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WORLDWIDE
BIODIVERSITY/FOREST CAMPAIGN NEWS
Sarawak:
The Struggle Continues
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Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
April
24, 1995
OVERVIEW
& SOURCE
Following
are two excellent pieces concerning the continued
decimation
of Malaysia's Sarawak Province, a portion of the island
of
Borneo. This area has been simply
flattened over the last
decade;
yet the indigenous people continue in attempts to reclaim
their
land from timber barons. The first
piece details continued
Penan
protest and asks for letters of support, the second provides
recent
log export figures for Malaysia. Both
were written and
posted
by Rainforest Information Centre of Australia in econet's
rainfor.general
conference. Please, if you have never
written a
letter
on behalf of the Earth's forests, do so this time!
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TEXT STARTS HERE:
/*
Written 9:55 AM Apr 25, 1995 by peg:alight in
igc:rainfor.genera
*/
/*
---------- "SARAWAK: Please Write Letters!" ---------- */
SARAWAK
- THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES
(PLEASE
WRITE LETTERS!)
Against
incredible odds, the struggle by the Penan to protect
their
forest and their rights continues. Malaysian authorities and
logging
company thugs have not ceased their harrassment and
threats
to those who will not give up their struggle for justice.
SAMPLE
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
MALAYSIAN
ELECTIONS - DEMOCTRATIC? - NO - DEMAGOGIC!!
As the
Malaysian election looms, the country's indigenous people
continue
to suffer harassment and abuse for their opposition to
the
style of 'development' which strips them of their forests,
their
rights and their freedom.
In the
Malaysian state of Sarawak, logging of
the tropical forest
is
still taking place at the fastest rates in the world. Volumes
of
extraction far outstrip even the most conservative estimates
for a
'sustainable' harvest. In 1990 the International Tropical
Timber
Organisation (ITTO) recommended a
reduction of annual log
production
to 9 million cubic metres per year. For the past 5
years
the actual figure has been between 16 million and 19 million
cubic
metres per year.
Members
of the Penan tribe of the Malaysian state of Sarawak
continue
to receive threats, harassment, imprisonment and physical
abuse
for their opposition to logging on their traditional land.
Reports
from the region over the past year have included several
incidents
where Penan tribespeople were killed under suspicious
circumstances
by unknown assailants in the jungle.
Girls
and women have been sexually harassed and there have been
many
cases of rape by logging workers and police field force
personnel. Last week there were reports that the Police
Field
Force
pointed their M16s at several Penan
tribespeople in the
upper
Baram region. They told them that if
they opposed logging
they
would be shot.
In the
upper Rejang region of Sarawak, Prime
Minister Mahathir
wants
the implementation of plans to build
the Bakun Dam to be
carried
out as soon as possible. (Sarawak Tribune April 5th,
1995). The company contracted to undertake the
project, Ekran, is
headed
by a timber tycoon. The first stage of
implementation of
the
project will be the clear-felling of
200 000 hectares of
tropical
forest for timber used in the construction of the dam -
in
addition to the forested area in the dam site to be cleared.
Ekran is
slated to earn more than $250 million from the felling of
the
trees. The dam will displace 5000
indigenous people and
inundate
an area the size of Singapore. Over
3500 signatures have
been
collected in the area opposing the project.
In a state
where the Environment Minister owns his own timber
company, links between loggers, politicians and the
process of
'development' shouldn't be surprising. However Prime Minister
Mahathir's
insistence that the world keep out of Malaysia's
internal
affairs while blatant human rights abuses and the
devastation
of the world's oldest and richest tropical forest
continues,
is too much to ask.
If
opposition to the politics of plunder is suppressed within
Malaysia
- then we have a moral obligation to publicly reveal the
truthful
situation in other parts of the world.
Yours sincerely,
Address
letters of concern to:
Datuk
Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, Prime Minister of Malaysia,
Jalan
Dato Onn 50502 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
Datuk
Patingi Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, Chief Minister of
Sarawak,
Bangunan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Petra Jaya 93300, Kuching,
Sarawak,
East Malaysia.
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
The
latest news comes from the upper Baram region where a number
of villages
refuse to accept the intrusion of the logging
companies.
We have
just recieved word that on the 18th April, 1995 - a few
days
ago, 20 Penan went to meet with the logging camp to meet with
the
camp manager and workers to raise issues of concern with them.
With no
warning, 5 Police Field Force (PFF) police armed with M16
rifles
pointed their guns at the Penan and threatened them,
warning
them that it they ever try to disrupt logging operations,
or
construct blockades again, they will be shot.
The PFF
also told the Penn that their blowpipes are no match for
the
modern weapons and machineries in a battle and urged the
Penan
to let the logging company proceed with their activities
without
any interruptions. The PFF were very rude with the Penan
and as
a result the Penan could not meet the management of the
logging
camp. They then set to meet the company again on the 28th
April
1995.
Unimas
is a sub contractor for the concession holder Samling
Timber
Company, and is currently heavily logging the forest in the
Baram
area, where many Penan have been living a subsistence
lifestyle
and have customary rights to the land.
They
have blockaded the logging roads into their area until their
barricades
were brutally broken down by authorities and timber
company
personnel on September 28th, 1993.
Here is
a report of this event prepared by an eyewitness:
"On
this day, about 1000 riot police, soldiers and forestry
officials
as well as logging workers came to the blockades. They
brought
with them 45 trucks, bulldozers and chain saws. All the
police
and soldiers were wielding shields and wearing gas masks.
After
the arrest of the eleven men, the police and soldiers hurled
tear
gas five times at the people. The affects of the tear gas
left
the people powerless to do anything. The police, soldiers and
logging
workers then used bulldozers and chain saws to dismantle
the
blockade and to tear down the dwellings in the area. They also
bulldozed
the rice paddy fields which were then ripening.
During the dismantling of the blockade, the police
and soldiers
used
excessive force such as kicking, beating and punching the
people.
A total of 203 persons suffered injuries as a result. The
police
did not attempt to negotiate with the people at all.
Neither
was there any letter or warning of their action.
At the
same blockade three people died directly or indirectly as a
result
of the police attack. "
The
difficulties have continued:
"In
1993 a 15 year old girl, Sarah, was gang raped by a group of
police
field force at Long Mobui. Many other women and girls are
worried
about the abuse of human rights against them. Now they
seek
help from whoever they can to help them.
"Now
we find there are some my difficulties which we face and yet
there
is no news about our problems in the press, television and
radio.
That is why many people don't know our problem. Sometimes
we
lodge a complaint to the police but no investigation or inquiry
into
the incident occurs."
These
incidents of violence have tested our patience to the limit.
We have
never used violence even though several people have died
in the
process of our blockading. Recently,
the police and
soldiers
have informed people that they intend to search for and
kill
our leaders who guided us in the blockades."
"One
problem affecting all of us is that the government and
logging
companies are sending the police, the army and gangsters
to
harass the people and to even kill leaders and ordinary people.
They
also harass and rape women."
"The
government and logging companies use the village heads,
Councillors
and Penghulu to spy on persons that are targeted for
arrest
or to be killed, that is leaders mobilising peoples protest
to the
logging. They are paid rewards amounting to $20 000 to $50
000
when any of these targeted persons are arrested or killed."
"
They need urgent support because of the effects of logging
activities
are worsening and the daily livelihood of affected
communities
is increaingly jeapordised. The pollution of water and
air is
causing wild game to dissappear and the people also fall
sick".
International
support is requested in protesting the Malaysian and
Sarawakian
governments continuing perpetration of these human
rights
abuses and forest destruction. With the Malaysian elections
looming,
this is a very timely occasion to voice your concerns.
An
important matter to note is that Malaysia is jumping on the
bandwagon
of 'ecolabelling' of its timber products even while such
atrocities
continue - Sarawak is still the world's
major supplier
of
tropical logs and has maintained an annual log production of
between
16 million and 19 million cubic metres from 1990 (despite
the
International Tropical Timber Organisation's recommendation to
reduce
this to 9 million cubic metres to achieve so called
'sustainability').
Please
write letters of concern to the Malaysian and Sarawakian
governments
- and to your local and national newspapers (included
is a
draft letter to newspapers in Australia). You could also
target
offices representing Malaysian in your area, such as a
Malaysian
embassy or consulate office, tourism promotion offices,
trade
offices, etc.
END
/*
Written 10:08 AM Apr 25, 1995 by
peg:alight in
igc:rainfor.genera
*/
/*
---------- "SARAWAK:Log Production Figures" ---------- */
In
Sarawak logging is still being carried out at phenomonal rates,
as can
be seen from the following article from a Sarawakian
newspaper.
LOGS
CONTRIBUTE 42% OF SARAWAK'S EXPORTS LAST YEAR
(Sarawak
Tribune, 3rd March '95)
SIB -
The timber sector, in the first eleven months of last year,
contributed
42 percent (RM5,122.9 million) of the state's total
exports
which amounted to RM 12, 039.5million.
According
to statistics from the Sarawak Timber Association (STA),
the
export value of logs and timber products from Sarawak last
year
comprised logs (RM2, 367.2 million),
sawn timber (RM1, 025.9
million),
plywood (RM1,277.3 million), veneer (RM406.3 million),
moulding
(RM19.5 million) and dowels (RM26.6 million).
For
1993, the total export value was RM5, 137.8 million.
The
total log production for 1994 was estimated to be 16.3 million
cubic
metres which was lower by 200, 000 cubic metres than the
given
production quota of 16.5 million cubic metres.
The
reason for the difference was due to the bad weather
conditions
over the year which hampered logging operations.
Of the
amount, about 7.7 million cubic metres were allocated for
local
processing.
From
the total estimated log production last year (16.3 million
cubic
metres) hill logging made up 12.9 million cubic metres while
swamp
logging totalled 3.4 million cubic metres. The total log
production
last year was a decrease from 1990 to 1993.
In
1993, the total logs produced were 16.7 million cubic metres,
in 1992
18.8 million cubic metres, in 1991 19.4 million cubic
metres
and in 1990 18.8 million cubic metres.
ENDS
Networked
by:
The
Rainforest Information Centre, PO BOX 368, Lismore, NSW, 2480,
AUSTRALIA.
PH: +62 66 218 505 FAX: +61 66 222 339
email:
rainfaus@peg.apc.org or alight@peg.apc.org
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timely
pieces;
though ultimate responsibility for verifying all
information
rests with the reader. Check out our
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Conservation
Archives at URL=
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