|
|
Extracted From Malaysiakini
Oct 20,
It
was a surprise but an additional help which the Iban community in Bait Ili,
Pantu in Sri Aman, could find handy in the days ahead.
They have found an unexpected ally from a Kadazandusun
non-governmental group with a strong network throughout
A 11-member delegation from Partners of
Communities Organisation of Sabah Trust (Pacos) visited the 18 Iban families in
Seven family heads, including the tuai rumah
(village chief) Rayang Ringkai, were even remanded in police custody for five
days recently after a timber company Tasinimas Project Management Sdn Bhd
contractor lodged a police report alleging the Ibans had burnt felled logs.
This
is inspite of the fact that the communal forests was approved by the government
in 1988 for them to collect timber for their needs.
On a visit
to the site yesterday, malaysiakini
also saw many rubber trees which the Iban
villagers said were part of the government’s rubber planting scheme approved in
the 1980s at the heart of the communal forests.
“It was early this month when some villagers went there to
tap rubber that they saw people felling the trees within our communal
forests," Rayang told malaysiakini.
He said the communal forests was approved for them with
help from Daniel Tajem in the early 1980s, who was then a Sarawak deputy chief
minister, and Anthony Belon, a political secretary to the chief minister at
that time.
The Bait Ili Ibans are contemplating taking legal action
against the timber company and contractor for communal trespassing and theft of
logs.
Rayang
said the villagers welcomed the visit by the Pacos delegation, headed by its
land rights programme co-ordinator Galus
Ahtoi, as they can assist to further highlight their plight among groups
concerned about native land rights.
Among
the Pacos delegation was Wilster
Lawrence, chairperson of the Kampung Minusoh security and development
working committee, who is one of five plaintiffs in the first-ever NCR case in
Sabah brought to court against Hap Seng Co-ordinated Bhd, Asiatic Development
Bhd and three others concerning a 25,000-acre country lease affecting 6320
acres of native rights land belonging to five villages in Kinabatangan.
The Sabahan villagers in Minusoh, Namukan, Maliau, Manana,
and Liu panpang had united to stop the companies from entering their land.
Seven villagers, including Wilster, were arrested by police for their
action and later released after they insisted on their human rights and native
land rights.
The Pacos delegation members shared their experiences and
problems with their
Present at the dialogue were Augustine Bagat, pro tem
chairperson of Tanah Hal Bansa Asal Sarawak (Tahabas) or Indigenous Landowners
Group Sarawak, Nicholas Munjan, secretary-general of Sarawak Dayak Iban
Association, and a community adviser on land rights Anthony Belon.
The great forefathers of the Ibans in Pantu originally
came from what is now Indonesian West
They are a fiercely independent group and many fought the
White Rajah administration and paid dearly for their lives. They are highly
protective of their rights to their lands on which they have settled for two
centuries.
Most
of the early educated Ibans are from Sri Aman or what is formerly known as
Simanggang, and many of the retired ones have gone back to their kampungs to
tend to their family farms and protect their rights on the land.
The Ibans are largely subsistence farmers, planting padi,
tapping rubber and growing pepper.
As the government has moved in to open
up more country land for development, especially oil palm plantation and
logging, this has put them in conflict with the natives in many areas.
Belon told malaysiakini that government’s policies on the development of NCR land are
good "but when it is actually implemented, it is a different thing."
