Ulu Baram villagers file lawsuit against state over Baram dam
Legal matter: Harrison (centre) explaining the lawsuit filed by the villagers from Ulu Baram at Miri High Court.
MIRI: A group of villagers from Ulu Baram has filed a lawsuit at Miri High Court against the state government.
They are challenging the move by the state to extinguish their native customary rights (NCR) in the areas earmarked for the proposed construction of the RM4bil Baram dam.
The villagers from Long Naah and Long Kesseh filed this via their lawyer Harrison Ngau at about 3pm yesterday, witnessed by a large crowd.
The plaintiffs are farmers Anyi Eng, Edward Jok Wan, Engan Eng — all of them from Long Naah, Anyi Ajang, Matang Laing and Wan Jok — all of them from Long Kesseh.
In their suit, they named the Minister for Planning and Resources Management as defendant number one and the state government as second defendant.
This is the very first lawsuit filed in relation to the proposed project that is earmarked for construction between Long Naah and Long Kesseh.
In the affidavit, the villagers said their NCR over some 4,000ha of land in Long Naah and Long Kesseh had been extinguished via a public notice from the state government effective Aug 6.
Harrison said the plaintiffs felt that the move by the state government had contravened the Constitution.
“The main ground of their suit is that they are challenging the constitutionality of Section 5 (3) and Section 5 (4) of the Sarawak Land Code that was used to extinguish the land rights.
“The plaintiffs said that extinguishing their land rights violated Article 5 (1) of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees them a right to a living on their land.
“The article in the Federal Constitution said the people have a right to the land and the land is a source of life and livelihood,” said Harrison.
“The land where the NCR had been extinguished in Long Naah and Long Kesseh are within the communal boundary. The plantiffs want the High Court to declare illegal the state’s move to extinguish their NCR and to return the land to them.”
Asked how many villagers in Long Naah and Long Kesseh had their NCR titles extinguished, Harrison said more than 1,000 villagers from over 100 families were affected.
“All of them are from the Kayan ethnic group.”
Harrison said the court would fix a date very soon.
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