Copyright Inter Press Service 1991, all rights reserved. Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.
Area: Third World Dvpmnt
Reference: Agriculture; Environment; Third World Dvpmnt
Title: MALAYSIA: DEVELOPMENT FOR WHOM? ASK SARAWAK TRIBALS
an inter press service feature
by han jei
kuching, malaysia oct 23 (ips) -- nomadic jungle dwellers of the
malaysian state of sarawak blame their government for plundering the
rainforests in their ancestral land, but also say headline-grabbing
protests by international green activists harms their cause.
recent spectacular protests by international activists in which
some have chained themselves to logging barges, have given the
government an excuse to punish them for being ''anti-development'',
they say.
the government's definition of ''development'' appears to be
different from the way the indigenous people of northern borneo see
their future.
''development has to be something that benefits us. we must have
a say in its pace and direction,'' said a member of the penan tribe
which lives in sarawak's interior.
''we want development which takes into account our rights to land
and appropriate to our cultural heritage,'' said a statement by the
'coalition on the protection of native customary rights', a
group of 10 semi-settled penan communities.
half of sarawak's population of 1.7 million is composed of tribal
groups such as the penans, who are collectively known as dayaks.
about 600 of the state's 6,000 or so penans are still nomadic. many
of the others have been displaced by logging or mining operations.
the penan coalition said that in the name of ''development'' many
government officials in collaboration with greedy logging
contractors have destroyed much of sarawak's rainforests, stripped
the land for minerals with no regard for the environment and flooded
rich river valleys for hydro-electricity.
moved by what they saw as the injustice suffered by sarawak's
indigenous people, international envrionmental activists hung
themselves with climbing ropes from logging cranes in july to draw
attention to the destruction of rainforests in sarawak.
the nine protesters included activists from 'earth first' in the
united states 'robin wood' of west germany and 'society for
threatened people' from switzerland. they were later arrested and
two of them deported by malaysian authorities.
some penans say this kind of protest sidetracks attention of the
real issue of appropriate development of the tribal communities. it
also opens them to official criticism of being foreign-backed at a
time when malaysia faces a boycott of tropical products in the west.
(more/ips)
malaysia: development (2)
last year, the penans themselves set up human blockades across
logging trails to draw the government's attention to the loss of
their livelihood. hundreds were arrested.
sarawak is one of the few areas of southeast asian from where
uncut logs are still exported. sarawak and the neighbouring state of
sabah supply up to 60 percent of the world's hardwood, most of it is
exported to japan.
log exports brought the state government in kuching over 230
million dollars last year. sarawak also exported natural gas,
petroleum and other minerals, but many of the state's people say
they are not benefiting from the state's vast riches.
sarawak is still the least-developed part of the malaysian
federation, and dependent on federal largesse.
the sarawak lumbering industry has a high level of local
ownership and labour intensive technology. the industry employs more
than 55,000 people -- among them penans and the largest ethnic group
here, the ibans.
but the industry is controlled by local government officials and
their favoured contractors, usually from the chinese foochow group
in sarawak. environmental guidelines are not always followed, and
logging is indiscriminate, critics say.
the state government has started plantations to generate
employment for displaced forest dwellers. lured by promises of free
land, housing, health care and schooling for their children, many
left their forest homes to live in government 'longhouses'.
but longhouse life has been culturally alienating for the dayaks,
who say the government has not delivered on its promises.
some malaysian academics blame the country's constitution that
gives state government wide-ranging powers to decide land use for
the unsustainbale development of rainforest areas.
about 300,000 hectares of virgin forests are being cleared every
year in sarawak alone.
''political office provides politicians in sarawak and sabah to
determine land use for commercial development, approve timber
licenses and allocate revenue from mineral exploitation,'' says one
social scientists here, who did not want to be named.
borneo's natural heritage is being destroyed because of this
interplay of international economics and state politics, he said.
(ends/ips/en/np/jht/kd)