The state governments of Selangor and Penang have donated a four-wheel-drive vehicle to Penan communities in Sarawak, in an effort to protect schoolgirls from sexual abuse by logging company employees in Baram.

The transportation initiative grew after the national women’s ministry and a coalition of NGOs, the Penan Support Group (PSG), reported that Penan schoolgirls – as young as ten years old – have suffered rape and other sexual crimes committed by loggers.

the antidote article sarawak native logging school children 280409 06 The incidents usually happen after the girls hitch rides with logging company vehicles to get to their schools.

The Selangor and the Penang governments contributed RM50,000 and RM30,000, respectively, to pay for a Mitsubishi Triton for the schoolchildren.

At the launch of the new vehicle in Kuching over the weekend, Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim announced that his government would donate a further RM10,000 to ensure the sustainability of the pioneer project.

PKR state leader Baru Bian and information chief See Chee How, both land rights lawyers, explained that the vehicle is to be registered under the name of Tua Kampung Pada Jutang, village head of Long Pakan, who represents Penan communities in middle Baram.

It will be used to ferry students to and from Baram schools, at the beginning and end of each term.

The vehicle will also be used to transport the sick from remote villages to Miri for emergency medical treatment.

Local Baram communities have reported that the helicopter-based Medical Evacuation (Medevac) service run by the state health department is frequently unresponsive to villagers’ pleas for help.

‘Uprooted from secure environments’

The PSG has criticised the state government for failing to provide adequate transportation for impoverished students in Baram.

the antidote article sarawak native logging school children 280409 01 Most Penan villages are isolated, and travelling time to primary and secondary schools can range between several hours to days.

The logging companies operating in Baram have refused to transport local schoolchildren to and from their schools since the rape reports emerged.

Penan community leaders have said the loggers are imposing a form of collective punishment on the villagers in retaliation for the villagers’ exposure of the sexual crimes.

“Penan kids face daunting problems to attend schools, and yet the parents remain very committed to having their kids attending schools. Transport is but one major hindrance to Penan kids completing as much schooling as possible,” said See Chee How.

“Remember, we are talking about primary one school kids, seven years old, being uprooted from their secure village environment, to be placed in school care, as they have to stay in boarding schools.”

The Sarawak government has shrugged off the allegations of rape, with one state minister James Masing describing the Penan rape survivors as “good story-tellers”.

State government officials have also accused rural Penan parents of not doing enough to keep their children in school.

Penan parents have told Malaysiakini they make every effort to ensure their children stay in school, but they struggle against desperate poverty and lack of transportation to reach the few, widely dispersed schools in Baram.

An investment in human beings

selangor penang governments give 4wd to penan 200311 car and key story image “This investment in the vehicle is an investment for the future, that is, the education of human beings,” Khalid Ibrahim ( beside vehicle ) explained.

“That is going to speak well for the Pakatan Rakyat.”

Pakatan Rakyat has contrasted their support for the villagers with the close ties enjoyed by the timber companies and the current state government.

The opposition coalition argues that Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud has personally approved timber concessions, and has propped up the loggers, endangering these vulnerable rural communities.

“I do not expect the Menteri Besar of Selangor to do this job. It should be done by the chief minister of Sarawak,” Khalid pointed out.

“The development of Sarawak means the enhancement of the quality of life of the people…not Sarawak being ‘developed’ at the expense of the community.”

DAP Sarawak Secretary and Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chien Jen ( right )  welcomed the contribution of the Penang government.

Chong Chieng Jen speaking to reporters in Kuching “It is not very often that a state government allocates a fund to help out the residents of KL or other states…but such a crime (in Sarawak) is a crime against humanity.”

Chong condemned the sexual crimes against schoolchildren and the lack of corrective action by Taib’s government.

“The Sarawak government is not willing, or not proactive, in taking steps to prevent such crimes from continuing,” he said.