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Extracted
from Malaysiakini
Lun Bawangs cry foul over lease on NCR
land
Aug
9, 05 11:30am
The Lun
Bawang community in Lawas-Damit and Trusan areas in northern Sarawak claimed
that the state government has issued several provisional leases to the state
Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA) for oil palm projects without
regard for their native customary rights (NCR) on land.
They have protested to their two elected representatives - member of Parliament
Henry Sum and state assemblyperson Nelson Balang - and have also appointed
lawyer Baru Bian to take up their case in court.
Balang, a Lun Bawang and state assemblyperson for Ba'Kelalan, meantime,
admitted there is a proposal by the state agency for an oil pam project but
said that as far as he is aware no provisional leases have so far been issued
to anyone in the area.
He and Sum held a dialogue with the Lun Bawang in one of the affected villages
in Purusia in Lower Trusan last Wednesday to explain the government's intention
to open up the area for oil palm cultivation and that no leases have been
issued.
But this was later disputed by representatives of the Lun Bawang community
who said in a meeting earlier with the Land and Survey Department the
provisional leases were even produced and the department officers said they
could not do anything about it.
What had shocked the Lun Bawang who are spread throughout some 30 villages in
Trusan and Limbang-Damit in areas close to the border with Brunei, was a notice
published recently in local newspapers on the extinguishment of native
customary rights in specified areas.
Upon checking with the local land office, they found out the decision is a
blanket coverage that include practically all the NCR land in and around the
villages which are not far from Lawas Town.
Angry
community
Balang told malaysiakini
that he had asked LCDA and land officials to go down to the ground
and explain to the Lun Bawangs the exact situation so that they would not be
exploited by the opposition and other groups.
He also said he would be writing to the state authorities and propose that in
any oil palm project, it must ensure the participation of the local people so
that they would benefit from it.
A Lun Bawang professional working in a Kuching bank told malaysiakini:
“Imagine how my uncle who is into his 80s felt when he heard that his land is
affected. He is devastated. How could the authorities do that?'
“We are very angry,” said Johnny, whose family owns more than 100 acres of NCR
land on which they have planted fruits trees for generations.