Bringing JOY to the highlands

http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/01/06/bringing-joy-to-the-highlands/

by Chang Yi. Posted on January 6, 2013, Sunday

JOANNA Joy is not only the MAS agent in Bario but also the owner of a large Bario pineapple garden and a homestay business.

PINEAPPLES FOR LUNCH: Kelabit friends bringing Bario pineapples for the afternoon meal prepared at the homestay. All dishes are individually cooked for each group.

A mother of two young adults who have been educated in Kuala Lumpur — one already working and the other completing his studies — she has, in response to the call of familial duty, returned to the Bario Highlands to look after her aged mother and adopted parents.

When she was a little girl, her parents allowed their relative to adopt her. So, she has two sets of parents like many of the indigenous people of Sarawak.

Joanna who had her early education in Bario, studied in Institut Teknologi Mara after completing secondary school. Upon graduation, she worked and got married and then found a job outside Bario – the usual story of young Kelabits. However, the highlands had been beckoning to her.

Her children are now fairly independent and chasing their own dreams. Her daughter has graduated with an MA in biotechnology from University Malaya and her son is studying to become an IT programmer from ITM.

The conditions were, thus, right for her to return and contribute to her hometown in the state’s scenic highlands.

Besides looking after her aging mother and adoptive parents, Joanna has put her time to good use by helping her people wherever she can. Presently, she is also holding down two jobs — as operational manager of Bario Airport and MAS agent.

She said she is not going to retire yet because she still has many dreams to fulfill. A few years ago, she started a pineapple farm on a piece of land near the airport. And not long ago, she opened a homestay business.

When friends from West Malaysia and overseas visit her, she is happy to show them her pineapple farm. She planted the young suckers with the help of her relatives, and is now harvesting as many as 10 to 15 fruits a day — sometimes more. Any surplus will be made into jam.

Challenging problems

However, Joanna has problems using her food processor to make jam. When the Bario dam is low, there is virtually no electricity for the community. And since power supply is dependent on the water level in the dam, it is not everyday that she can use her food processor to make jam. Fortunately, there is a generator at the secondary school in the area which she can rely on when the need arises.

HOME-MADE: Joanna’s home-made pineapple jam.

Joanna also faces a serious problem in her pineapple business. Sending the fruits by air to Miri is very expensive. She sells her pineapples at RM2 per kilo to passengers and relatives.

Malaysian Airlines allows free luggage of 10kg. Passengers are weighed before checking in with their hand luggage. Each pineapple easily weighs up to 3 kilos. If someone buys a box of pineapples, he or she may have to pay an extra RM30 surcharge because of excess baggage.

Relatives bringing a pineapple or two for their family or friends would usually wait for a friendly passenger to help hand-carry the fruits for them to Miri. That’s the way of the people in the highlands – always ready to help each other.

Besides pineapples, Joanna’s family also plant rice. If she cannot farm the land herself, she will ask other padi planters for help — perhaps on a sharecropping basis.

In the past, her parents had no problem planting enough rice to feed the whole family for a period of two years. Will she allow her land to lay fallow for the next few years?

In fact, Joanna is having to face many issues related to growing rice and pineapples in the highlands. Can she get a grant to start a pineapple jam cottage industry? She has been sourcing for help from friends and government agents but to no avail so far.

She sells her home-made jam at counters that are open to her but she has to remember not to over-produce because her refrigerator cannot operate 24 hours a day due to limited electricity supply in Bario.

Moreover, many of the better educated younger women who bemoan the lack of basic utilities – adequate electricity supply, for example – in the area have left to find work elsewhere.

Airport Homestay

WITH VISITORS: Joanna (right) and her visitors in front of her homestay.

Homestay business in Bario is irregular. Things usually pick up only during festive celebrations.

However, for holiday-makers – both local and foreign – homestay accommodation and related facilities are available in Bario as well as nearby villages which offer attractions like kayaking and salt mines.

One popular setup is Joanna’s Bario Airport Homestay which offers good food. The chef frequently comes up with “very refreshing dishes.” Fresh talipia from Joanna’s pond next to the homestay is available everyday!

Dessert consists of a huge plate of freshly-plucked pineapples, and vegetables bought from the surrounding homesteads although green-thumbed Joanna grows most of her own vegetables.

Joanna Joy is a shinning example of an enterprising Kelabit woman who meets her challenges with plenty of cheers. If the challenges she is facing can be overcome, many younger highlanders would probably stay back to work and help boost the local economy.

With plantation roads linking Bario to Marudi, the future looks good for those Kelabits hoping to return home after their retirement — and even for the younger ones after their education outside the highlands.

According to a young government officer in Marudi, there might be more jobs in Bario in the future as more businesses can be opened up. With so many possibilities, the rural-urban migration which has been affecting many Bario families, could see a reversal.

There is no Heart of Borneo without its people

http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/indonesia/news/?204628/There-is-no-Heart-of-Borneo-without-its-people

Posted on 08 May 2012  

 

“For us, we are rich and prosperous people. We are not lacking. We plant for rice, we harvest fruits, we take fish from the river, we build our home from forest wood, our medicine comes from forest herbs. We live from the forest. If the forest is gone, so are we.” 
Anye Apui, Customary Chief of Hulu Bahau in Malinau, East Kalimantan

The Heart of Borneo Forum in Jakarta, April 18-20, was aimed at bringing together key stakeholders – including governments, the private sector and civil society – to discuss progress and possibilities in the transition to a green economy in the Heart of Borneo.

The Indigenous communities, with their traditions, knowledge and local wisdom, have been supportive of the Heart of Borneo Initiative, initiating trans-boundary grassroots support and action for the sustainable development of the Highlands. These communities are rich in experience that can contribute significantly to how the community can become involved in the sustainable development of this trans-boundary initiative.

Community involvement in the Forum highlighted the important role civil society can play in moving the green economy from a concept and set of plans to reality.

“We are the heartbeat of the Heart of Borneo. We are the ones you are talking about. Those plans you’re making will affect our life, because we live there,” John Tarawe from Bario, Sarawak-Malaysia, said when he spoke at a session titled Delivering a Sustainable Future for the Heart of Borneo.

Community leaders from the Forum of the Indigenous People of the Highlands of Borneo (FORMADAT), from both the Malaysia and Indonesia sides, joined the stage with representatives from the governments of Borneo. They outlined their vision for a sustainable future for Borneo.

“We, the Indigenous People of the Highlands in the Heart of Borneo who share a common heritage and a common land as the Lun Dayeh, Kelabit, Lun Bawang, and Sa’ban people, come together in the Alliance of the Indigenous People of the Highlands of Borneo (FORMADAT) to: increase awareness and understanding about the highland communities, build local capacity, and encourage sustainable development in the Heart of Borneo.”

During the event, WWF along with the community leaders launched the Human Heart of Borneo, a publication that speaks for the indigenous Borneo people, celebrating their culture and their role in conserving the forests of Borneo. The publication hopes to enable those outside the area to learn, feel and become attached to it – with that, support for the preservation of Borneo culture and nature can be built.

Idris: New economic activities will stem tide of rural-urban migration

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/11/24/sarawak/9963728&sec=sarawak

Thursday November 24, 2011

By ZORA CHAN: zora@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: New economic activities need to be created in rural Sarawak, otherwise more youths will move to urban areas.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala said areas like the highlands of Bario and Ba’Kelalan today saw a lower population as many had migrated to urban areas, leaving mainly the old to farm the land.

“Mass rural-urban migration among the younger generation is a problem in Sarawak and other parts of the country.

“We have to think how to get the young to stay on. We do not have the answers yet but hopefully we’ll have some solutions by early next year,” he said.

Seeking a solution: Idris at the dialogue session with community leaders and elders from Ba’Kelalan and Bario in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

Among others, the Rural Transformation Programme (RTP) would address this phenomenon by providing new economic activities as well as basic infrastructure in rural areas, Idris said during a dialogue with a delegation from Bario and Ba’Kelalan here on Tuesday.

The 32-member delegation comprised Lun Bawang and Kelabit community leaders and village elders, led by former Bukit Mas MP Mutang Tagal.

Earlier, the visitors and Lawas MP Datuk Henry Sum Agong paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, to thank the Federal Government for upgrading an abandoned logging road from Long Luping to Ba’Kelalan using soil stabilisation technology supplied by Hanayin Engineering Sdn Bhd.

The RM52mil project, spanning 75km, was completed in two years by the army under the Jiwa Murni outreach programme.

Idris, whose home town is Bario, said under the RTP, the Government would improve basic infrastructure like roads, water and electricity supply in the interior.

“With better infrastructure, it will be easier and more economical for farmers to sell their produce at the nearest town or city.”

Citing examples, he said Bario was also famed for its pineapples but it was difficult to sell them elsewhere in the absence of roads linking the highlands to the nearest town and neighbouring villages in Ba’Kelalan.

He welcomed suggestions from villagers to start new economic activities like empurau breeding and rubber plantations in the highlands, adding that such ventures had taken off successfully in Long Peluan, Ulu Baram.

Idris promised to push for the implementation of the Ba’Kelalan-Bario road so that folk in the area would enjoy better connectivity.

During the dialogue session, among others, Rurum Kelabit Sarawak vice-president Dr Philip Raja urged Idris’ ministry to consider turning the state’s as an agropol for the northern region.

He said the idea came about a few years ago from former Miri Resident Datuk Ose Murang and to date, no budget had been given towards this.

“The proposal also aims at transforming Bario into a town or semi-urban area,” he said, adding that such development would also boost tourism in the pristine highlands.

Environment conservation vital to sustain life – Ose

http://www.theborneopost.com/2011/11/13/environment-conservation-vital-to-sustain-life-%E2%80%93-ose/

by Antonia Chiam. Posted on November 13, 2011, Sunday

KUCHING: Local communities have been reminded to always ensure an equilibrium between development and conservation prevails so that human activities do not destroy the environment that creates livelihood for them.

Deputy State Secretary Datu Ose Murang stressed that they should make sure that whatever they consumed or used did not infringe on the environment.

“I urge all communities to take note of environmental sustainability when planning for development,” he said at a promotional campaign for Adan Rice yesterday.

He added that while development is essential, conservation must be taken into consideration.

“Without a sustainable environment, there will be no satisfaction with our own lives. When we sustain the environment, we sustain our unique cultures too,” he said, citing fresh air that attracts city folk to visit the highlands.

On Adan Rice, Ose said all products from the heart of Borneo should be promoted and their traditional production methods protected.

“Local communities must ensure the catchment areas and water supply are well managed and well maintained in order to conserve our own production of rice in the highlands.”

The campaign was part of efforts by World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia (WWF) and communities in the highlands of Sarawak and Sabah to promote the livelihoods of the local communities through sustainable small-scale agriculture.

This is done by developing specific and unique products from the highlands, such as Adan rice.

Adan rice is a local rice variety from the highlands of Borneo and is cultivated according to traditional methods by the Lun Bawang in Ba kelalan and Long Semadoh, the Kelabits in Bario, and the Lun Dayeh in Long Pasia, Sabah.

Its cultivation pays special attention on how it can affect the surrounding environment.

According to Ba’kelalan penghulu and Persatuan Masyarakat Adat Dataran Tinggi (Formadat) Sarawak and Sabah George Sigar Sultan, Adan rice had the finest grain and taste due to the elevation and the clear, unpolluted waters that irrigate the paddy fields in the highlands. There are three varieties: Adan Merah, Adan Putih and Adan Hitam.

“Harvesting is done at the end of December right until February. The seeds are planted once a year, and the rice takes 6 months to mature. With this promotional campaign, we hope that the general public will be more aware about this unique local rice, which is fresh, natural, and free from pesticides.”

Adan rice can be purchased at the booths during this two-day event which is supported by Bernas Corporation and Lun Bawang Association Sarawak.

Sarawak wants to be self-sufficient in rice

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/189368

Posted on 27 October 2011 - 01:03am

Sulok Tawie
newsdesk@thesundaily.com

KUCHING (Oct 26, 2011): Sarawak, with its vast land suitable for large scale padi cultivation, wants to be self-sufficient in rice.

Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang said striving towards self-sufficiency is for security reasons.

"The unpredictable weather pattern caused by global warming which disrupts rice production in major rice-producing countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand makes it crucial for us to strive for rice self-sufficiency," he said at the rice conference here today.

Jabu, who is also State Minister of Modernisation of Agrilculture, said the state needed to produce at least 65% of its rice consumption to reach the level of self-sufficiency.

Curently, Sarawak produces less than 50% of its rice needs while the shortfalls come from rice imported from Vietnam , Thailand and India.

Jabu said there were more than 100 varieties of rice grown and sold in the state, the most being the Bario, Biris, Bajong, Bali, Mamut, Selasih, Katek Merah, Lemak and Kenawit.

He said Bario rice, Sarawak Beras Bajong and Sarawak Beras Biris had been granted the Geographical Indications (GI) by the Malaysian Intellectual Property Organisation (MyIPO).

Bario rice is a unique fine grain rice with smooth glossy texture grown in the cool mountains of the Kelabit highlands while Beras Biris, a fragrant rice with a smooth and glossy texture is cultivated in Simunjan and Samarahan areas and Beras Bajong, an aromatic purple rice with distinctive taste and texture, is mainly planted by traditional paddy farmers in Lubok Nibong, Saratok.

The GI protection will provide entrepreneurs and consumers the assurance of authenticity and consistent product quality.

Jabu urged the various relevant agencies to get at least three more rice varieties to obtain the GI within the next three years.

Emphasis must also be given to the growing of premium rice, govt told

http://www.theborneopost.com/2011/10/27/emphasis-must-also-be-given-to-the-growing-of-premium-rice-govt-told/

Posted on October 27, 2011, Thursday

KUCHING: The government not only wants the state to be self-sufficient in rice as part of its food security strategy, but also to ensure that that specialty rice is sold at a premium to help the growers.

Ministry of Agriculture administrative officer (for special assignment) Paul Ritom told The Borneo Post that they had identified three local rice varieties that could be sold as premium products as they were comparable to foreign rice grains.

“Farmers who grow these varieties will have commercial products that can raise their incomes but the state must organise the paddy farmers professionally so that they can plant and sell them themselves,” he said when met at Sarawak Rice Conference.

Ritom explained that with the technology, the state should also encourage poor farmers to plant high quality traditional varieties, not only for local consumption but for niche overseas market too.

“The government will then have less concern that there is not enough to eat but will also be happy to see that farmers have good disposable income,” he added.

Ritom was optimistic of the viability of these projects if the government started the ball rolling for the private sector to be involved in the economic venture.

He revealed that the three varieties that were accepted in the foreign market and recognised as high value rice were ‘Bario’, ‘Bajong’ and ‘Biris’ rice.

Ritom elaborated that under the National Key Economic Areas (NKEA), the federal government had already approved 200 hectares of land in the state to be planted with ‘bario’ rice because of the good price it fetched in the local market, which was up to RM12 per kilogramme.

On ‘Bajong’ rice, he said the variety was also much sought after, for which the government must come up with plans to help the growers increase their production.

Ritom also wanted more promotion to be done for ‘Biris’ rice as it could compete with Jasmine rice from Thailand.

Traditional craft can draw international visitors to boost rural economy

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/8/18/sarawak/9319183&sec=sarawak


Thursday August 18, 2011


By SHARON LING sharonling@thestar.com.my

KUCHING: Sarawak’s traditional beads have the potential to be a tourist attraction besides boosting the rural economy.

Tourism and Heritage Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg said the state’s bead-making industry, mainly found in the northern region, had yet to reach wide exposure beyond local shores.

“I feel it is time for us to expose the value of our beads in terms of their heritage and potential economic value,” he said when announ-cing the second Borneo International Beads Conference yesterday.

Johari said his ministry was currently in the planning stages of developing the rural economy through ecotourism, and that beads could play a part.

Interesting: Sarawak Museum honorary curator of beads Heidi Munan showing Johari pictures of beads at the press conference. — ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE / The Star

“One of the economic activities in rural areas is making beads. If we add value to bead-making, such as ensuring quality and good design, it can be an attraction that will lure tourists to visit the rural areas. The community can participate in rural economy by producing high quality beads that have a certain value,” he said.

As such, Johari said the conference from Oct 7 to 9 was a platform for the ministry to work with bead enthusiasts in promoting and developing the local bead industry.

“They can do research on the economic potential of beads and whether beads can become a designer item. A lot of research also needs to be done on bead making itself.

“Ultimately, if we have the infrastructure, Kuching or Sarawak will be known as a regional centre for bead research. That is the long-term plan,” he said.

Themed “Beads and Heritage”, the conference aims to showcase Sarawak’s bead culture to an international audience, preserve the state’s bead tradition in a commercially viable manner, encourage the production of quality beads, promote competent modern design in beads and beadwork and improve the earning power of cottage workers in the state.

It is also a platform to facilitate creative interaction between Sarawak’s bead craftsmen and internatio-nal counterparts and to share knowledge and expertise with international bead scholars and researchers.

Malaysia’s Heritage Commissioner Datuk Dr Zuraina Majid-Lowe will deliver a keynote address titled “Protecting our Assets and Pride”.

Papers will be presented by international speakers from the United States, India, Australia, Canada and South Africa as well as local speakers. About 200 participants are expected to attend the conference.

http://www.theborneopost.com/2011/07/19/govt-dedicated-in-developing-orang-ulu-youths-%E2%80%94-rep/

by Samuel Aubrey, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on July 19, 2011, Tuesday

KUCHING: Despite the government’s efforts to send youths from ethnic minorities for skills training, there are still those few who chose to remain jobless, choosing to return to their villages after successfully completing their training.

Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau said that during his visits within his constituency, he met Orang Ulu youths who had returned to their settlements despite possessing skill certifications which guarantees good income.

“They were hesitant to venture into the job market, and some were even undecided giving the excuse that they wanted to make the decision at the village. Only a few took up the offer to stay with me while they looked for jobs.

“Some even blamed the government for not providing them with work. These youths should have the commitment to look for jobs because the skills certificates they posses can land them a job anywhere,” he said during a welcoming dinner for 36 participants of the Prime Minister Department’s sponsored Skills Training Programme for Ethnic Minorities (PLKEM) on Sunday.

On PLKEM, Dennis said this truly represented the BN government’s commitment to ensure ethnic minorities in the interior are not left behind from the mainstream of development.

He believed PLKEM would ensure a balanced socio-economic development and social wellness within the community and provide quality human capital for Sarawak’s Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE).

“The PLKEM is a unique and exclusive programme for Sarawak’s ethnic communities in terms of capacity building for SCORE. As a representative of the ethnic communities, I want to express my appreciation to the federal government for providing allocation and opportunities for our youths,” he said.

PLKEM and other skills training programmes for school leavers are the most effective method to empower ethnic minorities to stand on their own feet he said.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Human Resource Development Council for School Leavers executive secretary Dr Zufar Yadi said the PLKEM has benefitted 915 youths from the state’s ethnic minorities since 2009, involving allocations of RM28.5 million.

He said the targeted groups are Penan, Tagal, Bukitan, Bisaya, Lun Bawang, Kenyah, Kedayan, Punan. Kiput, Kayan, Saban, Murut, Berawan, Kejaman, Kelabit, Bakong, Sekapan, Dusun, Sebob and other ethnic minorities in Sarawak based on the interpretation of the Federal Constitution. Under this programme, the youths are sent to six training institutes namely Pusat Latihan Pembangunan Belia (PLPB) Kuching, Sarawak Skills Development Centre (PPKS) Kuching or Miri, Pusat Latihan Kemahiran Yahos, Pelita Maslaut Maritime Training Centre, Kolej Yayasan Sabah and Kolej Yayasan Negri Sembilan.

He revealed that the youths are given financial assistance of RM6,000 to RM7,000 for every level of skill certification to cover training fees, accommodation, hand tools, sustenance allowance and return transportation.

“The allowance for transportation is for student who comes in from his village and when he returns, not just one way. It covers the costs of transportation even by 4WD vehicle from the village to the airport,” he said.

The 36 participants have come from Kapit, Belaga, Bintulu, Baram, Miri Limbang and Lawas. They would be enrolled at the PLPB Kuching managed by the Chief Minister Department’s Quality and Human Resource Management Unit.

No more mission impossible

Sunday January 16, 2011

No more mission impossible

By IZATUN SHARI and HARIATI AZIZAN

sunday@thestar.com.my


Idris: ‘What we promised, we have more than delivered’

HE may be a Minister without Portfolio in the Prime Minister’s Department, but Senator Datuk Seri Idris Jala’s workload is no lighter than his other colleagues’.

And the past year has been quite a marathon for Idris, who is also the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) CEO. As Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s designated “chief reformist” in his Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), Idris has had to move and shake, depending on where you stand, the widely torpid social and economic institutions of the country.

This he had to do amid reverberating criticism from the naysayers both online and offline, who felt that he was too inexperienced and politically naive to turn things around.

Yet the pressure was hardly visible on the face of the affable and energetic 52-year-old, non-political Cabinet member who was at Menara Star in Petaling Jaya recently to give The Star editors a briefing on the GTP and ETP.

It was a few days before the Christmas and New Year holidays but the man from Bario, Sarawak, was focused on his task as he rapidly spewed out facts and figures to sell the government’s grand plans of change.

When asked for his thoughts on how efforts to realise the six National Key Result Areas (NKRA) under the GTP – crime; corruption; education; low-income households; public transport and rural basic infrastructure – are progressing so far, he was upbeat.

“I’m very happy. What we promised, we have more than delivered,” he unhesitatingly declared.

The NKRAs have not only met the targets set for the first year of the three-year national makeover plan, but also surpassed them, added Idris.

Top of the “success list” is crime-reduction NKRA.

The initiatives in the last 11 months – the mobilisation of 14,222 police officers to 50 hotspots, installation of 496 CCTVs in those hotspots, and ranking of 753 police stations for their achievements - have begun to bear fruit and crime incidents in those areas have fallen.

“The progress on crime is fantastic because this is the first time in three years we’ve been able to bring down crime rates. It has never overall gone down before,” Idris pointed out.

Police figures show that the overall crime index fell by 16% while street crime dropped to 38% between January and November this year as compared to the corresponding period last year.

Another achievement that he was pleased about was the improving education NKRA. Idris said that to date, it has exceeded its target for preschool enrolment with 55,056 children going to pre-schools compared to between January and November.

“I’m very excited about education. I’m very pleased with the work that we’ve done ranking 9,814 primary and secondary schools and 20 high performing schools and their principals, teachers and non-academic staff receiving incentives. We’ve also seen improvement in the results of the students at the bottom end of the schools.”

He said he was even heartened when he saw the modest achievement in what he considered the most “complex” NKRA – combating corruption.

As revealed in a survey conducted by Transparency International (TI) Global Corruption Barometer 2010, there was a slight improvement in the public’s perception on government’s efforts in fighting graft.

“I was impressed by the results in TI’s survey, which showed that 48% of Malaysians think that government efforts on corruption are effective (up from 28% in 2009).

“For an independent survey to show such positive response, it gives me hope that the people in this country can look at what is good and criticise what is not good. Only then can the Government respond adequately,” he said.

He is also optimistic that the newly-passed Whistleblower Protection Act will be a big deterrent to graft while promoting more transparency in the process of awarding government contracts and tenders.

What Malaysians need to do now is to recognise the good performances, he said.

“The civil servants need to be applauded because it is their work. I always tell people when the civil servants do a good job, we should recognise that they have done a good job.”

Idris nevertheless conceded that the greatest challenge in implementing the initiatives under the GTP was to get the rakyat to be aligned along the same thinking and convincing them that the new methodologies introduced would deliver results.

He hoped the Netizens, in particular, would also begin to recognise some of the positive performances. They have been particularly hard on him in the last 12 months but Idris has taken it all in his stride.

He said he does not disregard the negative views, however, and has taken time to reply to the comments and queries on the blogs with the necessary facts and details.

“I believe the rakyat only believe in results. It is the results that count. When people see reduction in crime, improvement in urban transport, children attending pre-school classes, eventually people will believe.”

Idris believe that this is largely due to Pemandu’s bottom-up strategy in implementing programmes – where public concerns are sought and heeded.

As seen in Pemandu’s subsidy rationalisation programme, which has received some flak after it led to a reactionary increase in prices of essential goods, he said Pemandu’s original recommendation for the fuel price increase was 15sen but after listening to the people it only went up 5sen per litre.

The public had indicated that it (fuel subsidy) could be reduced but done gradually and in small doses, Idris pointed out, and he is confident that it will not affect public support for the GTP.

“Gauging from the public opinion, they can accept it (the increase in fuel price). It was not sudden. People can adjust to it. At the same time, it allows us to improve urban transport so that people can have alternatives.”

Asked about Pemandu’s hope for the GTP initiatives for next year, he quipped: “Three key words describe the transformation we are pursuing: big results fast!”

We will keep working, he pledged.

“The GTP is a three-year programme. We’ve finished one year. We have two more years to go. After that I believe we should go back to the public and ask them for areas of focus. If they say there should be additional areas of focus such as health, we will do it.”

Idris believes that the key for further achievement is for the Government to look at areas of improvement and always return to what the public want.

Dispelling the fast-growing notion that the GTP initiatives are merely aimed at propelling Barisan Nasional’s popularity among voters, specifically in view of the looming general election, he insisted, “We are not into politics. We are just doing our job.”

And when pressed if he planned to offer himself as a candidate in the coming Sarawak elections, he adamantly stated, “I will not get involved in politics. That is something I will never do.”

Tourism industry a revenue generator for Bario

http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=83435

Tourism industry a revenue generator for Bario

by Justin Yap
justinyap@theborneopost.com.

Posted on December 31, 2010, Friday

KUCHING: Tourism in Bario has grown from its accidental beginnings to being a mainstay of the local economy evolving along the way into various niche markets including ecotourism, adventure tourism, cultural tourism, research tourism and the latest manifestation of development conferencing.

Bario is the traditional homeland of the Kelabit people, one of the Borneo’s smaller ethnic minorities numbering around 5,000 people with an estimated 1,000 still living in or around Bario.

“The growth of tourism in Bario is closely interwoven with other aspects of the social and cultural development of the community which it has grown alongside,” said one of the homestay owners in Bario Jaman Riboh Tekapan, who has 22 years of experience in the tourism industry in the community.

“Tourism has been recognised as a small-scale and non-agricultural activity that can constitute an important source of revenue generation and thereby create new venues for economic growth in Bario,” he pointed out to The Borneo Post in a recent interview.

He further noted the recent road linkage as well as the airstrip made it possible for tourist to visit Bario and the closest house was also the home of the headman. However, guests did not feel obliged to pay for their keep until the headman’s son placed a sign on the house proclaiming it as a ‘homestay’.

“That is how the tourism industry started in Bario,” he pointed out.

According to research, the next major stimulus to tourism was the recent infrastructure development, the eBario project which introduced telecommunication services into the community.

“The latest project we have for Bario is the community radio slated to be launched in March next year,” said eBario Sdn Bhd’s (eBario) project director John Tarawe.

“eBario has been recently granted the content applications service provider (CASP) class licence by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). With the CASP class licence, we will be the first company to deploy a community radio station in Malaysia,” added Tarawe.

By connecting the community to the outside world, the eBario project has had a profound impact on the community. The project has provided a significant boost to the tourism industry by facilitating the growth of websites for promotion and the exchange of information between potential visitors and the homestay operators in the community.

“From a slow beginning in the late 1990s, when there was only a single guest house, there are now around a dozen. Trekking tours range from a few days hiking with overnights in the scattered longhouses to more arduous expeditions of up to a week or more including jungle survival training,” Tekapan highlighted.

Adventure tourism involved exploration or travel to remote hostile areas, while cultural tourism was a genre of special interest tourism based on the search for and participation in new and deep cultural experiences.

“Cultural tourism in Bario is boosted by the ‘Bario Slow Food Festival’ which was established in 2005 and was held for its fifth year in June 2010,” he pointed out.

Research tourism in Bario, on the other hand, was a recognised concept that valued the contributions that researchers could make to the communities. The community was now adopting a more proactive approach towards any research to which they would consent that was to be conducted on their environment, he highlighted.

Accordingly, the benefits of research in Bario now far exceeded the contributions that researchers made to the local economy through their presence as it contributed knowledge that would underpin their own development objectives.

“In this regard, the eBario telecentre plays a vital role in providing communication and data processing facilities to visiting researchers. Coupled with the ready availability of research assistants who have gained experience in research in the social and natural sciences, researchers from outside could hit the ground running when they come to Bario.

“Research tourism has therefore developed into a critical component of the community’s economic development plans,” Tekapan explained. “Development conferencing is another type of tourism that is being pioneered in Bario.”

In December 2007, eBario organised the ‘eBario Knowledge Fair’, a multidisciplinary conference held in Bario. ‘The Knowledge Fair’ was held to showcase how a remote and isolated indigenous community had appropriated ICTs. It brought together more than a 100 participants from 15 countries.

Tarawe shared his view that travelling to attend a conference was a form of tourism. It was a particular type of tourism in which groups of people were brought together to share knowledge and promote their products.

“The term ‘pro-poor tourism’ has emerged as a mechanism for ensuring a larger proportion of tourism revenue. It is earned by the poor residents of popular tourism locations, something that is not an automatic outcome of the growth of global tourism,” he added.

Tourism in Bario is making contributions to the Bario community that go beyond increase in incomes and the creation of ‘income-earning’ opportunities. The combined effects of improved communications and road linkages has resulted in a further opening up of Bario and the Kelabit culture to the wider world.

In spurring an increase in the number of flights and in feeding off as well as contributing to the growth in use of ICTs, tourism had become intertwined with local development, growing from its accidental beginnings to a mainstay of life in the Highlands.

Bario is globalising on its own terms and tourism is an integral component of the process.

Bridging the digital divide through eBario concept

http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=83149

Bridging the digital divide through eBario concept

by Justin Yap
justinyap@theborneopost.com.

Posted on December 30, 2010, Thursday

KUCHING: Bario known as the ‘Land of a Thousand Hand-Shakes’ is the homeland to the Kelabit ethnic minority. The indigenous community that emerged from isolation only within the last half century has shown massive positive development from the results of eBario projects.

PHOTO: John Tarawe

eBario began in 1998 as a research project undertaken by the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) with the support of the International Development Research Centre of Canada and the government of Malaysia. The objective was to demonstrate opportunities for sustainable development in a remote and isolated rural community from the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

“The project was undertaken against the background of the government’s aggressive adoption of ICTs for national development and the underdeveloped infrastructure as well as the scattered population of the nation’s largest state,” eBario Sdn Bhd project director John Tarawe told The Borneo Post during an exclusive trip to Bario.

Before the eBario project, communications were limited to rudimentary radio links and electricity was obtainable from household generators or solar panels. “At the heart of the Borneo island, Bario represents an extreme example of the digital divide,” said Tarawe.

According to Tarawe, a baseline study was conducted in order to understand the conditions of life and computers were progressively introduced, beginning with schools. “With the assistance of Telekom Malaysia, a community telecentre was established which consisted of computers with satellite (VSAT) access to the Internet as well as public phones and a reliable generator-driven power supply.”

In July 2002, the project was handed over by the research team to the community, with a local project manager and management committee. The project demonstrated that access to ICTs, specifically the Internet could precipitate significant improvements in the lives of such communities.

E-Bario has won many awards and was featured by the International Telecommunications Union as ‘one of the most notable of Malaysia’s Internet development initiatives.’

Due to the great success of the eBario project, the Unimas team was given the opportunity and honour by the government to replicate the same implementation model to five other nationwide remote sites throughout Malaysia.

Tarawe, who is also the telecentre manager for Centre of Excellence for Rural Informatics (CoERI) said the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) had allocated RM4 million for the project. “Four projects have been implemented at Long Lamai and Ba’Kelalang in Sarawak, Kg Buayan in Sabah and Larapan Island in Semporna. The remaining will be used to upgrade the telecommunication facilities in Bario.”

With the implementation of telecommunication services in community villages, Bario is finally on the global radar. Riding on the new visibility, Bario is currently enjoying a steady trickle of visitors who are attracted by the unique culture and hospitality of the residents as well as the pristine highland rainforest environment.

Tourism is now a significant contributor to the local economy. There has been an increase in the number of lodges and restaurants providing accommodation and meals since eBario began. The increase in tourism has had the effect of doubling the number of flights between Bario and Miri.

“This has had a knock-on effect on the agricultural economy. Bario is famous for its rice, which is grown organically and is highly sought after due to its light taste and delicate fragrance. The increase in the

number of flights has allowed the farmers in Bario to send more rice to the urban markets and this in turn has stimulated rice production during that period,” Tarawe pointed out.

However, he also revealed that Bario’s rice production had drop significantly during the last few years because of the lack of manpower. In order to overcome this issue, CoRIE was currently working with National Padi and Rice Board (LPN) to introduce SMART farming concept for the community.

Another benefit relates to the use of the telecentre by the local clinic which became the first rural clinic in Sarawak with internet access. The medical technician at the clinic has been able to share medical information with doctors in the towns, obtain better information about the drugs at the clinic and about the common ailments among the residents.

The Kelabit community regularly conduct online discussions on topics that affect their future. “The eBario telecentre now allows Kelabits living in the highlands to participate in these discussions on an equal footing with their compatriots in the towns and overseas,” said Tarawe.

“Moreover, the entire Kelabit community is now developing online facilities to preserve their cultural heritage by capturing the recollections of the old folks and by assembling a digital library of Kelabit writings,” he added.

According to a study, the improved communications that Bario now enjoys with the outside world has lead to a number of significant changes. Family interactions have greatly improved and this had

been most keenly felt at the time of family emergencies, such as at times of sickness and bereavement.

Previously, relatives often heard about such emergencies well after the event when it was too late to act.

Additionally, the telecentre played a crucial role in coordinating search and rescue operations after a helicopter crashed in the nearby rugged highlands. Flight operations have also been enhanced by the improved communications that provide pilots with vital weather conditions that could be highly variable over short distances in the highland terrain.

“The eBario experience has been shared nationally and internationally with several agencies, including presentations organised by UMDP, UNESCAP, IDRC and the government of Malaysia,” said Tarawe, who is also the chairman of Kelabit Association of Sarawak and chairman of the Heart of Borneo Forum (Formadat).

The project team adopted Participatory Action Research (PAR) as the research methodology. Adopting PAR led the researchers and the community to jointly agree on a community development agenda that would be based on the use of the telecentre. The agenda consisted of a set of activities in which information systems and ICTs were embedded, but which also included associated human activities as well.

“The agenda serves as a long term vision for community interaction with itself, with the wider Kelabit diaspora, researchers and other external agencies leading to community development that is mediated by ICTs,” Tarawe explained.

RM100 mln boost for affordability

http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=79745

RM100 mln boost for affordability

by Margaret Ringgit.

Posted on December 11, 2010, Saturday

80 per cent of state to enjoy benefits of Price Standardisation Scheme next year

MIRI: The federal government’s Price Standardisation Scheme will cover 80 per cent of the state next year.

Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Datuk Tan Lian Hoe said RM100 million had been allocated to ensure that essential items are more affordable state-wide.

“For this year, with a total allocation of RM67 million, we have covered about 30 per cent of Sarawak’s areas, mostly in the interior, which was known as the Community Drumming project,” she said.

With the increased allocation for next year, she said, the number of distribution areas would increase from 191 at present to 269 next year.

Among the areas which will be covered are Mulu, Bakun, Belaga, Sungai Asap, Long Simut, Bario and Tutoh Apoh.

Tan added that the government is concerned and aware of the rakyat’s plight, especially after the increase of the RON95 petrol and diesel prices on Dec 3.

She said the Community Drumming project would help to lighten this load.

Tan told reporters this at Yu Lan Plaza after handing over Letters of Intent (LOI) to 27 appointed point of sale distributors for controlled items such as diesel, sugar, and LPG in rural areas in Miri, Bintulu and Limbang yesterday.

Among those present at the function were Domestic, Trade Co-operative and Consumerism’s state director Wan Ahmad Uzir Wan Sulaiman and theMinistry’s head for Miri branch Zakaria Awang.

“Sarawak is our main priority area due to its geographical size. We are serious about this project so that the people living in the interior areas of Sarawak can afford to buy controlled items such as diesel, petrol,LPG or sugar at affordable prices.”

She urged members of the public to be the Ministry’s eyes and ears to ensure that the elected point-of-sale distributors in their respective areas did not hike the prices of controlled items.

“We will not compromise with those who increase the priced controlled items,” she cautioned.

In 2009, Sarawak received RM57 million out of a total RM96 million approved nationwide for the programme, which encompassed 15 per cent of the state.

Pack of 2kg Bario rice now on sale

http://sarawakupdate.com/home/national-news/pack-of-2kg-bario-rice-now-on-sale/

Pack of 2kg Bario rice now on sale

KUCHING, Oct 7 (Bernama)

The highland rice or more popularly referred to as Bario rice from the “Adan” version is among the rice which is frequently sought after as souvenirs by tourists visiting Sarawak from within and outside the country.

In view of its popularity, Padi Beras Nasional (Bernas), through its subsidiary Beras Corporation Sdn. Bhd., had marketed the Bario rice on a commercial basis under the brand name Bario O’ Grain since 2001, said its chief executive officer, Mohd Kamaluddin Mohd Effendie here.

“Bernas has spent RM5 million since 2001 to promote the Bario O’ Grain rice and of the amount, half (RM2.5 million) was spent on the cost of transportation from Bario to Miri city,” he said during the launch of the new packaging for the Bario O’ Grain rice, here today. — BERNAMA

Sarawak products for the world

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/8/24/sarawak/6904427&sec=sarawak

Tuesday August 24, 2010

Sarawak products for the world

Story and photos by ZORA CHAN
zora@thestar.com.my


SARAWAK Biodiversity Centre’s (SBC) traditional knowledge documentation programme has come a long way from plant sample collection and recording to bio-prospecting for the production of household items, including drugs and antibiotics.

While the production of drugs, essential oils and household needs from herbs in Sarawak is at its infancy, initial research is showing positive results.

SBC senior research officer Dr Yeo Tiong Chia said that one promising compound was silvestrol, which had good anti-cancer properties as shown in animal studies.

“Lately, there has been interest from Ohio State University and National Cancer Institute of the United States to test this compound against leukaemia,” he said.

It had moved from lab tests to animal studies and then to pre-clinical and clinical processes, he told StarMetro recently.

Dr Yeo said that SBC, in collaboration with an Australian biotech company, discovered and patented the compound in 2004, and the state government was managing the patent through the centre.

“The compound comes from the rukang tree found in Ba’Kelalan in the northern highlands of Sarawak,” he said.

He said the Lun Bawang community in Ba’Kelalan claimed the bark of the tree could cure stomach pain.

SBC chief operating officer Dr Rita Manurung said the production of household items from plants was a short-term result of bio-prospecting and the development of drugs and antibiotics was a long-term goal.

It often took more than 10 years before any medicine could be put on the shelf, she said.

The centre’s traditional knowledge documentation programme was the starting point for research and development in herbs and product development, she added.

The programme started in 2001 to conserve the traditional knowledge of indigenous groups in Sarawak and encourage the communities to cultivate useful indigenous plants for their own use and later for commercial purposes, she said.

“The centre, in collaboration with the people, has documented 3,000 plants of 700 species used by 12 communities in the state. All these plants are planted in our herbarium,” she said.

The programme was formulated to ensure the communities that shared their knowledge would benefit socio-economically, she said.

Citing an example, she said that SBC had helped set up a herbarium for the Penan community in Long Iman, Mulu.

This first Penan herb garden in the world was a potential tourist draw to help the community earn tourism ringgit as sustainable income, she added.

“We hope to promote the garden as a tourist attraction because, where else in the world could you find a Penan herb garden,” she said.

Dr Rita said that SBC’s bio-prospecting work came up with many other uses for the plants.

“One plant called pahkak in Bidayuh and tenom in Lun Bawang and Kelabit is used for the relief of backache by these communities,” she said.

Through SBC’s aromatic oil programme, the centre discovered that the plant’s roots and leaves produced a composition of oil that was anti-microbial and equivalent to tea tree oil, she said.

This made pahkak oil a potential ingredient of household and cosmetic products, she said, adding that R&D by the centre and a private firm had come up with products like floor cleaner, disinfectant, soap, insect repellent and shampoo.

“Oil from the engkabang fruit can also be made into soap, lip balm and chocolate,” she said.

She said the local rice species was high in anti-oxidant properties and could be an ingredient in healthcare or cosmetic products.

Dr Rita hoped that local entrepreneurs would be interested in developing and commercialising these prototype products.

“Sarawak is very rich in biodiversity and there is much potential in just the plants alone,” she said.

The centre was pleased that its programme had become a model for others in Asia and a source of excellence in documenting traditional knowledge in the region, she said.

People from as far as Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and India had taken part in SBC workshops to learn the documentation methods, she added.

High price of cooking oil confuses Bario villagers

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/11/nation/4290529&sec=nation

Saturday July 11, 2009

High price of cooking oil confuses Bario villagers

By STEPHEN THEN

MIRI: The price of cooking oil in the interior highlands of Bario in northern Sarawak has skyrocketed to almost RM15 per kg, compared to between RM6 and RM6.50 in urban areas here.

It was sold at about RM8 to RM10 per kg in Bario last year.

Rural folk in the highland regions, who are mostly living below the poverty line, find it hard to grasp the situation.

The Star met yesterday with a group of Penans from Pa’tih and Long Selaan – remote villages in the Bario highlands – who are struggling with the high costs of consumer products.

Housewife Rose Melai, who came to Miri to seek medical help for her daughter, said: “My husband is a padi planter. I have no job. We have four school-going children.

“Our family is already paying a lot for diesel fuel (RM8 per litre in Bario) just to operate our generators.”

Now, she has to fork out even more just to buy cooking oil every month.

“In some of our settlements, traders sell one kg of cooking oil at RM12. In places upstream of Pa’tih, the price can be RM15 per kg.”

She questioned why the prices always went up “all the time” in Bario.

“I heard from the people living in Miri that the Government had not announced any increase in cooking oil price. Why did it go up in Bario?” she asked.

Pa’tih is located two days by foot from Bario Village; Bario is 480km from Miri city.

Pangai Lusang, a Penan farmer from Long Selaan, said even sugar which was priced at RM5 per kg was costly.

“Businessmen always say the high prices are due to high transportation costs. But from what I know, the Government had not increased the price of diesel (since last year),” he said.

An enforcement officer from the Miri Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Department, when contacted, said the transportation arrangements to send goods into the interior from urban cities and Sarawak towns was not under the ministry’s jurisdiction.

“It is the Resident’s Office and the respective wakil rakyat who are handling the issue concerning transportation.

“They are supposed to appoint transporters who can give reasonable charges.”

He said the authorities were supposed to subsidise transportation costs so that the prices of goods sent to the interior would be on par with those sold in urban areas.

“However, up to now, these transportation issues have not been sorted out as yet,” he said.