Violence in Sarawak, Malaysia Oil Palm Projects on Indigenous Lands
9/6/99
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE
The Sarawak government of Malaysia continues to issue leases of land
to oil palm plantation companies, which includes native customary
land of indigenous communities. Following is an unconfirmed report
of a violent clash as a result of growing tensions as "gangsters" are
hired to bulldoze indigenous lands including gardens. Recall the
terms of the disclaimer under which this information is relayed at:
http://forests.org/forests/disclaim.html . It was requested that the
provider of this information remain anonymous. Given Malaysia's
harsh treatment of critics and dissenters, this is being respected.
g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Deaths in Sarawak
Source: anonymous
Status: Distribute feely
Date: September 2, 1999
Yesterday, 1st September, 1999, at about 3.00 p.m. a violent clash
between Iban natives from two longhouse communities, namely, Rumah
Busang and Rumah Bali in the Miri Division, Sarawak and workers of a
contractor company ie a contractor to Sarawak Oil Palm Berhad
resulted in four workers of the contractor company killed and three
others injured. SOP is a Sarawak government own company involves in
oil palm plantation development in various parts of Sarawak.
According to the Ibans, the Sarawak government had issued a
provisional lease to SOP over the land cultivated and occupied by
them. SOP then engaged the contractor company to clear the said land.
The Ibans protested against the clearance of the said land as it
would completely destroy their crops such as pepper, fruit trees,
rice farms and other trees thereon on which they solely depended on
for their livelihood.
When the company ignored their protests, they sent letters of appeals
to all the authorities concerned. The Ibans also sent their
representatives to Kuching, the State's capital desperately wanting
to meet and appeal to the Ministers including the Chief Minister,
Taib Mahmud over their plight. However, none of the Ministers want to
meet them or responded to their appeal letters.
The Ibans also met with the police several times on their problems
with the company but also without success.
The contractor company kept bulldozing their land and crops thereon.
After being faced with continued protests from the Ibans, the company
brought several gangsters armed with weapons such as the Japanese
sword, Samurai, knives and steel bars who repeatedly tried to
threatened them.
Several reports were then made by the Ibans to the police at Batu
Niah Police Station on the threats by the gangsters against them.
However, according to them all these reports were not acted on by the
police.
On 1st September 1999, the Ibans discovered that workers of the
company accompanied by the same group of gangsters were bulldozing
their land and gardens near Rumah Bali. They asked the work to stop
immediately but their appeal was not only ignored, the gangsters all
in a sudden also attacked the Ibans with their weapons.
The Ibans had no choice but to defend themselves in the attack which
ended in the four gangsters killed and the three who fled the scene
injured.
According to natives in areas similarly affected by such oil palm
plantation such as in Bakong and Tinjar in Baram the same group of
gangsters had also been employed by plantation companies in their
areas who harassed and intimidated them when they tried to oppose
plantation activities on their customary lands.
In December 1997, a similar violent clash also occurred between the
Iban natives of Rumah Bangga in Bakong Baram, Sarawak whereby three
members of the longhouse were shot by the police and one, Enyang anak
Gendang, died.
The root cause of all these conflicts is the continued arbitrary
action of the Sarawak government issuing leases to oil palm
plantation companies which covers or includes native customary land
of the sarawak indigenous communities.
Several civil suits had also been filed by the natives against the
Sarawak government and the plantation companies in which they sought,
inter alia, to declare the grant of the leases over their customary
lands as unconstitutional.