Fate of Swiss activist a riddle in Malaysia jungle
Copyright 2001 Reuters
August 31, 2001
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian police have no news on the fate of Swiss environmentalist Bruno Manser, more than a year after he disappeared in the jungles of Borneo.
Time magazine has drawn attention to the mystery by putting Manser, long a thorn in the side of the Sarawak timber industry, on the Asia cover of its September 2 issue.
Talk of Manser's death, or murder even, has done the rounds of northern Sarawak for months but locals say the truth may never be known.
Manser was a champion of the Penan forest nomads, one of Sarawak's indigenous groups, whose way of life is threatened by encroaching development.
Police say they have no record even of Manser's entry into the East Malaysian state and certainly no word of his demise.
"We do not have such information, or such claims that he is around Sarawak," senior police officer Yusof Nook told Reuters by telephone from state capital Kuching.
Nor do Manser's friends know.
"Some people speculate he could have died, been killed or whatever," said Alfred Balang, a businessmen in Lawas, which is located a drive of about four hours north of the Adang area where Manser was last seen.
"His friends do not know where he is," said Balas, who met Manser on a previous visit to Sarawak.
The Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) said last December the activist crossed into Sarawak state from Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, before a last known contact in May 2000.
The Fund's Web site says Manser told friends he might climb the mountain Batu Lawi before trekking elsewhere but no one admits seeing him since he left his local guide.
Despite several stunts intended to draw attention to the Penan's plight, Manser failed to halt the loggers threatening their rainforest reserves.
The Penan number several thousand and formerly survived by hunting rainforest game and gathering fruit, but development threatens their way of life and many now live in settlements.
Time quoted Melai Beluluk, one of the Penan who went in search of Manser.
"We tracked him to the last sleeping place. We followed his machete cuts into the thick forest until the trail reached a swamp at the foot of batu Lawi. There he disappeared. He didn't go back."