Several indigenous people groups said today they will remove the road blocks into the disputed logging sites in Sarawak only if the logging companies concerned stop encroaching into native lands.

In a statement issued on behalf of the Penan, Kayan and Kenyah communities in Baram, Sarawak, environmental non-government agency Friends of the Earth (SAM) today urged the state government and companies involved to meet the natives demands to withdraw from the area or provide them fair and adequate compensation.

Their rights to traditional native lands have been ignored by the logging companies and state government, thus forcing them into lives of difficulty because of deprivation of forest and river resources, said SAM.

All promises of the Sarawak government concerning biosphere conservation, payment of fair compensation, assistance funds and infrastructure have not been fulfilled.