NEWEST UPDATE ON NUMPANG SUNTAI'S AND SEBANGAN NATIVES' STRUGGLE TO PROTECT OUR NATIVE CUSTOMARY RIGHTS LANDS AND SEBANGAN RAINFOREST.

Sebangan is located in the State of Sarawak, Malaysia.

Numpang Suntai and 14 others, representing 276 Iban families from the 15 longhouse communities of Kampung Entanggor, Ensika, Lumut, Arus Dayak, Tongkah Dayak, Tongkah Dayak Lubuk Manta, Tongkah Dayak Atas, Tongkah Dayak Rumah Panjai, Lunying, Belimbing Besi, Ketimbong and Bajong Ili, Bajong Ili Atas, Bajong Ili Tengah, Bajong Ili Baruh, all situated at Sebangan, Simunjan, Sarawak, filed their civil suit at the Kuching High Court on November 1st, 2010.

This case was heard at Kuching High Court on August 8th though August 19th 2011. This civil court proceeding is far from over. It is to continue on November 8th through 11th, 2011 and will reconvene again on December 19 through December 23rd, 2011.

Named as defendants in the civil suit are Quality Concrete Sdn Bhd the timber concession holder, Loyal Billion Sdn Bhd the logging contractor, 2 government appointed community leaders Penghulu Merum anak Babu and Ketua Kampung Agu anak Kaleng, together with the Director of Foresty and the Sarawak State Government.

The Sebuyau and Sebangan Ibans still need your moral and financial support to fight against illegal loggers. Your contributions will pay for the legal expenses and the cost of transportation, lodging, and food for Sebangan villagers who will be attending the proceedings in Kuching.

We desperately need your support to save our NCR heritages and our prestine environment from further destruction. If we lost this case, we will lost our land and forest to timber tycoons and oil palm plantation owners. Losing this case is losing our life line, our means of survival. Without our land and forests, we the Dayaks, the natives of Borneo, we have nothing.

In the USA please e-mail christinasuntai@gmail.com for postal address and other information. Or you can use Pay Pal by clicking Donate and you can use any credit cards to donate on-line. Thank you for you donations and support.

Friday, October 22, 2010

7 Ibans villagers, including my brother Numpang Suntai are currently being detained by the police

SIMUNJAN – Seven Ibans villagers are currently being detained by the police at the Simunjan Police Station for allegedly causing mischief by fire to a logging company’s machinery and their workers quarters.
Providing Moral Support
4 villagers were arrested last night, which include 2 headmen. They are Tuai Rumah Philip Anak Bakat of Kampung Tungkah Atas, Tuai Rumah Neli Anak Nipa of Kampung Bajong Ili, Bawi Anak Atman of Kampung Tungkah Baroh Manta and Tinsi Anak Bunda of Kampung Lumut.
In an FMT report on Oct 19, natives from the six long houses in Sebuyau/Sebanggan had predicted that they would be blamed for the fire which destroyed a campsite belonging to Royal Billion, a company linked to the politically-powerful Quality Concrete Holdings.
Free Malaysia Today
3 more villagers were arrested at 2.30 this afternoon. They are Tuai Rumah Sadun Anak Aton and Nicholas Mujah of Kampung Ensika and Numpang Anak Suntai of Kampung Bajong. Nicholas Mujah also happens to be the Secretary General of the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA) and a member of the Indigenous Peoples Network of Malaysia (JOAS).
About 200 villagers were present at the police station to give support to their comrades who were arrested.
Sebuyau Ibans descended at Simunjan Balai in show of Moral Support
The arrest were made in connection with the recent fire that destroyed a block of two storey quarters occupied by timber workers, a store, six tractors, two logging trucks a pick-up and an excavator belonging to a logging contractor Royal Billion Sdn. Bhd. which is contracted to extract logs for Quality Concrete Holdings in the area purportedly to be within the native customary rights (NCR) of six Iban longhouses in Sebuyau.
The logging company, Quality Concrete Holdings, has been in the centre of dispute after the Forest Department has given it a licence to carry out logging activities in the disputed 3,305 hectares of forests which the Ibans from six longhouses claim to be their NCR land.The Director of Quality Concrete is Raziah Mahmud who also happens to be the Sarawak Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud’s sister.
When negotiations failed the Ibans have also brought their case with the Police, the district and resident offices, the lands and surveys and the Forest department.
When all these failed, the natives since last Friday have erected a blockade to stop the workers from the Royal Billion company encroaching into their native customary rights land.
They have also stopped a “tongkang” or barge from loading timber that has been extracted from the disputed area.
Just before Nicholas Mujah got detained, we managed to talk to him on the phone and he said that he sense that there is a strong urgency by the company to target the blame on him.
According to Mujah, the policeman at the station told him that the contractor reported him at the scene burning the machines. “But how can that be true, when I am in Sibu at that time?” exclaimed Mujah.
The villagers will be detained until Tuesday to facilitate the police in their investigations.
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