Extracted from Malaysiakini

Dayak leaders to mix business with pleasure

Tony Thien | Jul 9, 08 2:45pm

The close of the Gawai Dayak festival in Sarawak will give longhouse leaders an opportunity to deal with serious business amidst the anticipated merriment.

The month-long harvest festival celebrations will end with the traditional ngiling tikai ceremony this weekend.

Some 500 Iban from five communities are expected to attend the event in Simunjan, located in Samarahan Division. They represent 14 longhouses.

The festival is celebrated by all the Dayak communities comprising the Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu, who make nearly half of Sarawak's 2.4 million people.

A spokesperson said the gathering is likely to see open discussion of grouses and grievances in a dialogue on the persistent issue of encroachment into native customary rights (NCR) land.

In recent years, some members of the community have been detained by the police for organizing protests - including erecting road blocks - against plantation and timber companies that have been granted concessions to areas said to overlap NCR land.

There are no official ownership documents over NCR land, which is claimed and owned by native communities under their own rules of stewardship. NCR are only recognised by law when there is proof of settlement and farming over a continuous period.

The spokesperson also rejected recent comments by state assistant minister Naroden Majais - also the Simunjan state representative - whom the Borneo Post quoted as saying that agitation by some locals is politically motivated.

Naroden also referred to a concession area awarded to timber company Rimbunan Hijau for reforestation. About 20 percent of the site is to be used for planting oil palm.

“This is state land, not NCR land. This is a peat swamp area. For years, nobody wanted the land,' he was quoted as saying.

Naroden further said that, when the district officer called a dialogue with natives recently, they were not able to produce any land titles. He added that only a minority is complaining about encroachment.

However, the spokesperson rebutted this.

“Just because only a few hundred of the natives came forward does not mean that they represent a minority. Ask any of the natives whether they value NCR land. No one will give up rights to the land,” he said.

He also said Naroden appears to be ignorant of the fact that NCR land belongs to the people by virtue of traditional occupation and use.

Although there are no title deeds, he added, it does not mean that the areas are state land.