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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Violence in Sarawak, Malaysia Oil Palm Projects on Indigenous Lands

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Forest Networking a Project of forests.org

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9/6/99

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE

The Sarawak government of Malaysia continues to issue leases of land

to oil palm plantation companies, which includes native customary

land of indigenous communities. Following is an unconfirmed report

of a violent clash as a result of growing tensions as "gangsters" are

hired to bulldoze indigenous lands including gardens. Recall the

terms of the disclaimer under which this information is relayed at:

http://forests.org/forests/disclaim.html . It was requested that the

provider of this information remain anonymous. Given Malaysia's

harsh treatment of critics and dissenters, this is being respected.

g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title: Deaths in Sarawak

Source: anonymous

Status: Distribute feely

Date: September 2, 1999

Yesterday, 1st September, 1999, at about 3.00 p.m. a violent clash

between Iban natives from two longhouse communities, namely, Rumah

Busang and Rumah Bali in the Miri Division, Sarawak and workers of a

contractor company ie a contractor to Sarawak Oil Palm Berhad

resulted in four workers of the contractor company killed and three

others injured. SOP is a Sarawak government own company involves in

oil palm plantation development in various parts of Sarawak.

According to the Ibans, the Sarawak government had issued a

provisional lease to SOP over the land cultivated and occupied by

them. SOP then engaged the contractor company to clear the said land.

The Ibans protested against the clearance of the said land as it

would completely destroy their crops such as pepper, fruit trees,

rice farms and other trees thereon on which they solely depended on

for their livelihood.

When the company ignored their protests, they sent letters of appeals

to all the authorities concerned. The Ibans also sent their

representatives to Kuching, the State's capital desperately wanting

to meet and appeal to the Ministers including the Chief Minister,

Taib Mahmud over their plight. However, none of the Ministers want to

meet them or responded to their appeal letters.

The Ibans also met with the police several times on their problems

with the company but also without success.

The contractor company kept bulldozing their land and crops thereon.

After being faced with continued protests from the Ibans, the company

brought several gangsters armed with weapons such as the Japanese

sword, Samurai, knives and steel bars who repeatedly tried to

threatened them.

Several reports were then made by the Ibans to the police at Batu

Niah Police Station on the threats by the gangsters against them.

However, according to them all these reports were not acted on by the

police.

On 1st September 1999, the Ibans discovered that workers of the

company accompanied by the same group of gangsters were bulldozing

their land and gardens near Rumah Bali. They asked the work to stop

immediately but their appeal was not only ignored, the gangsters all

in a sudden also attacked the Ibans with their weapons.

The Ibans had no choice but to defend themselves in the attack which

ended in the four gangsters killed and the three who fled the scene

injured.

According to natives in areas similarly affected by such oil palm

plantation such as in Bakong and Tinjar in Baram the same group of

gangsters had also been employed by plantation companies in their

areas who harassed and intimidated them when they tried to oppose

plantation activities on their customary lands.

In December 1997, a similar violent clash also occurred between the

Iban natives of Rumah Bangga in Bakong Baram, Sarawak whereby three

members of the longhouse were shot by the police and one, Enyang anak

Gendang, died.

The root cause of all these conflicts is the continued arbitrary

action of the Sarawak government issuing leases to oil palm

plantation companies which covers or includes native customary land

of the sarawak indigenous communities.

Several civil suits had also been filed by the natives against the

Sarawak government and the plantation companies in which they sought,

inter alia, to declare the grant of the leases over their customary

lands as unconstitutional.

###RELAYED TEXT ENDS###

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