MURUM DAM BLOCKADE, NO SOLUTION YET

Sunday October 14, 2012
Dragging on for too long
By STEPHEN THEN
stephenthen@thestar.com.my

MIRI: Concerned community leaders are urging the authorities to reach a swift and fair solution to the impasse between the Penans and developers of the Murum dam, located some 320km from Bintulu.

There are worries that the Penans are stricken by malaria at the sites where they had put up a blockade.

Orang Ulu National Association chairman for Miri Division, Peter Kallang, said yesterday the latest information he received from his people who had visited the Penans was that many of them were ill.

In need of solution: A group of Penan men resting at one of the blockades
leading to the Murum dam, some 320km from Bintulu, in this file pic.

“They have malaria, with many suffering from fever and other illnesses. There are still many women at the site.

“Luckily, the little children and old people are no longer taking part in the protest. Belaga assemblyman Liwan Lagang had managed to persuade the Penans to bring their children and old folk back to their settlements.

“More than 300 of the Penans have been camping at the blockade sites for more than two weeks already. There is a need for the state authorities and those handling the dam project to arrive at a swift resolution with the Penans to end the problem.

“The solution must be fair and acceptable to all sides. There must be fast justice for the affected natives,” he told The Star yesterday.

Kallang, who is also Kenyah Association Miri Division chairman, said concerned members of the community have been visiting the blockade sites to check on the situation.

He said there was still no indication of a solution to the problem.

A community chief in Bakun, Penghulu Saging Bit, said the district officer in Belaga and Liwan, as well as Ulu Rajang MP Datuk Billy Abit Joo, had tried to negotiate an amicable solution between the Penans and the dam developers, but so far there was no solution.
“The Belaga district officer has asked the local community leaders in Bakun and Murum area to help out. Everyone wants to see a fair solution,” he said when contacted.

“We don’t want to see the Penans suffering like this,” he stressed, adding that some of the Penans had brought their children and the elderly to seek shelter at the longhouses at Sungai Asap Resettlement Scheme, some 120km from Murum dam.

Sarawak Coalition of Associations for Nature and Environment (Scane) chairman Raymond Abin told The Star yesterday that the Penans at the site wanted written assurances from the dam developers and the state government that their resettlement and compensation issues would be resolved soon.

“They want all the promises made by the state to be fulfilled. These include the RM500,000 promised to each Penan family who would be uprooted by the project and the land to be given to them at the resettlement sites.

“The sites must be the ones that the Penans had identified and all the facilities promised by the state must be provided as had been agreed upon,” he said.

Asked about the health of the Penans at the blockade sites, he said the people were determined to fight for their rights though many were sick and weak.

Some 350 Penans have been staging blockades along the roads leading to the Murum Dam in Belaga.
They are angry that they have been kept in the dark regarding their resettlement and compensation though the dam is reaching the last stage of construction.

Last week, Liwan acknowledged that the affected Penans had a right to demand fairness because they have not been given fair treatment by those handling the dam project.