Don: Rural folk want map to determine land ownership

http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/09/25/don-rural-folk-want-map-to-determine-land-ownership/#ixzz2ftFwDR60

by Eve Sonary Heng, reporters@theborneopost.com. 

Posted on September 25, 2013, Wednesday

UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE: Sean Chai of Santumn Enterprise with the helicopter.

INNOVATIVE ICT APPLICATION: A Ba Kelalan photo-montage map.

LOW-COST: Unimas campus trials with the helium-filled balloon.

KUCHING: Rural communities are showing increasing interest in grassroots initiatives to develop maps of their territories.

In a statement yesterday, a visiting professor from the Institute for Social Informatics and Technological Innovation at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) Dr Roger Harris said in a recent Global Conference on Community Participatory Mapping on Indigenous Peoples’ Territories held in Samosir, North Sumatra, indigenous groups from countries including Malaysia, Nepal, Panama, Mexico and Brazil, explained how they had adopted affordable, high-tech mapping technology to retrace the history of their land ownership and to catalogue their natural resources.

He said in Sarawak, eBario Sdn Bhd, the organisation that operates the multi-award-winning eBario telecentre, has initiated the eBario Innovation Village Project as a living laboratory to incubate innovative grassroots applications of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) capable of stimulating development within Malaysia’s isolated rural and indigenous communities.

In partnership with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and with funding support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the project is testing low cost aerial photography for community mapping, using digital cameras attached to tethered helium-filled balloons and radio-controlled model airplanes.

“The resultant photographs are stitched together by computer to form an aerial view covering a wide area which is then geo-tagged with global positioning co-ordinates to form detailed maps.

“Such maps can be used for a range of applications including land-use planning, claims for land rights, eco-tourism, development of agriculture, hydrology, animal migration plotting, indigenous knowledge inventories, environmental surveillance, documentation of climate change impacts, dispute resolution, road mapping, forest management and cataloguing of cultural sites. Low cost technologies and the skills to use them bring these applications within the reach of grassroots communities,” he said.

The eBario-Unimas team is working with Sean Chai Ching Loong of Santumn Enterprise, a local firm that specialises in aerial photography with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Using both helium-filled balloons and UAVs, the team has begun to generate high-quality photo-montages that form the basis of detailed maps.

This month, the team visited Ba Kelalan in the highlands of northern Sarawak to test their approach in the field.

Community representatives expressed their interest in the results and have asked the team to return to extend their coverage into surrounding areas.

“Detailed maps are generally not available to the general public, or they are either prohibitively expensive or insufficiently detailed for the purposes that rural communities would wish to use them.

“Modern maps are based on aerial photographs but with low cost technologies and contemporary computer software, rural folk need not be excluded from their use. Actually, aerial photographs provide a truer representation of reality than even the most detailed maps,” he explained.

As more ICTs become available to Malaysia’s rural communities, and especially to those in isolated and remote locations, as with the eBario initiative and its sister projects in Ba Kelalan and other locations, so the residents can be facilitated towards more activities which they themselves prioritise and which cater to their specific needs.

Tribute to a Kelabit paramount chief

http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/07/20/tribute-to-a-kelabit-paramount-chief/

by Lucy Bulan. Posted on July 20, 2013, Saturday

DEEPLY ROOTED: A family portrait.

Ngimat Ayu

A PIONEER, innovator and paramount chief of the Kelabits, Ngimat Ayu passed away on July 18, 2013 at the age of 92, leaving a legacy of immense love and kindness, outstanding leadership and tremendous wisdom.

Surrounded by his wife, children and grandchildren as he breathed his last, Ngimat Ayu was one Kelabit who had lived a full life and stood tall and strong amongst all odds.

As news of his passing began to reach people, especially Kelabits in Malaysia and those living in other parts of the world, condolence messages began pouring in to his immediate family members and relatives.

Many recalled fond memories of Ngimat Ayu and how much he will be missed.

Indeed, this man whom his grandchildren call a legend had left a lasting impression on everyone – young and old – who were fortunate to have met him.


Family history


Born on July 15, 1921 in Pa’ Main, Bario in the Kelabit highlands, Ngimat Ayu, whose given name was Gerawat Aran, was one of four children of Tagung Aran @ Ngemung Sakai and Sineh Tagung Aran.

His siblings were Lu’ui, Muda and Dayang (Tepuh Luyuq dedtur). Because he was quite sickly as a child, and according to Kelabit custom of meman anak, Gerawat was adopted and brought up by his uncle (his father’s youngest brother) Tekapen Raja and Edteh Kedieh Aran.

In 1955, he married Martha Padan from Long Pupung, Kerayan. In those days, he was one of the rare ones to get a bride from Kerayan, Kalimantan, a marriage arranged by their relatives. And as is the Kerayan custom, he had to pay a huge dowry for this beautiful, hardworking maiden of noble ancestry.

They were blessed with seven children – Abel, Anne, Felicity Ruran, Linda, Evelyn, Nancy Daun, and Scott Apoi. They became adoptive parents to three children of Gerawat’s sister and brother-in-law Tepuh Luyuq, both of whom had died early from sickness – Datin Sri Mariam Balan, Maria Peter Lu’ui and the late Tony Ngimat Ayu.

Following the birth of his eldest child, Abel Ngimat, Gerawat changed his name to Ngimat Ayu according to Kelabit tradition. Then on the birth of his first grandchild, Stephen Baya Peter (the son of Maria Peter Lu’ui), Ngimat Ayu changed his name to Belaan Tauh.

Meantime, Ngimat Ayu had adopted five other children. Today, he has 31 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.

Before going to school, young Ngimat Ayu (known then by his given name Gerawat) worked with the Allied Forces in the Japanese Resistance Army.

He remembered being in Ba’Kelalan and Belawit when the Japanese surrendered, and helped the Allied Forces to escort the Japanese out of Belawit.

He also fearlessly assisted Major Tom Harrison to fish out the Penan and the Iban from Indonesia who were believed to have murdered Hardin, the Resident of Marudi at the end of 1945.

Gerawat attended the first school set up by Major Tom Harrison in Pa’ Main Longhouse at the age of 24.

“Many parents were reluctant to allow their children to go to school,” he said.

“They insisted that they themselves had done very well without schooling —why waste time in school?”

But young Gerawat’s father was one of the chiefs responsible for the introduction of the first school in the community, so Gerawat became one of the first of 19 students to attend school when the school first opened in 1946.

The school Tom Harrison started had one teacher, Paul Kohuan from East Timor.

He taught Gerawat until Primary Four in Pa’ Main School, after which Tom Harrison brought Gerawat to Kuching to work in the Sarawak Museum.

His job was to collect and record artifacts for the Museum.

While working, he continued his Primary Five and Six education in Merpati Jepang through night studies.

Young Gerawat and his peers went to school with one vision in mind: to return to the Kelabit Highlands and serve the community (nuuh bawang), and to uplift their living condition.

So on completion of his primary school education, Tom Harrison told Gerawat he was to go into the medical line as there were enough Kelabit teachers already.

He acquiesced without question.


The medical assistant-dresser


Gerawat started his training as a medical assistant (then called dresser) in Kuching in 1951, and was the first Orang Ulu to be trained as a dresser.

“When I began my practical training in Kuching, I still had my Orang Ulu haircut and elongated earlobes, and the patients always asked to see the medical assistant, not knowing I was the one.

“I always told them ‘he is inside his room’ but treated them myself and only referred complicated cases to the senior medical officer,” he said.

Gerawat’s training was so comprehensive that he knew how to stitch wounds, conduct simple surgery like cutting off elongated earlobes, treat leprosy, pull out teeth, order and disburse medication and even deliver babies.

On his initial return to the Kelabit Highlands, Gerawat was accompanied and introduced as a dresser by SAO Kusil Tingang and Tom Harrison.

He was based in Pa’ Main, but made regular monthly trips to each outstation village in the highlands — from Long Banga in the south to all the villages in the Kelapang and Debpur basin, and to Kuba’an, Long Lellang and Seridan villages.

Even after being joined by other dressers later, he continued to be the travelling ‘medicine man’ for years, organising groups of porters from each village in making monthly trips to Lio Mattu to collect and carry medicine sent from Marudi for him to disburse.

He came up with the idea of using used cooking oil tins as storage containers for his medicine.

He stored them at each village so that he could reduce the number of porters to go around with him.

“I worked alone as the only dresser in the highlands for years. I never ran out of medicine. I made sure there was regular supply all the time even though transportation was very difficult.

“Everything had to be transported by boat from Marudi to Lio Mattu, and by land from thence to Bario. Today, you people have aeroplanes and helicopters to carry medicine to Bario, and you still have not enough stock of medicine! I cannot understand this,” he lamented.

Gerawat @ Ngimat Ayu served as ulu dresser altogether for 15 years (1951-65).

The effectiveness of his service, assisted afterwards by other health assistants, can be seen from the rapid disappearance of leprosy, skin diseases, malaria and fatal epidemics (kedta in Kelabit) that had plagued the Kelabits for generations and almost wiped out the tribe at one point.

One of his achievements had been to inculcate clean habits among the people.

“I got people to drink only boiled water and remove their livestock from under their longhouses and to disallow dogs from living together in the longhouses. I faced a great deal of opposition especially in this but with support from Tom Harrison and the missionaries, we succeeded in changing peoples’ lifestyles,” he said.


The paramount chief


In 1965, Tom Harrison arranged for an election of a new Penghulu to replace the then Penghulu Lawai Besara.

Four contestants stood for the post (Inan Mulun, Ulit Mattu, Galih Balang, and Ngimat Ayu) and Ngimat Ayu was elected.

He had to quit his post as medical assistant and thence began his long history as the paramount chief of the Kelabit.

Ngimat Ayu served as the only Kelabit Penghulu from 1966-1997.

And then in 1998, the government decided to appoint a Pemanca as the new paramount chief of the Kelabit.

Penghulu Ngimat Ayu was appointed and he served as Pemanca until 2005 with three new Penghulus as his assistants: Henry Jalla of Bario, Tulu Ayu of Long Seridan, and Gan Tuloi of Long Peluan. Ngimat Ayu was a visionary and an innovator.

During his tenure as the paramount chief, he witnessed the opening up of Bario Lem Baaq to rapid development, including the Codification of the Kelabit Customary Laws (the Adet Kelabit 2008), the building of an all-weather-airport, the introduction of ICT through e-Bario, the building of the inter village road within Bario and the road connecting Bario to the outside world, to name a few.

He strongly supported the idea of Bario Ceria and the provision of power supply through the solar farm in Bario, especially after the failed hydro-hybrid project.

His magnificent art of negotiation, extraordinary hospitality to guests and locals alike and his tremendous leadership skills have enabled him to gain much favour from people in authority on behalf of the Kelabit community.

His special ability to identify with young and old, educated and uneducated, strangers and family alike has endeared him to a multitude of people, making him easily approachable and loveable.

As far as he was able and available, he visited every sick person he knew, went to every funeral, attended every wedding he was invited to and was able to laugh and cry with people he knew.

In a nutshell, Ngimat Ayu made time for everyone.


Straddling two worlds


Ngimat Ayu has straddled many eras and was a pioneer in many fields.

He served as the first Orang Ulu medical assistant (ulu dresser) from 1951-65 and left his job to become the first elected Penghulu of the Kelabit from 1966-97.

He was then promoted to become the first Kelabit Pemanca from 1998-2005.

Ngimat Ayu was born (in 1921) before the Japanese Occupation and before the impact of the rule of the White Rajah had been fully felt by the Kelabit.

He had personally experienced the hardship under the old way of life but understood the value systems, the customs and traditions that gave the Kelabit their identity.

He lived through and fought during the Japanese Occupation and helped bridge the gap between our Indonesian neighbours and our people after the Indonesian-Malaysian Confrontation in the 1960’s.

He embraced Christianity as a first generation Christian in the highlands and witnessed the extraordinary impact their faith had on the Kelabit community.

He participated in the resettlement exercise whereby the neighbouring villages were relocated to Bario Lem Baaq during the Confrontation.

Thus, he experienced the hard work and excitement of opening up new horizons and fresh boundaries as well as the pain and loss of leaving the familiar.

As Penghulu, he was instrumental in settling many legal issues related to this relocation exercise in a peaceful manner.

Ngimat Ayu was a student pioneer of the first school in the Kelabit Highlands, and lived to see even his grandchildren finish university education.

He saw the schools in the Kelabit Highlands grow from the first primary school to lower secondary school level.

Before he died, he said: “My dream and vision is to see the secondary school in Bario reaching Form 5 level so that more students can reach Form 5 level instead of dropping out of school. Please don’t give up on the vision.”

Ngimat Ayu is one Kelabit man who has lived a full life, faced countless challenges and still stood tall and strong against all odds.

Clothed with God’s full armour, he was able, having done everything, to stand (Eph 6:13).

He leaves behind a legacy of immense love and kindness, outstanding leadership, and tremendous wisdom.

He is greatly missed by family, friends, the whole Kelabit community and all who knew him.

Farewell our father, cousin, uncle, grandfather. Rest in Peace. Until we meet again.

Swiss NGO warns Taib’s London lawyers

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/03/29/swiss-ngo-warns-taibs-london-lawyers/

FMT Staff | March 29, 2013 

 

Bruno Manser Fund is also urging the Companies Commission of Malaysia to deregister two companies mentioned in the Global Witness video.

KUCHING: An international NGO has challenged Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s British lawyers to explain their statement that the Sarawak government “issues licenses for land under very controlled circumstances”.

The London-based lawyers had, in response to an article published earlier this week in British daily The Independent, linking Taib to the massive deforestation in Sarawak, said: “The government of Sarawak issues licences for land in very controlled circumstances… This is an administrative exercise, not political patronage.

“Our client never demands or accepts bribes for the grant of licences and leases.”

Mishcon de Reya represents Taib, his Canadian son-in-law Sean Murray and their extensive global businesses network.

But Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), which is in the forefront of the ‘Freeze Taib’s assets’ and ‘Stop Timber Corruption’ campaigns, today challenged Mishcon deReya to clarify what it meant by “government of Sarawak issues licences for land in very controlled circumstances…”

BMF research had shown that Taib and his family members are reportedly sitting on 31 companies in Sarawak and have been allotted 200,000 hectares of land – equivalent to the size of Singapore.

“(We) challenge Mishcon de Reya to explain why, in these “very controlled circumstances”, close to 200,000 hectares of Sarawak state land ended up in the hands of oil palm plantation companies in which Taib family members have a known business interests.”

BMF noted that in the wake of Global Witness ‘sting’ video release exposing the level of corruption linked to Taib, Mishcon de Reya “is coming into the spotlight over their dodgy role”.

“The Bruno Manser Fund calls on Mishcon de Reya to drop the Sarawak Chief Minister and his family members as their customers,” it said in a statement.

Deregister companies

Earlier this week BMF had also urged the Companies Commission of Malaysia to deregister two Sarawak companies for their alleged involvement in criminal activities.

The two companies – Billion Venture Sdn Bhd and Ample Agro Sdn Bhd – were exposed last week by Global Witness in a secretly recorded video.

In the film, Taib’s cousins – Fatimah and Norlia Rahman Yakub who owned Ample Agro – and two Sarawak lawyers “blatantly admitted that the two companies are being used to illegally” enrich the family and a Taib crony by selling off state-owned land to foreign investors.

Billion Venture which was issued a provisional lease is currently being sued by natives who are claiming that the land is their native customary right.

“Billion Venture is a defendant in Sarawak’s biggest land rights litigation which was jointly filed by Kelabit, Penan and Lun Bawang plaintiffs in March 2011.

“The natives’ land claim has been struck out by the High Court of Sarawak on formal grounds but is currently on appeal.”

In view of this, BMF said the “companies should be deregistered immediately to prevent their assets from being sold off to third parties by illegal means.”

Undercover sting exposes Malaysia land-grab

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/03/2013318131755948174.html

Allegations of corruption get louder following secret tapes showing plunder of resource-rich Sarawak province.

 

Florence Looi Last Modified: 19 Mar 2013 09:12

 

(video)

 

Long Napir, Malaysia - Plantations and logging are ravaging Malaysia's majestic Borneo region and indigenous people who have lived for centuries here say they are increasingly being uprooted from their once-pristine lands.  But as the timber and palm oil companies swarm over the rugged landscape of resplendent rivers and ancient rainforests, villagers in Long Napir in the country's biggest state Sarawak have vowed to thwart any further land-grabs.  The village is a settlement of longhouses, the traditional communal housing favoured by indigenous people in eastern Malaysia's Borneo island. Under the Sarawak Land Law, indigenous people have rights over areas as long as they can prove they have lived in or used the lands prior to January 1, 1958. "We have no land to farm, our rivers have become muddy, there's hardly any fish left anymore." - Tamin Sepuluh Ribu, villager But the surrounding ancient rainforests that are so essential to their traditional way of life is under threat because of logging and plantation companies. Over the past 30 years, Sarawak - one of the richest Malaysian states - has become one of the largest exporters of tropical timber.  Despite its wealth, profits have failed to trickle down, and the people here are some of the poorest in the country. Long Napir villagers lay the blame for their plight squarely on one man: the state's powerful chief minister, Abdul Mahmud Taib, who is in charge of all land classification and the allocation of lucrative forestry and plantation licenses.  "He lives, the rest of us suffer," Tamin Sepuluh Ribu, a former village headman, told Al Jazeera. "We have no land to farm, our rivers have become muddy, there's hardly any fish left anymore."  'Coterie of cronies'  Global Witness, a non-governmental organisation working against environmental exploitation, has investigated and exposed the situation in remote eastern Malaysia.   An undercover Global Witness investigator posing as an investor was offered several opportunities to purchase land in Sarawak by company officials linked to Chief Minister Taib. In each instance, the land in question was occupied by indigenous communities, who have valid claims to ownership rights under Malaysian law.  Global Witness said the indigenous areas were being sold by companies with close personal or political ties to the chief minister.  Taib has held the post since 1981, and has been repeatedly accused of corruption during his nearly 32-year rule. The US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur noted in one cable released by WikiLeaks: "Chief Minister Taib Mahmud … doles out timber-cutting permits while patrolling the underdeveloped state using 14 helicopters, and his family's companies control much of the economy."  The American cable added that, "All major contracts and a significant portion of land to be converted to palm oil plantations [including on indigenous 'customary land rights' that the state government has refused to recognize] are given to these three companies." People in Sarawak are "fed up" with Taib's administration, "seen as only enriching his family and a small coterie of cronies", it said. A Penan girl deep in the Borneo rainforests [EPA] Under investigation Global Witness released a November 2012 report titled, "In the future, there will be no forests."  "Taib's powerful executive position and personal responsibility for the issuance of lucrative logging and plantation licences has enabled him to systematically extract 'unofficial payments' from the state's timber tycoons for the enrichment of himself and his family," the report said. Taib, meanwhile, denied the corruption allegations as "wholly untrue and malicious", said the report. In 2011, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission launched an official investigation into Taib, which continues at present. In secretly taped negotiations provided to Al Jazeera, the Global Witness investigator discussed buying land with company shareholders Fatimah Abdul Rahman and Norlia Abdul Rahman - Taib's first cousins. Fatimah admitted the parcel of land under discussion had been transferred to them by Chief Minister Taib. "Yeah, he's the one who gave us the land. He's my cousin," Fatimah said, laughing.  In 2011, Taib gave his cousins 5,000 hectares of land for about $300,000 dollars, according to leaked land registry documents. Having secured agriculture and timber licences, they were trying to sell it a year later for more than $16mn. Later, discussing the ease of receiving a forestry license, Fatimah told the Global Witness investigator: "The Land and Survey Department, they are the ones that issue this licence. Of course, this is from the CM's [Chief Minister's] directive, but I can speak to the CM very easily." Fatimah and Norlia did not respond to Al Jazeera's requests for comment. 'Naughty people' Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud is accused of graft [Reuters] Over the years, Taib's government has sought to limit the exercise of indigenous land rights. More than 200 land dispute cases are now before Sarawak courts, brought on behalf of claimants from indigenous communities. Jannie Lasimbang, Malaysia’s National Human Rights Commissioner, told Al Jazeera that numerous amendments have eroded indigenous land rights over the years. “The commission is concerned about the high degree of frustration, anger and desperation among indigenous peoples,” Lasimbang said.  In 1994, the Sarawak government gave the minister in charge of land the power to extinguish Native Customary Rights to land. Two years later, it was legislated that land dispute cases were automatically to presume the land belongs to the state, and the burden of proof was shifted to the claimant. In 2011, the definition of "native" was amended to include "any party entering into a joint-venture plantation deal with the Land Custody and Development Authority".  In the secretly recorded conversations with Global Witness, Taib's cousins Fatimah and Norlia showed disdain and contempt for indigenous rights, describing local villagers as "naughty people".  "So the minute they hear this land has been given, has been titled to this company to do oil palm and what-not, they'll plonk themselves there," said Fatimah.  Her sister Norlia added, "They may harass you, that's all. They are actually squatters on the land, because the land doesn't belong to them. It's government land. So they're squatting." Scratching the surface The secret dealings caught on tape only scratch the surface of the Taib family's business interests. "I know people are talking about him [Taib] being corrupted and all, but I think who isn't in this world when they're leaders?" - Fatimah Abdul Rahman, Taib's cousin Leaked land registry documents analysed by Swiss non-governmental organisation Bruno Manser Fonds suggest that companies linked to Taib's family control about 200,000 hectares of land in Sarawak - an area twice the size of Hong Kong. Global Witness estimates it has a market value of $500mn.  Divorce settlement proceedings in Malaysia between one of Taib's son, Mahmud Abu Bakir Abdul Taib and his first wife Shahnaz Abdul Majid, also highlight the vast wealth of the family. The ex-wife testified that Mahmud had an estimated $233 million deposited in more than 100 bank accounts around the world.   In June 2011, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said it had launched an investigation into Chief Minister Taib, but gave no further details.  When Al Jazeera inquired about the progress of the case last month, the commission said it had "no comment on the matter".  Taib's office did not respond to Al Jazeera's request for an interview, but he has consistently denied allegations of corruption.  The family appears not view the accusations with much seriousness. As Taib's cousin Fatimah declared on tape: "I know people are talking about him [Taib] being corrupted and all, but I think who isn't in this world when they're leaders?" One villager in Sarawak promised not to allow the status quo to continue.  "We will fight on at all costs,” farmer Vincent Balingau told Al Jazeera. “We let them take timber in the past, but we had no idea they were planning to take our land."

Source: Al Jazeera

 

Global Witness video:  http://www.globalwitness.org/insideshadowstate/index.html

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.

Heart of Borneo forests a prized heritage – Kurup

http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/11/08/heart-of-borneo-forests-a-prized-heritage-kurup/

Posted on November 8, 2012, Thursday

KOTA KINABALU: The conservation of the Heart of Borneo (HoB) forests is a matter of major local, national, regional and international concern because of the diversity of their unique array of plants and animals.

Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Malaysia Minister Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Kurup said at the closing ceremony of the International Conference on Heart of Borneo +5 and Beyond: “Shaping and nurturing Sabah’s future together” at Sutera Harbour Resort near here yesterday that the forests at HoB were also of critical value to the people and countries of Borneo as prized natural heritage and for the goods and services that they provide.

“Hence, the HoB areas must be effectively managed on the basis of sustainable land use planning and implementation with regard to the balance of ecosystem, socio-cultural, economic and political aspects within the respective nations,” he said.

Kurup said the country recognised the importance of HoB initiative, which was in harmony with existing policies, plans and programmes pertaining to sustainable development, land use and conservation, both at state and national levels.

“The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Malaysia views HoB as a significant initiative that will directly contribute towards the betterment in forest management and conservation,” he said.
He also assured of the federal government’s support.

“Malaysia reiterates the importance that this initiative be continued to be placed within the government’s sustainable development framework and policy,” he said.

Kurup said the HoB initiative is a conservation and sustainable development programme aimed at conserving and managing three countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.

He added that during the signing of the HoB Declaration almost five years ago, the three governments had recognised and committed to a set of measures and actions to ensure the sustainability of our efforts in managing and conserving a large tract of area that cradled the three countries, and which signified a practical and real effort by the HoB countries for the benefit of the future.

‘Include social component in EIA study’

http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/10/27/include-social-component-in-eia-study/

Posted on October 27, 2012, Saturday

KUCHING: The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study on the Ba Kelalan-Bario road project should include a social component to document and identify cultural and historical sites.

Former Ba Kelalan assemblyman Datuk Nelson Balang Rining said the area surrounding the project was a former settlement of the Lun Bawang and Kelabit communities.

“Features like Batu Sinuped Perupun, Batu Nangan, Batu Barut, Beliau and Abang are found in the area apart from burial sites and old ruins of long houses. There is a request for the relevant agency to couduct such study,” he said when contacted yesterday.

On Oct 23, Balang who is also Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party secretary-general also responded to complaints of locals that the road project would affect the water sources of six villages and a primary school in the area.

The locals said destruction of the water catchment area at Sungai Muda would contaminate their drinking water, and water used for their paddy fields and livestock.

Balang pointed out then that the EIA study must be done as soon as possible and before the government proceed with the construction work. The EIA study should be conducted to make sure the area was not adversely affected.

Construction of the RM42 million Ba Kelalan-Bario road started on Oct 1 and is expected to be completed by September 2014.

The Royal Army Engineers Regiment is already in Ba Kelalan to carry out the project under the Blue Ocean Strategy – an extension of the army’s Jiwa Murni programme. About 2,000 villagers from Punan Kelalan, Long Muda, Long Kumap, Long Langai, Long Lemutut, Buduk Nur and an international award-winning school SK Ba kelalan will be affected by the project.

Current assemblyman Baru Bian claimed that the EIA study had not been conducted yet, so called on the government to listen to the needs of Ba Kelalan folks.

He added that since there was no extinguishment of NCR land status in the area, the (road) route did not have to be fixed and could be modified according to the people’s wish.

Baru who is State Parti Keadilan Rakyat chief, said they were not against development but want the road to benefit the people, not the contractors.

He went on to say that the villagers did not even mind sub-standard roads as long as one of their main water catchment areas in Sungai Muda was not destroyed.

“We have sub-standard roads from Lawas to Ba Kelalan but we don’t mind as long there’s a road. I want to make it clear that the people do not want their water catchment area and jungle destroyed because it is the source of their livelihood,” Baru said.

On the road

http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/10/21/248759/

by Chang Yi. Posted on October 21, 2012, Sunday


Penan mothers and early childhood learning 

THE tebung (hollow wood drum) of Bario sounds the wake-up call at 5.30am like clockwork everyday. And indeed it is the clock of the Highlands.

FOR A BETTER FUTURE: A Penan mother walking her child to school in the early hours of the morning.

The beautiful rainforest sound resonates through the forest, rousing the late wakers among the fauna as well as the little children of Bario Asal and the surrounding villages.

The tebung (at least one in each Highland village) also belts out the same wake-up call in the other settlements although not all at 5.30am like Bario. For example, at Pa Adang (a Penan settlement) in the upper reaches of the Lawas valley, the wake-up call is at 6am.

Usually, by this time, many Penan mothers from Aral Dalan will be walking along the lonely path to Bario Asal where their children attend pre-school and primary classes. They walk for one hour (from six to seven) and surprisingly – to many urbanites – will arrive at school fresh and happy. This is a feat not many city people can easily fathom.

After placing their children safely at school, the Penan mothers walk for another hour home. Their next journey (on foot) to Bario is at 11am to pick up their children. After that, it’s another hour’s walk home. Walking long distances is part of Penan life from time immemorial.

Pre-school education in Sarawak and Malaysia in general provides a simple meal cooked by the teachers and teaching assistants. Hence, the Penan mothers do not have to bring lunch packs to their children. Most of the Penan children are underweight. Some even look just three years old – not five!

According to medical doctors serving in Sarawak, Penan children may be small due to various factors like lack of proper nutrition and good healthcare. Genetically, the Penans are small in stature and very fine-boned.

In the early mornings at the Bario Highlands, the temperatures can be as cool as 23 degrees celcius or lower. And it used to be even lower when luxuriant tall trees covered the mountains and no roads were known to the Penans.

The Penan mothers and children who walk to Bario, wear wind breakers or warm woollen clothes. And some of the children are so used to being barefooted that they don’t necessarily wear shoes (most cannot afford shoes anyway).

WAITING FOR MUM: A Penan boy waiting for his mother to pick him up from school.

The mothers I met said they were from Aral Dalan, a Kelabit village now giving them generous space and shelter. Some of these Penans are actually building their huts near the National Park of Pulong Tau. Being nomadic in the past, they cannot say exactly where their original settlement was because they were free to roam and hunt a long time ago.

So far, upon settling down, they are co-existing well with their Kelabit neighbours in Aral Dalan and Bario Asal.

The state government and its various agencies have long been finding ways to identify suitable areas for the Penans, “locate” them and “resettle” them like at Batu Bungan in the Baram.

Geographically, the Penans used to be known or classified as nomadic tribes who moved from place to place in the north eastern parts of Sarawak and the upper reaches of the Limbang and Lawas Rivers. Further south, they were found in the Kelabit Highlands and the Belaga region or the upper Rajang.

Last nomadic tribes

Today, some remnant groups are known to be the last of the nomadic tribes of Sarawak. Several groups have settled down and are receiving good education. About 100 Penans have obtained diplomas and degrees since the formation of Malaysia while one or two are already millionaires.

Bario is a special case because more than 20 Penan families have settled at Aral Dalan, a village about one hour from Bario. According to some villagers, the Penans have moved to this part because their children can attend school at neaby Bario. Besides, the environment near the National Park of Pulong Tau also seems most viable to their lifestyle.

Young Penan parents are sending their children to pre-primary and primary schools in Bario. Moreover, many are fairly comfortable with the kind Kelabits who share the same religious beliefs.

The Penan parents also like the primary school teachers from all parts of the state – Kapit and Sibu, for example. According to a little Penan boy, these teachers are not only caring but can also teach very well.

PART TIME JOB: This Penan girl is working temporarily for the primary school in Bario.

For the very first time, they are interacting and having good social life in school. Furthermore, they can broaden their outlook by participating in everyday learning in the classrooms with children from the other communities such as Malays and even Bidayuhs (children from the Army Camp at Bario).

Several children at the Bario Primary School are of mixed parentage – Kelabit-Chinese and Lun-Bawang-Kelabit.

It is from their primary school experience that the Penan children are able to have a wider world view.

One young Penan girl, now working temporarily at the primary school, said she hoped to get a permanent job with the government. This, she added, would give her and her family a steady income.
She is looking forward to the day when she either goes for further studies or gets a permanent job with the government. She is not afraid to leave Bario for other parts of the world.

THUMBS-UP: These two Penan children walk long distances everyday to attend pre-school in Bario.

According to a professional in Marudi, many of the myths about the Penans are not being debunked. He noted that with better government facilities being provided in the remote areas, more and more Penans are settling down.

Penan parents now realise the importance of keeping their children in school throughout the whole school year as opposed to the common perception that Penan parents will take their children out of school during the fruit season.

Perhaps, this is still being done by some Penan parents in the remotest parts of the state but it is very rare because of changes to their lifestyle, good advice from the community leaders and better educational facilities provided by the government in the interior.

More and more Penans want their children to be educated and get permanent jobs as teachers and government servants after leaving school.

As one Penan mother puts it: That’s why I’m willing to walk four hours everyday to send my two children to school. It’s their future. It’s also my future.

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.

Conserving the Kelabit heritage

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/07/24/conserving-the-kelabit-heritage/

FMT Staff
July 24, 2011

Trekforce, a UK based organisation, is actively working on protecting and conserving the cultural sites of the Kelabit Highland communities.

KUCHING: Getting to Sarawak’s remotest region – the Kelabit Highlands – is no easy task. There are no boats and roads leading up to this vast plateau and if you miss the plane than it’s a two hour hike across the jungle until you reach a logging road and then hopefully catch a ride on a logging truck heading up.

The Kelabit Highlands is over 1,000 metres above sea level and lies between the Tama Abu Range and Apo Duat Range on the Sarawak-Kalimantan border.

Here too is where the mighty Baram, Limbang and Lawas rivers begin.

The region’s many valleys are peppered with cottage-like settlements often surroundeded by padi fields.

In fact Bario, which a major settlement in the Kelabit Highlands, is famed for its rice which is touted to be of ‘excellent quality’.

This remote region, which is home to the Orang Ulu communities, is also the project station of a UK-based environmental conservation and community development volunteer organisation.

Calling themselves Trekforce, the group is actively working in Bario, Pa’ Umor and Pa’Main areas in the interior Kelabit Highland region.

The group comprises young self-funded volunteers between 18 and 30 years who are mostly from the UK, Europe, Canada and the US.

They work on six-week long projects which are both mentally and physically challenging, deep in Sarawak’s rainforest.

Trekforce’s key aims are to help protect and conserve the tropical rainforest ecosystems in Sarawak and to help the local people with community development projects in remote rural areas.

Burial sites

According to the expedition leader and country co-ordinator David Osborne, 30, Trekforce has, so far, carried out six successful expeditions in Sarawak since 2009.

He said the group has been working closely with the Rurum Kelabit Sarawak Association (RKS) and the community of Pa’ Umor on an ambitious cultural site and rainforest protection project and a wide range of community development projects including teaching English at SK Bario and Pa’ Dalih.

Osborne said that in 2009 Trekforce began efforts to protect ancient Kelabit cultural sites such as stone megaliths, burial grounds and dragon burial jars in the jungles of the Kelabit Highlands.

The Trekforce teams, he said, trekked deep into the jungles surrounding Bario, located the sites with local guides and GPS, identified them before cutting 400-square-metre boundaries around each site, and marked them with barricade tapes.

“The boundaries highlight these areas as protected to prevent logging operations entering and destroying both the invaluable cultural sites and the surrounding rainforests.

“So far, 105 cultural sites have now been protected in this way.

“After all of the cultural sites in Bario, Pa’ Umor and Pa’ Main areas were marked and boundaries cut, the next phase of this long-term project began.

“This involved the development of a network of trails, bridges and shelters created to provide an infrastructure framework for sustainable eco-tourism in the area and the research of the cultural sites,” Osborne explained.

Jungle trails

He said besides creating a network of jungle trails connecting existing trails with many of the cultural sites, Trekforce also constructed numerous solid wooden and bamboo bridges across difficult river passes.

“With these eco-tourism infrastructure now in place, more tourists, trekkers, nature-lovers, scientists and the local people will be encouraged to visit the area and develop an appreciation for the human history, values and beauty of the rainforest environment and wildlife.

“And this, in turn, would benefit the communities of Pa’ Umor and Bario through increased eco-tourism to provide employment for local jungle guides and more business for the many homestays in the area,” he said.

Explaining further Osborne added that “the protection of the rainforest environment and the diverse vegetation, insects, birds and animal wildlife within them is one of the important environmental challenges of our generation.”

“Borneo has some of the most pristine and biologically diverse rainforests on Earth, but their existence is severely threatened by the obvious and immediate expansion of logging and palm oil operations.

“Many indigenous groups in Sarawak have similar cultural sites, not to mention outstanding areas of beautiful rainforest – and I hope the kind of multi-level project achieved in the Bario area could form a part of a new strategy for indigenous groups all over Borneo to protect and preserve their native lands, cultural heritage, rainforest areas and, indeed, generate income and employment through this kind of low impact sustainable development,” he told local daily, the Borneo Post recently.

Further information on Trekforce can be found on their website www.trekforce.org.uk

Will Sarawak tribal land anger trump need in 2011?

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/will-sarawak-tribal-land-anger-trump-need-in-2011/


By Sheridan Mahavera

April 10, 2011


BN flags are seen hanging from the ceiling of a longhouse in Sibu. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 — The issue of land disputes will feature prominently in the Sarawak election but it is unlikely to threaten Barisan Nasional’s (BN) grip over the state.

Indigenous rights activists claim that many communities, including the Malays and Melanaus, will blame the BN administration for the encroachment of their ancestral land by oil palm companies.

But the votes that will be fuelled by this anger will come in areas that are likely see multi-candidate fights. This will dilute the impact of those votes as anti-BN candidates compete against each other to tap into this wellspring.

This is since Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties, the Sarawak National Party (SNAP), Parti Cinta Malaysia and several independents have failed to reach an electoral pact for one-to-one contests in more than 25 Dayak-majority seats.

Signalling how important the disputes are, the BN recently gave out 437 titles for tribal land for Bidayuh landowners under the Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation authority.

Nicholas Mujah of the Sarawak Dayak-Iban Association (SADIA) believes though land disputes are a readily-available hot-button issue for non-BN parties, it is not a silver bullet.

“It gives the opposition parties something to campaign on,” he said, but was doubtful the anger over land disputes was enough to unseat BN’s representatives in Dayak areas.

“In Dayak areas, the votes will be split,” said the SADIA secretary-general.



Logging and oil palm companies are regularly accused of encroaching on native land. — file pic

Cases of encroachment into ancestral or native customary rights (NCR) land, rarely get any attention from Peninsula-based media outlets. This is even when it happens to indigenous communities in the Peninsula.

But they routinely make the headlines in Sabah and Sarawak, where hundreds of suits are being fought at the state’s High Court.

The nature of the disputes varies but usually involves a longhouse or village contesting against a private company over who rightfully owns a piece of land.

What makes these cases especially controversial is that these villages and longhouses have also accused the companies of hiring thugs to harass them. Some communities have mounted blockades against company workers who they claim are entering land which is being disputed.

The companies counter by claiming that they had rightfully gained ownership by getting leases from the state government.

SADIA said 307 cases have been filed this year at the Sarawak High Court. Mujah believes there are hundreds more that are undocumented where the communities involved have neither the will nor the resources to bring their cases to court.

NCR issues are expected to be even more fractious this year given the increase in cases and the fact that disputes now involve almost all of Sarawak’s ethnic groups.

“Now we are seeing cases even from Melanaus and Malays, and their cases are even worse than the Dayaks,” Mujah said, referring to the two ethnic groups which have historically been Sarawak BN’s staunchest supporters.

The Bidayuh heartland of Serian is another case in point where PR partner Parti Keadilan Rakyat has been vigorously drumming up suspicion about land grabs that it blames on the BN state administration, said residents.

A resident, William Jebron, said one of the targets is the Land Survey Department’s work in demarcating the boundaries between private NCR land and state government land,

“PKR tells residents that the department is measuring the land so that one day it will be taken. Residents believe this because they are not properly informed. But I believe this issue is not going to sway residents,” said the 56-year-old farmer.



Voters are being taught to take inducements without feeling obligated. — file pic

Though the anger over NCR land may be palpable, many Dayaks are dissuaded from voting against the BN for fear of not receiving aid.

Suin Jaleh, an elder of Rumah Ranggong in Ulu Niah, Miri, believes that his longhouse stopped receiving government flood relief aid ever since they got tangled up in a dispute with an oil palm company.

“Other longhouses in the area get about RM1,500 per family in flood relief aid. We have not received any and we are being discriminated against because of this case,” said Suin, 56.

PR politicians have routinely claimed that since the majority of rural Dayak communities are poor, they are easily persuaded and, at times, threatened by the denial of aid.

“To these poor people, it is a life and death issue,” said Sarawak DAP chairman Wong Ho Leng.

Suin, however, felt that this time, in this election, things are different.

“I have been going to many longhouses in my area. I keep hearing lots of anger towards the BN. They feel that if they don’t do something, all their land will be gone,” said Suin.

A Dayak PKR activist said that to deal with the dilemma of accepting BN aid, the Sarawak opposition is taking a page out of the West Malaysia opposition playbook.

“We tell them, accept the gifts but jangan bagi ‘X’ (don’t give away your vote),” said the activists who requested anonymity.

It is a variation of the message Kelantan PAS has used to great effect when countering vote-buying in the mid-90s: that voters could accept gifts from politicians as long as they did not ask for them in the first place.

“But when you vote, vote for PAS,” the message goes.

For Suin, of Rumah Ranggong, this election is a major crossroad for the Dayak community given the seriousness of their land disputes.

“If we do not wake up in 2011, then we will sleep forever.”

BN reveals Ba’Kelalan ‘mystery man’

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/04/05/bn-reveals-bakelalan-mystery-man/

FMT Staff | April 5, 2011

Barisan Nasional will be pitting an unknown lawyer against Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian in Ba'Kelalan

KUCHING: Barisan Nasional’s battle in Ba’Kelalan constituency will be fought by Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) candidate Willie Liau.

Liau, who is from the constituency is also SPDP’s youth chief.

Announcing the ‘mystery candidate’ last night SPDP president William Mawan Liau, the greenhorn will replace incumbent Nelson Balang Rining.

Balang retained the Ba’Kelalan seat in 2006 with a hairline 475 vote majority.

Mawan said the choice of fielding Liau, who is in his ‘late 30s’, was in keeping with Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s aspiration for more young leaders.

Lawyer Liau will face Sarawak PKR chairman Baru Bian, who is a softspoken and popular native customary rights lawyer.

Ba’Kelalan, a remote Orang Ulu-dominated area in the Lun Bawang heartlands, has 6,958 voters and has been with BN since it became a separate constituency in 1996.

It is in fact BN’s smallest constituency in terms of voter population.

Bian has been a fixture in Ba’Kelalan. He has twice contested the seat and was both times unsuccessful.

The wind however is seemingly changing in this region.

It was previously speculated that ‘iconic’ Idris Jala, a highly suceesful son from the Kelabit, Orang Ulu tribe, would be selected to stand as the BN candidate here.

Jala is currently a minister in the Prime Minister Department and was speculated to be that ‘mystery candidate’ after BN failed to name a candidate for Ba’Kelalan last Sunday.

But he ended the rumours yesterday when he denied any possibility of going into active politics. Jala is not an elected representative.

The Orang Ulu community have traditionally been BN supporters.

Meanwhile BN’s decision to drop incumbent Balang had shocked many, who felt that as SPDP secretary-general he needed leverage so as to be able to help the people.

But sources here said that Taib was adamant about fielding someone who could ‘handle’ Bian’s questions and calls for debate especially on the land-grab issues.

Is Sarawak deforested?

http://aliran.com/5130.html

By admin, on 5 April 2011

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Digg Digg

Lim Swee Bin caught up with Brimas director Mark Bujang and seized the opportunity to find out the real extent of deforestation in Sarawak. Is it 30 per cent or 85 per cent of the state’s total land area?

Mark Bujang, executive director of Brimas

I met Mark Bujang, the Executive Director of Borneo Research Institute Malaysia Sarawak(Brimas) recently and seized the opportunity to clear some points with him, in light of the ongoing conflicting information on the extent of deforestation in Sarawak – with figures ranging from 30 per cent to 85 per cent of the state’s total land area.

Mark, who is a geologist trained in the University of Otago in New Zealand, has been with Brimas since 1998. This NGO is actively involved in defending indigenous communities against development intrusions onto their lands. Brimas does comprehensive mapping of traditional lands and forest use, and its maps are tendered as evidence in support of Native Customary Rights land claims in court.

Could you define deforestation?

Deforestation is an act of clearing the jungle either by logging or agriculture.

Does deforestation mean total decimation of the trees and other vegetation?

No, unless it is clear-cutting. Deforestation is a thinning of the forest.

Do you mean then that deforested areas still look green?

Yes. You can have deforestation and the area still looks green because smaller trees and other vegetation are still there.

Could you clarify what Brimas means when it says that 85 per cent of Sarawak’s land area has been deforested?

We mean the areas where activities have been carried out on virgin forest. The figure covers all types of activities – logging, plantations and farming. Logging and plantations contribute more to deforestation than farming by the communities, though the authorities like to lay the blame on the practice of shifting cultivation by local communities. Logging alone accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the areas deforested so far.

The 85 per cent figure includes areas of forest which have not been totally cleared but are thinner compared with pristine forest. As said earlier, deforestation does not mean everything has been cleared.

Some parties have expressed doubt and have even called your 85 per cent figure a “myth”. A friend who has worked in the Lun Bawan and B’ekalalan districts told me the forests are still there.

I am not surprised. Samling (one of the top five logging companies in the state and a global giant in the timber trade) just began logging in these two districts about two years ago. Of course, you still see trees and green. The community there – the Kelabits – are already affected. They have heard of other communities hit by loggers and are organising themselves. They have formed an NGO to stop the encroachment.

We are not the only ones on this issue. The Bruno Manser Fund, for example, is active in highlighting deforestation in the state, especially with the Penans. In fact, they are having a “Stop Timber Corruption” petition campaign right now.

If I want to see for myself how things are, I guess I will have to fly over Sarawak in a helicopter?

A free and easy way is to go to Google Earth’s satellite images. You can see continuous light-brown lines curving, twisting and criss-crossing the forest. These are logging tracks and are usually found on the top of mountain ridges. They are the best evidence. Logging tracks means logging is on. The worst of these are in the Baram and Belaga districts in the northern and central regions respectively.

You can also see the contrasts. In Brunei, you will see dark green which shows pristine forests. Cross the border into Sarawak and you immediately see a lighter green which means thinner forests. Go along the coastal areas and you will see red and brown blocks. These are the plantations. For a view of this fact, please see these satellite photos here.

If you fly into Sarawak, the first thing you see is that all the land in the coastal areas has been cleared for oil palm plantations. As you go further inland, you see the tell-tale tracks which, as I have said, are the best evidence of logging.

But, if the forest areas are just thinned down and not cleared, are there effects on the wildlife?

Once there is logging, the environment is already affected and the bio-diversity is changed. Land is compacted by the Caterpillar tractors and heavy trucks moving up and down with the loads of timber. Rivers get silted, dirty and unfit for life. There is a Greenpeace report on Sarawak’s plantation areas which discusses the effects.

As we have seen, first there is logging. Then, when all the timber is harvested, the area is converted to plantations. That is when clear cutting, or total decimation of the forest, happens.

I am thinking of your famous hornbills.

You seldom see them nowadays. Before, you can see them flying around, even in towns like Miri. Now, even in the rural areas, it is tough to spot them.

Let’s talk about plantations. What is the history on this? When did plantations start in the state?

The development of plantations became aggressive from 1997. Before that, the state government was experimenting but did not succeed until they came up with the new concept of NCR (Native Customary Rights) development. The said purpose is rural development and natives were promised 30 per cent of shares in joint-venture schemes.

Now, 10 to 12 years later, complaints are coming in from the communities that they did not get much benefit. To-date, they have only received irregular, small, one-off payments. The promised dividends never came and they kept being told year after year that the companies were not doing well. There is no transparency in the accounts of the companies, and the communities have been left in the dark though they are supposed to be shareholder-partners.

What is the total area already converted into plantations?

Our mapping puts this at about 30 per cent of Sarawak’s land area. The state authorities define plantations as “forests.”

You have mentioned that the state government intends to develop 5m hectares of plantation out of the state’s total land area of 12.4m hectares. How do you arrive at this figure? Are they to be found in any official source?

The development of plantations is now included in the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score) masterplan. The figure of 5m hectares cannot be officially found anywhere, even under Score. The Sarawak Ministry of Land and Development has said it is targeting to open up 3m hectares of oil palm plantations. The Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation has said it plans to develop 2m hectares of industrial tree plantations. Other than these, we have only conflicting information from the Chief Minister and his other ministers. So, we take 3 million plus 2 million and get 5 million hectares. Most information – on the target areas to be developed and actual area executed – is not revealed.

What is an industrial tree plantation?

Industrial trees are those you plant for manufacturing purposes. In Sarawak, the main industry being supported by such plantations is paper-making. Two types of trees – eucalyptus and acacia – have been selected, and planting started in 2003. Both these trees are foreign to Sarawak and are a serious cause for concern. Acacia and eucalyptus trees are known to drain the moisture and nutrients of the soil preventing other plant life from growing in the area. These trees are also a fire hazard as their dried leaves catch fire easily – as in their natural habitats they need forest fires to propagate their seeds.

Your Brimas map showing the 85 per cent deforested areas and types of activity made an impact on a lot of people because it lays out in vivid and shocking proportion the extent of disturbed and destroyed pristine forests. How did you arrive at the demarcations shown on the map?

The information in our maps are derived from maps which we obtained from the Land and Survey Department, Forestry Department, EIA reports and also from restricted maps which we managed to get from friends. Unlike state authorities, we do not include plantations under the definition of “forests”. Our map shows only very few patches of pristine, virgin forests left – these are the green patches at our border with Kalimantan. Logging concessionaires are packed tightly like jigsaw pieces against each other. There is no area left untouched in between for the indigenous communities or wildlife. Please see the land use map below:

Map of forest use in Sarawak (click to expand) - Courtesy of Brimas

Finally, may I have your personal comments?

The government is always blaming the natives for the deforestation through their practice of shifting cultivation. We dispute this. The indigenous communities have been doing shifting cultivation since time immemorial, within their territorial areas. They did not impact the forest much. Ever since commercial logging and plantation began in the 1960s and peaked in the mid-1980s till mid-1990s, we have seen massive and systematic deforestation, which is not sustainable and which directly impacts the environment and the life of local communities.

Lim Swee Bin is an ex-journalist who left mainstream media because she could not practise real journalism. Her concern for the people of Sarawak has prompted her to take up her pen again. She coordinates an internet mailing list called Focus on Sarawak.