Extracted from Malaysiakini

 

Villagers: Plantation company destroying fruits, vegetables

Tony Thien

Dec 6, 04 2:07pm

 

An oil palm plantation company has encroached into native customary rights (NCR) land in Sepadok, Bintulu Division in northern Sarawak, destroying rubber and fruit trees as well as vegetables in the area, claimed affected longhouse dwellers.

They told malaysiakini today that the company whom they identified as BBC Estate Sdn Bhd, controlled by a Bintulu-based timber and property group, repeatedly ignored protests from the natives and made unreasonable offers for compensation.

 

When they brought in equipment on Sept 7, 2004 to start clearing the area, the longhouse dwellers tried to stop them but to no avail as they were accompanied by a big police party.

 

The police warned them that they would be arrested if they tried to stop the company, alleged the longhouse dwellers.

 

Three women protestors from the longhouse were arrested and taken to the Bintulu police station. They were released three hours later.

 

Those arrested were identified as Siah anak Laga, Meliah anak Enjup and Sadah anak Julau. It is learned that the police have not issued any summons to ask them to appear in court.

 

“The old people from the longhouses wept when they saw the bulldozers clear the temuda (cultivated) land of hundreds of rubber, durian and engkabang (illepenut) trees, pepper vines, oranges and vegetables,” farmer Ernest Dana anak Dian said.

 

“We do not know what we are going to do next,” he added.

 

Tuai Rumah Madel longhouse, at KM5, Jalan Sebauh, Pandan is only about 30km from Bintulu Town on the northern Sarawak coast.

 

As the land clearing by the company continued, the longhouse people tried to stop them again, leading to the arrest of four men on Dec 1, 2004.

 

Those arrested, identified as Ernest Dana (husband of Siah anak Laga), Rabent anak Laga, Kedam anak Sulau and Ulis anak Sait, were detained for 24 hours at the Bintulu police station and later released on police bail.

They have been summoned to appear in court on Jan 3, 2005 to face charges yet to be announced.

 

Ridiculous offer

 

Speaking on behalf of the group, Ernest Dana told malaysiakini that representatives from the five longhouses - TR Madel, TR Berendak, Tuai Rumah Tungkat, TR Linggi and TR Betik - were called by the district officer for a dialogue at the Resident and District Office in Bintulu sometime in October to try and resolve the dispute.

 

The representatives were given two weeks to give their reply after the company made what Ernest Dana described as a ridiculous offer of RM150 for every hectare of land affected.

 

“This is not just a question of money. Don't we have a right to say no if we do not want to give up our NCR land on which our grandfathers and great grandfathers have tilled for nearly a century?' he asked.

 

"Even if it is money, what is RM150? It represents only one percent of the offer so far made for compensation to NCR land (through arbitration) in a disputed land in Bintulu several years ago involving land taken for an oil palm mill," he added.

 

Representatives of the 30-door longhouse TR Madel met their counsel Baru Bian this morning, who said he would be making a fresh filing after two of the three longhouses decided to discontinue their original court action.

 

The Sarawak government is understood to have issued more than a hundred provisional leases for oil palm, plantation, reforestation, logging and quarrying activities in Sarawak, and in many areas natives have claimed encroachment into their native customary rights (NCR) land.

 

According to lawyer Baru Bian, there are about 100 NCR land cases brought by natives against the government and the various licensees.

 

There has been increasing conflicts between the authorities and native landowners since the government started more than a decade ago to open up vast lands, especially for plantation and logging activities.