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Extracted
from Malaysiakini
Bidayuh villagers’ income
fall with enkabang trees
Nov
18,
The Bidayuh villagers
in the Stungkor-Raso area near Kuching are protesting against the felling of
their engkabang (illipenut) trees as this is
depriving them of an important source of income.
The villages include Raso 1 and Raso 11 comprising about 200 families made up
of about 1,000 people of the Bidayuh Jagoi tribe and Kampung Bokah and three
other smaller villages within the vicinity of a 3000-ha oil palm scheme,
launched by state government agency Sarawak Land Consolidation and
Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra) about 14 years ago.
The logging licence has been issued to a company known as Malay Star and its
Chinese contractors have been working in the area since mid 2003.
The villagers claimed that the engkabang as well as durian trees there were
planted by their ancestors and that it was native customary rights land.
According to a Raso 1 villager, Josin ak Nyokat, a Salcra sub-contractor,
logging is taking place along the fringes of the oil palm scheme which extends
right up to the foot of Gunung Jagoi.
“My family alone has
lost about 90 engkabang and durian trees,” he said, adding that they have nothing
left to harvest of the illipenut fruits which will be in season at the year-end
in other parts of Sarawak.
Destroyed by logging
Illepenut fruits are harvested once every two to three years, retailed at
RM1.50 per kg and exported overseas for making chocolates and perfumes.
However, extensive logging in past years has led to the destruction of
engkabang and wild durian trees.
Another Raso 1 villager Guyah ak Nojeng, a oil palm
estate worker, said the villagers were disappointed that the authorities were
rather slow to stop the logging on the NCR land, particularly in taking action
to prevent the cutting of the protected engkabang trees.
They had even been
threatened with arrests when they stopped logging equipment from working and
handed the keys to the Lundu police station.
“We have brought our grievances to the human rights organisation Suhakam and
they have contacted the relevant departments, including the police, and the
village representatives,” said Guyah.
Suhakam is also calling for a dialogue with the police and will bring the media
to visit the logging site.
Guyah, 54, said the logging contractors have removed logs from areas near the
main road as well as near Batang Kayan and are working only at night now to
avoid contact with the natives and pulling the logs over distances of several
kilometres to the water edge to be taken away in barges.
No compensation
He said the contractors had promised to pay compensation for cutting down
engkabang trees at the rate of RM2,000 for every 10 trees.
Although the amount was insignificant compared to the market price the timber
fetched, he added that the promise was never fulfilled.
The family of the village headman in Raso 11
told malaysiakini that they
had lost almost 90 engkabang trees to the loggers on their land.
“Can you imagine our income loss as a result since we no longer harvest
illepenut fruits when they are in season? Who is going to pay for that?” they
asked.
Opposition State Reform Party (Star) president Dr Patau Rubis, who visited the
villages this week, told malaysiakini
that the villagers will take up their case in court not only to ask for an
immediate stop to logging but also to claim for compensation.
According to the villagers, they had also raised the matter with their Member
of Parliament Dr Tiki Lafe, who is also a federal deputy minister but he
allegedly told them that he had no say in the matter.
The villagers said they had not been able to meet their area's state
assemblyperson Peter Nansian.
Two centuries old
Disputing claims that the land where licensed logging activities are taking
place as ‘wild jungles' and not NCR land, Raso 11's oldest villager Takak ak
Tunyit said his village was established two centuries ago.
“When I was six years old, I heard people talk about the Krakatao Volcanic
Eruption in
“Our original village was just at the foot of that hill,” he said, pointing to
a site about two kilometers away from the site of the present
village.
“That was the land where we planted the engkabang and durian trees,” he added.
