Hornbill Unleashed

SARAWAK ELECTION MONITORING 2006

Penan Representatives Meet Sarawak State Planning Unit

By Sahabat Alam Malaysia

Utusan Konsumer September 2002

2002-09-30 | The tenacity of the Penan community in their struggle to protect their land from the encroachment of logging compa-nies has earned them the wrath of several politi-cians in Sarawak. What happens next?

Ever since March, when several blockades were put up simultaneously in Limbang and Baram areas in interior Sarawak, the Penan community had been accused of being under the influence of many things, from a White Rajah (New White Rajah rumoured in rainforest fol-lowing new blockades, Malaysiakini, April 29), irresponsible groups (Change lifestyle and accept development, Penans told, Sarawak Tribune, June 29) to natu-rally SAM (SAM exploiting Penan, Borneo Post, June 12).

However in the midst of such publicity, which has naturally upset the com-munity, representatives of the community were invited by the Sarawak State Planning Unit through the Majlis Adat Istiadat (Council of Custom Affairs) of the Chief Minister's Department to discuss the problems plaguing the community and the devel-opment plans and the future of the people on August 15 in Miri. Several officers from the state and federal agencies responsi-ble for development plan-ning were also present at the meeting.

During the meeting, the representatives presented the agencies with the Suhakam Report which has a section on issues affecting the Penan com-munity, the Long Sayan 2002 Declaration signed during the community state-level meeting in Long Sayan in June and several memoranda addressed to various state and federal agencies requesting for Communal Forest Re-serves, housing and health services, education and agricultural assistance for the people among others.

The community repre-sentatives expressed their gratitude and appreciation to the state offices involved for their concern and for having given them the much-awaited opportunity to sit face to face with senior government officers for a very frank and open discussion on their prob-lems and needs.

In the afternoon, the reps held a separate press conference to clarify on the allegations that had been hurled at them by politi-cians who attributed their protests against the opera-tions of logging companies

Excerpt from Press Statement in Miri on August 15

"We are not incapable of judgment and intelligent thought"

We were informed that since a few months ago, a number of statements had been made in several newspapers on the Penan community in a manner which cast us in a negative light, including: