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 Communities "unwelcome" Japanese tree-planters in Mount ApengBy Editor Rengah 2007-04-16 | The Bidayuh Communities of Mentu Tapu, Paon Gahat and Tong Nibong, in the Serian District of Sarawak extended a local unwelcome with protest against the Japanese delegation that was in the area to plant trees on the communities' Native Customary Rights lands on 14 April 2007. Holding banners and placards and engaging with members of the delegation, the local communities educated the Japanese delegation of the Native Customary Rights (NCR) lands that the planting is encroaching on. The Sarawak Government continues to ignore the Native Customary Rights of indigenous communities over lands by leasing lands to private companies for logging, mono-crop plantations, other so-called development projects in mostly rural Sarawak. In addition, the Sarawak Government also list areas as "Forest Reserve" and National Parks in efforts to green-wash its damaged image. Such government doing has the direct effect of turning indigenous communities into squatters in increasingly more areas. As a result, communities continue to be uprooted from their ancestral lands, loose their livelihood and ultimately dispossessed. At Mount Apeng Forest Reserve, where a major Japanese housing industry player is funding the tree-planting project, the customary land owners were never consulted on the project jointly organised by the Japan-Malaysia Association and the Sarawak Government. It is ironic that Japan continues to be the single biggest consumer of Sarawak timber while Japanese industry, in this case a housing company that uses much imported timber in construction, is sponsoring tree-planting in Sarawak. Obviously, it is a joint project that is win-win to the two partners -- Sarawak Government can continue to claim its "green" image, however much it is discredicted, while the Japanese company uses the Japanese people to ease their respective consciences. But to the traditional land owners, lands are lost, rights taken away and nothing to benefit. Instead, all the trees had been logged, taken away, likely sold to Japan by politically well-connected companies and leaving a trail of destruction. Now, the tree-planting is done without any consultation with the land owners. The Japnese public and the industries must be reminded that lands in Sarawak have customary rights and any projects with Sarawak governments, logging and plantation companies must respect that rights. Communities will continue to stand up for the people's rights and exert that rights to all projects that encroach onto Native Customary Rights (NCR) lands. Reference LinksImage Links
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