In a twist to the usual practice of political parties hosting dinners for voters, residents of Long Tengoa today said they want Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian to return on 9 April so that they can throw a party for him.
Baru held a closed-door meeting today with the villagers of Long Tengoa near Sungai Trusan in Ba’Kelalan. Nearby, the villagers had put up a banner saying they did not want the BN candidate.
Just 4km from the border with Indonesian Kalimantan, Ba’Kelalan is a group of nine villages in the Bario Highlands, 910m above sea level. In this temperate climate, orchard owners cultivate apples, mandarin oranges and vanilla. Rice is also grown in the area.
The biggest issue in the area is of course the non-recognition of native customary rights land and land grabs, according to a well-placed party source.
The other major issue here – in an area where 98 per cent of the residents belong to the Lun Bawang ethnic group, which is predominantly Christian (Sidang Injil Borneo) – is the Alkitab and Allah controversy. “Many of them feel that the official comments over the recent release of the Bibles was just lip-service with the elections around the corner,” said the source.
The Petronas pipe-line running through the area is another sore point. Residents have complained that they are not getting any compensation for land that has been taken over.
The party source said they have been working the ground since early last year and they are quietly confident that Baru will pull through.
Tomorrow, the PKR chief will be hitting the ground from coffee-shop to coffee-shop and in the afternoon, he will be visiting two more villages.
| Please help to support this blog if you can. Read the commenting guidlelines for this blog. |
In case you west msians don’t know Limbang and Lawas is isolated from the rest of swak. To drive from Miri to Lawas you need to go through Brunei twice and get stamped 6 times. Just imagine you need an international passport to travel from one end of the state to the other. Isn’t it ridiculous that after 30 yrs the pek moh regime still haven’t build a road link there and yet they could build roads to get to the remotest and unimaginably rugged logging concessions to extract the timber.
Hi everyone,
Long Tengoa villagers should also throw a party for Hishamuddin to come to Sarawak immediately to campaign for the upcoming State Election!
I believe they would welcome Hishamuddin with open arms to enable him to explain in person the controversy on the alKitab issue. And for the SAKE of the election, he may even PROMISE you and all malaysians that he’s a protector of the article in the constitution which guarantees freedom in religious practices!
BN government always held basic infrastructure “development” card as hostages to remote resident. Alas, this always end up become talk … no action session, because the logistics are IMPOSSIBLE for corrupted BN government.
For example, small and cheap hydro power generator may have install for people stay in remote area, but barisan nasional government REFUSE to do it. We see petronas pipeline occupied the land mass but nothing much return to the people depending on the land.
This is Bolehland.
Actually those rural people should realise that their basic needs like water and electricity will also be met by any alternative government besides BN. So they should not be held ransom by BN.
Why is it that JAKIM and the various religious departments are blind, deaf and dumb when the BeEnd gomen and its cahoots engage shamans to summon demonic forces and use black magic in their quest to hold on to power?
JAKIM and its band of mullahs turn … delirious when it comes to small matters (banning yoga and poco-poco) but tutup mata when it serves their purpose and political masters.
… hypocrites ! Sarawakians please be careful.
Congratulation to PKR. It seems that they got acceptance in Sarawak.
Two “praises” in a row. Must be some kind of record for you. Employing reverse psychology here? I think most of Anil’s readers know you all too well by now.
Andrew,
We got to give him the due credit
Gerakan K,
Is that you? What we should be with Nazri? It’s not the first time. Last time, Koh Tsu Koon’s picture was torn down by Anemo
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/04/08/nazri-slams-gerakans-punjabi-boy/
Just vote dislike.
Why dislike ??? You mean my statement is wrong ???
Good news from you all brothers and sisters. Vote for Baru Bian is a
vote for change and a future of our generation. Vote for Willie is a vote
for Taib…
Baru Bian will be the next Chief Minister of Sarawak. Be proud of our
own man.
UNDI PKR,IDUP PKR.