Tong Tana December 1999 - Bruno Manser Fonds

Sarawak - Malaysia
8
Tragic turn of events in the conflict
between indigenous people and
state-owned plantation companies
“The land is our blood, our breath, our life”
jk – The inhabitants of the Iban longhouses of Busang
and Bali were shocked to discover on June 19th of this
year that bulldozers of the Sarawak Oil Palm Bhd
(SOP) were destroying their rubber trees, their fruit
orchards and their crop fields in order to plant a palm
oil plantation. As the Iban erected an altar according
to their tradition to hold a “Miring” ritual to beg forgiveness
from the spirits for this desecration, the construction
work on the terrain was stopped. The 43 families
with 300 members – according to the prevailing
laws the rightful owners of the land – protested immediately
against these illegal dealings to the responsible
instances, seeking talks with the company and the government
– without success. On July 3rd the villagers
discovered that six bulldozers operating simultaneously
had started work again. At a press conference on
July 5th they requested the SOP to respect their land
rights and to pay for the damage they had caused – to
no avail.
When the “Miring” altar was forcefully destroyed on
July 10 the villagers became so agitated that work was
stopped; the next day the bulldozers were already at
work once more. In desperation five representatives of
the two longhouses travelled on July 30 to Kuching to
personally present their problems to the Chief Minister
Taib Mahmud – he did not receive them. In August
alone 7 charges were submitted to the police. They
personally reported to the police chief that a gang
recruited by the company was threatening them with
Samurai swords, rattan pipes and other weapons in
order to force them to give up their land – a practice
which not even the state will shrink from doing; the
government of Sarawak is, apart from the Shin Yang
Company (see below in “Arsonists...”) the main shareholder
of the SOP. The police undertook nothing. All efforts
of both longhouses to protect their property were
thwarted. As the Iban demanded the SOP company to
immediately stop their bulldozers on September 1,
they were attacked by the armed bandits, resulting in
a clash with serious consequences. Four of the SOP
employees were mortally wounded. Only then did the
police become active and arrested 19 indigenous men
of 17 to 60 years of age. The charge is murder, the
accused can expect the death penalty. The trial is
expected to take place on December 16.
At the beginning of October the first “Gawai Kelingkang”
was held near Rumah Busang for over 50 years.
This Iban ritual lasting several days asks the tribal and
warrior spirits for support in the coming battle against
the Sarawak Oil Palm Bhd. In order to receive the protection
of the spirits dances for raising the spirits were
held, offerings were brought and several human skulls
from former head-hunting days were presented. Various
chiefs as well as relatives of the imprisoned spoke
to the gathered crowd, “We are all sad that both our
chiefs are in prison and not present at this Gawai. We
do not want blood to be shed on our land. But our
government did not help us, it also never helped all the
other indigenous people of Sarawak whose land was
stolen.” Great is the rage and grief in Rumah Busang
and Rumah Bali; only the 5 year-old granddaughter of
the chief does not yet understand the price her grandfather
may have to pay for defending the land wich one
day will be hers.
Source: Rengah Sarawak October 12, 1999
Iban-Warrior
Sarawak’s indigenous peoples
on the web
jk – The web is valuable, especially in countries with a
censored press such as Malaysia.
At http://www.rengah.c2o.org, the voices of the indigenous
peoples of Sarawak can now be heard worldwide
– the site is warmly recommended to everyone!