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Extracted From Malaysiakini
Penan plight shocks Suhakam team
Bede Hong
Sep 26,
The living conditions of the
Penan people have not improved over the past five years, according to
preliminary findings of a visit by the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) to the
interior of
It found that the overwhelming
majority of the Penan still do not have identity cards and have never received
assistance under the poverty-relief programmes.
The delegation, involving four
commissioners, visited groups at Sungai Asap who had been relocated due to the
Bakun dam construction, and several Penan groups in Ulu Belaga.
"Some areas have totally
changed. Everything has been wiped clean. If I had not gone to the site, I
would not have experienced the shock of seeing jungle turned into desert
land," said delegation leader Denison Jayasooria, at a press conference in
Other commissioners in the
delegation were Dr Chiam Heng Keng, Dr Mohd Ritom Abdullah and Tunku Nazihah
Tunku Mohamed Rus. Also present today was Suhakam vice-chairperson Simon
Sipuan.
The field trip from Sept 17-19
was organised following a request by
Issues revolved around lack of
access to surrounding forests that are said to be under the control of logging
companies. Locals have complained about lack of compensation for loss of
livelihood, after sources of food such as fruit trees were allegedly destroyed
by logging companies.
In Long Singu and Long Jaik, the
Penan claimed that their sources of livelihood have been affected by logging
and the emergence of oil palm and reforestation estates.
Chiam, who was on the Suhakam
trip in 2001 to the two areas, said almost nothing has changed and that many
communities still live in deplorable state.
"The Penan have been
deprived of their right to an existence. It's still at a point where the river
in which they bathe is where they also defecate," she said.
In the Sungai Asap area, many
people have not received compensation for land. Others have yet to receive
formal letters indicating that the plots of land belong to them.
Stringent
procedures
Commissioners said they received
complaints that housing provided by the government is of sub-standard quality
and that schooling facilities are inadequate.
Other problems include poor
roads, shortage of police and fire and rescue services personnel, as well as
insufficient health personnel.
However,
"In a longhouse of 70
people, for example, only one or two hands were raised when I asked how many of
them have an identity card," he said.
The procedures for obtaining
birth certificates and identity cards were described as too stringent. For
instance, the registration of newborns is dependent on the schedule of the
flying doctors.
"They cannot be registered
even if the people want to do so. We heard complaints that (government
officers) asked these people for passport-size photographs. Where are they
going to get photographs?" Chiam asked.
Asked if the commission would
take the state government to task, Mohd Hirman said Suhakam's goal "is not
to take anyone to task... we're trying to get people to sit at the same table
to discuss what can be done".
This includes local-level
discussions with the state forest department, education department, Chief
Minister's Department and the federal natural resources and environment
ministry.
"What we want to do is to
raise awareness through the media on the plight of the people, so that the
federal government can do more. The government has said that, under the 9th
Malaysia Plan, there should be a bigger allocation to help the rural poor
rather than the urban poor," said
"When you go to the interior, where the funds are most needed, there's nothing."