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Tony Thien
Nov 5, 07 1:34pm
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/74361
Retrieved on 5 Nov 2007
If the government can spend RM17 billion on an undersea cable to transfer hydro-electric power from Sarawak to the peninsula, why can't it provide 400ha of land to the natives who were uprooted by the massive Bakun dam project?
About 10,000 members of the community - comprising Kenyah, Kayan, Ukit, Punan and Lahanan - were affected by the Bakun hydroelectric dam project ( photo) when it began in the 1990s. They were resettled in 15 longhouses at Sungai Asap, in central Sarawak, and were allocated plots of land for farming.
However, due to problems with the alloted plots - which, among others, are unsuitable for farming - they eventually occupied 400ha of land illegally to plant cocoa, pepper and oil palm.
Today, eight years later, the Land and Survey Department has issued them with eviction notices because the land falls within a plantation lease that has been awarded to a joint-venture company.
Tony Kulleh (right), who heads the Uma Bakar action committee on land matters, said the authorities have marked out the farm houses and the crops to be demolished. On Oct 26, the community held a dialogue to discuss the eviction notice. Although relevant government departments were invited, their representatives did not show up.
Belaga state assembly representative Liwan Lagang, who attended, has promised to bring up these matters when the Sarawak legislature convenes on Nov 19.
During the sitting, the community will also hand over a memorandum to Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud ( left).Mainly, it wants the state government to excise the land that they are now farming, from the lease area.
"I don't think this is too much to ask, since we are asking only for about 400ha," Kulleh said.
Danny expressed hope that the authorities would consider the matter seriously "because the land provides our only form of livelihood".
Assistant headman Egan Awe said the land allocated should also be issued with titles or families would have no proof of ownership.
'Insult to injury'
According to Kulleh, the community had initially asked for 7ha of land per family when the resettlement exercise began.
The government negotiated this down to 3ha, but eventually only provided them with three acres on the basis that they could apply for more land in time. "Some of the plots are not suitable for farming because of the terrain or soil conditions.
"The bigger problem was that the lots are not accessible because the roads that were promised have not been built," said Kulleh, a businessman based in Bintulu.
Although he approached the authorities and offered to help build the access roads, he was told there were no funds for this.
"What choice did we have (but to occupy land illegally)? Farming is the only source of livelihood of the Orang Ulu," he said.
"We had to find new land for farming, and there is very little of that left because most of the land around us has been leased out to large plantation and logging companies."
Headman Danny Ibang (far right) pointed out that the Orang Ulu "have sacrificed much by agreeing to give up so much land for the Bakun project". "We support the dam because it is a national project and also because we have been promised many things as compensation. We had high expectations but many of the promises have not been fulfilled," he said.
Money paid as compensation for their original homes and farms only covered the land under perimeter survey and excluded ancestral land, he said.
The community has documentary evidence to show they have been occpuying the land above the Bakun dam from before 1958.
Many have consulted lawyes to assert their right to seek compensation for land taken from them, but they have not been paid.
"We support the government on any development project that benefits the people, but we have been inconvenienced. In fact, we have lost our income from farming," Danny said.
"The authorities also insulted us by suggesting that we are to be blamed for our predicament, because we squandered the compensation money by buying luxury goods.
"But the money was not only insufficient, it was not equitably distributed - one person was paid less than RM30."
From the current rumblings within the community, its members could well vent their frustration when the parliamentary elections come around.
If a reminder is required, the last state election saw a substantial number of votes going either to Independent or opposition candidates because of disappointment with the authorities.
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aku baru tau pasal ni...
. cuba la pikir sikit, kalau bukan kerana sabah n sarawak dah teruk BN kalah.
