Dear friends,
SARAWAK UPDATE
Greetings. We have compiled here more news and information on
recent developments in Sarawak since the last upddate.
1. Court cases
(a) On 7/1/93, four natives who were charged for wrongful
restraint under section 341 of the Penal Code, were convicted and
fined RM300.00 each or in default with 1 month in prison by the
Magistrate Court in Marudi.
The ruling was made after a 4-day trial case and after having
considered the mitigation by the defence council for the accused
natives. The 4 natives are Lian Ngau, Anyi Jau, Ngau Ing and
Laing Ngau who are Kayan natives from Apoh.
They were arrested on 2 May 1991 at a blockade site which was
erected on Native Customary Land near Sungai Patah. This land was
claimed by the 4 natives as their customary land.
After their arrest, the 4 natives were remanded for 14 days at
the Marudi Police Station after which they were subsequently
charged at the Marudi Magistrate Court.
Meanwhile, the defence council for the accused, Mr. Wendell
Crocker from Miri, is filing an appeal to the High Court at Miri,
against the Magistrate's decision.
(b) An update list of court cases in connection with logging
disputes and protest actions is annexed (Appendix 1).
2.(a) 1993 Quotas for concessions
In September of 1992, the Sarawak State Goverment announced a
reduction in timber production by 1.5 million cu. m. for the last
4 months of 1992 to achieve the 18 million cu. m. target set by
themselves. But the logging still continued at a ferocious pace
which cannot be sustained.
Then a statement was made in December, 1992, mentioning that the
State Government has set a goal to cut back felling from the
current rate of 18.5 million cu. m. to a targetted quota of 16.5
million cu. m. for 1993 (Appendix 2).
The figure of 16.5 million cu. m. is still much too high as
compared to the ITTO recommended level of 9.5 million cu. m. A
mere reduction by 3 million cu. m. is not realistic enough to
justify the State Government's declared commitment to conserve
and protect the environment and reduce the threat of depletion of
the forest resources.
If we were to consider the amount of timber destroyed in log
felling, downstream processing, illegal logging and under
declaration of Approved Permits, there is actually an increase of
volume thus rendering a reduction by 3 million cu. m. to be a
questionable figure.
(b) Timber prices soar
As a result of the steps taken in September 1992 to cut back
timber production by 1.5 million cu. m., the FOB prices for
Sarawak `meranti' went up by as much as RM50 and RM62.5 per cu.
m. (Appendix 3). In effect, logs which had already been felled
were not stamped so that the export figure would show a
reduction. However, work did slow down in a number of areas as
timber companies were uncertain of the 1993 policy. It is now
officially confirmed that a quota will be applied this year, too,
as discussed above.
Six months before the `cut-back' announcement in September, the
overseas demand for Sarawak sawntimber had been steadily
increasing month by month due to the anticipated announcement and
consequent expectation of a price increase.
Overseas importers had actually beforehand taken advantage of
anticipated price hikes by buying up stocks at current prices and
later released them into their domestic markets selling at a
higher price after the period of September, 1992.
In any case, an increase in the price of timber by US$20 or US$25
only may not significantly affect the world demand for Sarawak
timber as the price tag is still relatively cheap.
Besides, the on-going protests and continuing blockades being
currently mounted by natives in the interior of Sarawak show that
destructive logging is still being carried out by the timber
companies despite the goverment's orders to reduce timber output.
There is actually no slow-down in the pace of logging operations
in many areas. The operators contravene the goverment's
directives by continuing to cut the trees and stock-piling them
at the camps, waiting for the directive order period to be over.
3. Logging industry deaths and injuries
Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk M. Mahalingan's announced
that a mandatory law will soon be introduced to cover the safety
of workers in both the public as well as the private sector
(Appendix 4).
However, his statement could also end up as `lip service' because
the best way to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities in
an industry so enormous and so hazardous is to reduce logging
rates.
By blaming the cause of mishaps on the differences that exist
between the timber companies, loggers and workers and criticising
their attitudes is merely running away from the truth; there is
no way to reduce the high injury and mortality rate to the
workers in the Sarawak timber industry so long as there is no
significant reduction in the volume of timber felled in the
industry.
Even if implemented, the Human Resources Minister's policies
would only affect the number of workers in the industry who are
of Malaysian origin. It is a well-known fact that a growing
precentage of the estimated 75,000 labour force in the industry
are foreigners and a majority of them are illegal. Will the
timber industry be responsible for their welfare as well ?
Over the years, billions of dollars have been raked in by the
timber companies whose interests are now moving to secure
lucrative forest concession deals in countries like Cambodia,
Papua New Guinea and lately, Guyana.
4. RM$50,000 compensation paid to villagers
In the last issue of the Sarawak Update, we published an article
about a Timber company giving RM50,000 in compensation to the 179
families of Kampung Opar, Bau, for polluting their village water
catchment area (Appendix 5).
>From the compensation received, RM4,000 was deducted by the
villagers for management of the water catchment area and minor
village development projects. The balance of RM46,000 was
distributed equally amongst the 179 famalies. Thus, each family
gets approximately RM256.98 (about US$100) only while the timber
company gets away with a lucrative deal.
Furthermore, what guarantee is there that the timber company will
honour their pledge to not again encroach into the village water
catchment area of the village ? A mere sum of RM50,000 also does
not reflect the actual cost of exploitation and degradation to
the eco-system of the rainforests.
The question of rehabilitation of the degraded water catchment
also remains unresolved.
(b) Villagers protest against logging of ancestral land
The villagers of Long Jegan of Ulu Tinjar, Baram, were reported
to have demanded RM50,000 as compensation for the usage of their
ancestral land for logging activities. The company concerned had
refused to concede and had instead reported the matter to the
police.
5. Taib denies issuing logging liscence
The Chief Minister of Sarawak, Taib Mahmud, claims that he does
not have the right to issue logging licences to successful
applicants but ironically the successful applications for state
timber projects would be subsequently submitted to him for final
approval (Appendix 6).
This was revealed during a recent court case involving a dispute
over a logging concession, and Taib Mahmud was called in as a
witness.
6. Unemployment argument challenged
Sarawak's Industrial Development Minister admits that 4,042 or
44% out of 9,165 plywood factory workers employed in Sarawak are
foreigners (Appendix 7).
The foreign workers are willing to accept low wages so the
percentage of them being employed in the plywood industry is
substantial compared to the local labour force. Besides being
lowly paid, they are also not covered by insurance or other
social benefets thus making it a lucrative deal for the plywood
companies.
Since it was reported that the timber industry supports 75,000
workers, one wonders what the percentage is like for foreign
workers in the whole industry, more so the figure of the illegal
labour force.
7. Exporters under-valuing log exports
Under-valuation of logs and downgrading the various species of
log exports are but the tip of the ice-berg (Appendix 8).
Among other discreet activities and malpractices, exporters are
also known to mix the cheaper timber species with the more
expensive timber to cheat the buyer. There are many species which
look and weigh the same but lacks long term durability.
For popularly demanded species like Dark Red Meranti, Light Red
Meranti, Merbau, Nyatoh, Kapur, Keruing, Seraya, Ramin, Jelutong,
Geronggang among others, there are species of lower quality
timber which can be mixed and exported without generally being
detected.
8. Samling Group secures 1.65 million ha. timber concession in
Guyana
The indiscriminate exploitation of forest resources from the
rainforest in Sarawak had caused immeasurable destruction to the
environment and rural community way of life and now the same
mistakes are going to be repeated in Guyana (Appendix 9).
Samling Group which has caused havoc in many parts of Sarawak is
expanding its operations in a joint venture with South Korea's
Sunkyong Group. Guyana will see multi-million dollar logging
bridges causing billion dollar destruction. Dangerous logging
roads will be constructed, work will be hazardous and in a few
years, those jobs will be lost because there is no more forest
left. Native communities and farms will be destroyed, water
catchment areas, head-waters of rivers and streams will be
disrupted and polluted and landslides would be common along
timber roads and deforested slopes.
9. One million hectares for Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries
In their effort to be seen as being concerned with conservation,
the State Government has proudly announced that the forest areas
for national parks and wildlife sanctuaries will be increased to
1 million ha.
Ironically, many native longhouse communities including the
Penans, who had applied for communal forest reserves for their
communities' domestic needs, have never gotten their application
approved by the relevent authorities. The proposed conservation
areas overlap with customary land, and potentially affected
communities are worried about their future.
10. Revival of the Bakun Dam project
The multi-billion dollar Bakun Dam project over the Batang Rejang
has come to the limelight once again after the idea was shelved
twice, once in the 1980s and then in early 1992.
The Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in the Prime Minister's
Department had recently stated that the project, if implemented,
will not endanger the environment and that they have concluded
all the necessary studies to prove this fact.
However, to date the EPU has yet to make known their studies on
the project for public scrutiny. Our concerns about this project
reamin with regards to the environmental and social impact.
Upstream impacts :-
1. The area of submergence will be critical with destruction to
the indigenous agricultural practices and different land use
methods of the natives.
2. Destruction of flora and fauna.
3. Erosion and siltation hazards.
4. Displacement of people; social losses; economic losses and
cultural losses.
Downstream impacts :-
5. Who gets the benefits and who gets the power ?
6. What are the risks of Waterlogging and diseases ?
7. What will be the impact on food self sufficiency and
biodiversity ?
11. Natives reject large scale agricultural schemes
More then 30 native longhouses in the Tinjar and Bakong areas of
Baram District have been identified as likely to be affected by
large scale oil palm schemes which is to be carried out under the
auspices of the Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA).
The scheme which was reported to cover thousands of hectares of
land including native customary land, is supposed to undergo an
Environmental Impact Assesment (EIA) study as required by the
Environmental Quality Act, 1974 under Section 34A.
This scheme will result in the development of forest land into
oil palm estates and the LCDA is empowered to facilitate the
opening up of areas, regardless of whether they are native
customary land or not. One of its functions is to be a middleman
and act on behalf of those with finances to convert the land.
24 headmen and community members who attended a meeting with a
Sarawak Administrative Officer (SAO) on 13 August, 1992,
vehemently protested and rejected the proposal after being
informed that the estate project would be undertaken by Rimbunan
Hijau Sdn. Bhd. who are already notorious for their destructive
logging activities.
We do not believe that commodity production is the direction
which Sarawak should take. If it is to give the natives jobs then
the state government must realise that there are already a few
such schemes in the areas nearby. Yet few locals want to work
there. The wages are low and many existing schemes are worked by
Indonesians.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
S.M. Mohd. Idris
President