Out of concerned on the two notices of the purported extinguishment of NCR over
land from the RGC Long Lama to the Baram Dam site which was issued by the
Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Planning and Resource Management and
published in the Borneo Post recently, I and my colleague, lawyer Mr. Abun Sui
went to the Land and Survey Dept yesterday to check on the map of the affected
lands.
We were shock to find that the said notice and the map were not displayed on
their Notice Board as required by law and also as stated in the said notices in
the Borneo Post.
When we inquired from the officials at the Counter (at 8th Floor) as to why the
said notices and map were not displayed and they told us that their Headquarters
in Kuching has not sent the notices and the map to them (Land and Survey Dept
Miri). We complained and pointed out to them that the law requires all those
claiming NCR over the lands affected to inspect the map and lodge their NCR
claims with the Land and Survey Dept within 60 days from the date of the notice
being issued. So without the map how are the people going to know whether their
NCR lands are affected? The officials said they cannot answer our question as
the notice was issued by the Ministry and the map is with their HQ in Kuching.
If this is the way how the Govt is going to implement the Baram dam, then,
we, the affected people are going to be denied any relevant and vital
information on the implementation of the dam although we are the ones affected
and who made the ultimkate sacrifices. There should be transparency by the Govt
otherwise how can we trust or believe the Govt when it promises us that the
project will benefit us.
A few of us have taken the initiative by giving a notice to the Natural
Resources and Environment Board (NREB) which will determine the approval of the
Environmental Impact Assessment Report and the Social and Environmental Audit
for the project that we as the affected people want to be given the access to
and the time to scrutinise the said reports before the NREB determines whether
or not to approve the reports. But the NREB has not replied to our said notice
until today.
For everybody's information, Taib Mahmud is the Chairman of the NREB. Yet he has
been the one that has been aggresively promoting the implementation of the dam.
Bear in mind also that its CMS which will be supplying the cement, steels, etc
for its construction. So there is clearly a conflict of interest here. But in
Sarawak/Malaysia everything is boleh because, even if you are a thief minister,
Sarawakians/Malaysians will still vote and campaign for you in or during the
election.
Apart from this dam problem, the land problems in Baram is worsening. Taib has
divided up all the lands in Baram among all the big companies as a reward to
them providing him and the BN their election campaign funds. After taking all
the timbers from our land in Baram, they are now converting the same land into
tree plantations, planting oil palms, rubber, acacia, etc.
Five to ten years from now, our longhouses will just be pockets of islands
within and surrounded by all these plantations.
We have no pagar to protect us because the pagar we have also makan us.
Our present political leaders are just plain apple polishers or ball
carriers. Their speeches and public statements all show they are just a bunch of
defeatist, pathetic souls and opportunist at worst.
One old man from Long Liam asked, are they Wakil Rakyat or Wakil Taib Mahmud! I
asked him why? He replied, Because whenever our political leaders speak they
speak as if Taib was the one who voted for them and they are his wakil.
Many (NOT all) of our community leaders (if they can still qualify as a
"leader") are also hopeless, boneless and without ball and have sold their soul.
Like our political leaders they too colluded with and became our enemies
supporting Taib and the big companies to fight and defeat us.
Being left without a leader to lead and fight for us now, what shall we all do?
Wash our hands off and just adopt a "see and hear" no evil attitude towards all
these evil and destructive forces and just fattened our individual bank
accounts, accumulate more material wealth for ourselves and on sunday go to
church and pretend to be Godly or holy?
Despite of all the above, I still believe we the Baram people the Orang Ulus in
particular are not all fools and cowards. We are just lacking effective, firm
and courageous leaders.
So my friends, brothers and sisters, I have hope and faith that you will stand
up and be counted in this hour of need and lead as our warriors ancestors were
before. I guarantee my full support.
GBU,
Harrison

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