committee spokesperson Willie Kajan
(left), told Malaysiakini by phone from Mulu in upper Baram.
According to
52-year-old Kajan, who has been an independent nature and adventure tourist
guide from Long Terawan, several hundred people will stage a demonstration
against the signing of the agreement this weekend.
"We
want to make it very clear we are not happy at all and are not prepared to be
hoodwinked and cheated like others," he said.
He
said that notices have been sent to the company about their objection to the
agreement.
Reps not
representative
"How
can you appoint the ketua kampong (Edmund Abang) and a few people to represent
the community on a matter of such great importance?" he asked.
Kajan
said the majority of the Berawan community are against both the project and the
terms and conditions of the proposed agreement.
He
said that the experiences of other native groups affected in Tubau, Batu Blah
and Long Panai where similar projects have been launched involving the same
have served as a lesson to the Berawan peoples.
"We
do not want to be cheated of our only valuable land and we do not want this to
happen to us," he added.
According
to Kajan (left), he had distributed pamphlets against the project and the
proposed agreement listing the various grounds to the police and district
officer in Marudi and would also hand over the pamphlets to the residents and
Pusaka KTS in Miri town.
Pusaka
KTS, a joint venture between timber-based conglomerate KTS Group of Companies
and the Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC), was formerly
known as KTS Forest Plantations Sdn Bhd that was incorporated in 1996.
Its
nature of business is reforestation and oil palm plantations and is involved in
large-scale reforestation and oil palm plantation activities in the northern
'Reforestation'
is a term used by the timber industry to describe the clearing of virgin
jungles for the planting of trees which will be later harvested for their
timber.
Kajan
told Malaysiakini that the action committee has been formed by longhouses in
Apoh Tutoh affected by Pusaka KTS to take action against the company.
The
committee comprises the ketua kaum (village chief), ketua masyarakat (community
chief) and politicians who have sided with the company.
"This
action committee will launch an all-out campaign against Pusaka KTS at the
state, national and international levels," he added.
"We are launching
a campaign on three issues, namely asking for the immediate gazetting of our
He
said the committee hoped that everyone concerned in the Baram area will join in
the campaign.
"The
problem with their divide and rule policy is they divide their own family! Then
they rule over those smaller divisions. With money you can buy a position, but
certainly not respect," said an angry Kajan.
A
company search reveals that Pusaka KTS has an authorised capital of RM25
million in which in which Sarawak KTS Forest Plantation Development Corporation
has a total paid-up share of RM3.6 million and KTS Holdings Sdn Bhd has total
paid-up shares of RM8.4 million shares.