A increasing number of natives in Sarawak state in north Borneo are alarmed at encroaching forest and oil palm plantations, which are taking over their native customary land and destroying their traditional lifestyles and biodiversity.

In Long Berawan, a village in the north of the state, a community of a thousand Berawan and Tering indigenous people who live in longhouses is worried about plans by a reforestation and plantation group to take over 80,000 hectares of native land. And there are other villages and communities similarly affected.
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Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu has held up the Penan village at Suai in Ulu Niah in Sarawak as a “role model” for Penan villages, according to the Borneo Post.

But even in Suai, the state can’t keep its hands off Penan lands, and they too have to fight to assert their rights, as this excerpt from the Malaysian Mirror indicates:

MIRI – A meeting between 40 Penan landowners in Suai and representatives of SPB Pelita Suai Sdn Bhd ended successfully today when the landowners agreed to remove blockades on the promise that they be paid between RM1,900 and RM18,900 depending on the size of their land.

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Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud has delivered a special message to mark the festive season. Among his comments is a comical demand which will no doubt add to the merriment: stop criticising the government!

According to Bernama:

“If there are (sic) chaos in the country, it will be impossible for us to celebrate any festivity. We should therefore take stock of what the government has done for us,” he said in his Hari Raya message.

He also said that Malaysians were fortunate to have a prime minister “who has the qualification and a leader who cares for the people’s well-being”.

These remarks coming from a Colombo Plan Australian-trained lawyer, no less.

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