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, December 3, 2010

Deputy Chief Minister George Chan said illgeal loggers are naughty and BN Administration is not smart enough to catch them

By FMT Staff
MIRI: “Naughty” illegal loggers and their tech-savvy “collaborators” are constantly outwitting Sarawak's enforcement agencies, Deputy Chief Minister George Tan said.
He said these collaborators used state-of-the-art telecommunication technology to escape the government's clutches.
“We have good land reserves and we have very good principles... but it is hard to catch these naughty people who are cutting down trees and clearing the land every now and then.
"Even with a helicopter, they somehow warn their people (on the ground) that we are coming," Chan said at the closing of a workshop on “Best Management Practices” for Sungai Miri River Basin Stakeholder Project here recently.
He said knowing this, the enforcement bodies should keep abreast of technological advancements and be serious about implementing policies that involved all sectors.
“As we progress and improve, we need more enforcers to implement our policies. This is something we have to work hard on...," he said.
He added that while the government was committed to minimising environmental degradation caused by human activities and development, “it was hard to bring the culprits to justice”.
"We know what is happening... we know these illegal activities may have contributed to the degradation of the environment such as erosion in some rivers in the state, such as the Rajang and Baram Rivers... but it is hard to catch the culprits," Chan said who was referring to the massive ecological disaster in Sarawak in early October.
Ecological havoc
The massive logjam disaster that stretched 250km of the Rajang River had adversely affected the livelihood of thousands, many of whom were innocent riverine folks.
This is the third such ecological havoc. The first disaster was at Ga’at in 2008 and the second at Sungai Tunoh last year.
State Land Development Minister James Masing has openly blamed the logjam on rampant illegal logging in the forests of Sungai Melatai.
Masing, who reportedly flew over the mountains of Ulu Melatai, said the logjam was caused by landslides and soil erosion resulting from uncontrolled logging.
He said the place resembled a “war zone”.
"Landslides and soil erosions have destroyed at least three hills in the area,” a news report quoted him as saying.
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