The Long Sayan Declaration 2002
Of late in Limbang and Baram, a number of Penan communities from both the settled and nomadic groups, have returned to block the roads used by the logging industry, and stage peaceful protests against several timber companies.
We note that our action of erecting blockades has often been regarded as law-breaking protests attributable to instigation from parties with vested interests.
In view of such opinions, we would like to take the opportunity here to spell out the real reasons which have driven our community to block the various timber roads and explain the suffering and destitution that we have had to endure as a result of the manner in which the authorities have been making decisions in matters that affect our lives.
Promises of the state government
Since the 1980s, the purportedly generous flow of financial assistance and infrastructural aid promised by the state government to the Penan community has been widely publicised as the solution that will put our poverty and suffering to an end.
However today, it is clear that all such promises have failed to translate into any real improvements in our standard of living and as a matter of fact, the hardship that we have been subjected to in our daily lives is intensifying day by day.
It can no longer be denied that the living conditions of the Penan community are worsening despite the various promises that the state government has made to improve our standard of living. Thus it is high time that the state humbly accepts the fact that they have indeed failed to solve our troubles with all their publicised promises.
Here we wish to elaborate in detail on why such promises have failed to deliver.
First and foremost, the state government has to acknowledge that their decision-making process in matters relating to the licensing of timber concessions in Sarawak is the root of all our troubles today. All these years, this non-transparent practice has been carried out without first obtaining our permission and consent and without the incorporation of a fair, open and meaningful consultation process with the people.
This system prioritises the interests of the wealthy and politically linked business class, who have been amassing riches continuously from the sale of timber resources extracted from our land, at our expense.
In short, this is the real cause of the rapid destruction of the forests and rivers that we depend on heavily for our food, medicines and source of income.
Thus it will be impossible for the state government to put an end to our troubles and distress with their highly publicised promises even if the promises have indeed been delivered, if their decisions in matters concerning forest management continue to be the cause of our troubles.
When our forest is destroyed, all the other promises and assistance will cease to be meaningful in improving our quality of life because our two primary demands have been disregarded. These two demands are the halting of all logging and other destructive economic activities e.g. the development of oil palm plantations and dam construction projects, on our land and forest; and the recognition of our Native Customary Rights on our ancestral land.
Regardless of the circumstances, it is imperative for any authority who intends to deliver any form of assistance to a community, to first engage itself in a study of the people's way of life and understand the demands and needs of the community concerned so that the implemented programmes will be able to produce the intended benefits.
The state government must first seek to fulfil the two demands above if it has any intention in improving our quality of life. Our forest and land have been supplying us with abundant resources and providing us with sources of income and have also shaped our culture, beliefs and customs. Thus to destroy the forest has the same impact of destroying our community.
Secondly, it has been very clear that in many instances, the state government has also not been politically determined in carrying out its commitments to the community. Most of their promises were widely publicised in the media but more often than not, there was little follow up on their implementation. In addition, we too have no way of ensuring that each promise is fulfilled.
This lack of seriousness in implementing the promises becomes very apparent in several cases.
For example, when it was announced that parts of the forests in Ulu Baram and Ulu Limbang would be converted into the Special Penan Forests in 1993, there was no further explanation on the legal status of the concerned land. Would this forest land then be categorised as state land areas where we are allowed to exercise our Native Customary Rights (NCR) as stipulated by the Sarawak Land Code 1958 or have the areas been gazetted as Communal Forests under the Sarawak Forests Ordinance 1953?
At the same time, applications from numerous Penan villages for the land surrounding their longhouses to be legally constituted as Communal Forests have never been approved by the state although several villages have repeatedly applied way since the 1980s.
We would like to categorically state here that our applications for Communal Forests have always involved modest sizes of land. However the state government has always been unresponsive to such requests when in fact it is through the establishment of Communal Forests that our welfare is best protected.
Furthermore, this lack of seriousness can also be seen when we compare the state government's promise on the annual allocation of RM1 million for the Penan community with the quality of life of the people itself which still lacks facilities as basic as decent housing and agricultural training programmes and assistance.
How can we ensure the existence of such an allocation and if it indeed exists, how can we verify that its distribution process has been implemented fairly and efficiently? We have no way of ensuring that all the promises made are more than publicity stunts as our living conditions continue to deteriorate day by day.
Problems of the Penan community
As a result of the state government's decision in allowing the encroachment of our forest and its lack of seriousness in fulfilling the promises it made, our living conditions have been deteriorating day by day. In this wealthy country, it is certainly unjustifiable for us to have to shoulder the suffering that even our ancestors did not have to face when they were living as hunter-gatherers in the forest.
The hardship that plagues the community revolves around some very fundamental survival needs. Below is the list of problems which obviously involves the access to the most basic rights of each human being.
Many families have been facing difficulties in obtaining the supply of a sufficient and balanced diet because logging operations have destroyed forest areas that used to provide us with sago, fruits and vegetables; and polluted the rivers that used to provide us with a steady supply of fish. At the same time, for the settled communities, their farming output has not been high.
The animal population in the surrounding forests has long been declining and the soil quality of our farms is also poor because most of our farms are areas that have been logged over.
We also have not received any agricultural training programmes including training in the preparation of natural fertilisers or resource assistance like access to a vegetable seed supply. There is also no assistance rendered for us to undertake fishpond or animal rearing projects.
At times the situation has been so critical some families are regularly forced to consume rice with only salt or subsist on plain porridge meals.
In addition, our lack of income also entails frequent shortages in kitchen essentials like sugar, salt and oil.
The destruction of our forests and rivers also has an impact on our livelihood. We can no longer obtain income from hunting, fishing or the sale of forest products like rattan, resin and fragrant eaglewood.
We also have been facing problems in purchasing daily essentials such as soap and medicines for common illnesses. We also find it difficult to settle our children's schooling fees, obtain medical service and travel to the nearest towns to carry out important affairs.
Logging operations have also polluted our rivers and the air in areas nearby the logging roads. Polluted water and air have caused us to suffer from stomach disorders, skin diseases, eye infections and a weakened immune system, which in turn causes us other health problems.
Most Penan families have been living in substandard housing facilities. There has been very little state assistance in providing us with decent housing.
Our community who were traditionally nomadic hunter-gatherers generally do not have adequate knowledge in longhouse construction. To make things worse, we also do not have the financial means to purchase construction materials or hire contractors or labourers to build decent houses for us. Thus most of our homes today are in such distressing conditions.
Some villages are made up by only huts. Some homes do not even have basic plank or cement flooring the floors are built from either crude wood or bamboos. As a matter of fact, there are even homes which yet have to have any proper flooring in such houses, the occupants are still walking on bare earth. In most Penan homes also, there are no sanitary toilet facilities. Quite a number of our homes have been built in unsuitable areas and are exposed to extreme heat.
Many members of the Penan community also have yet to own any self-identification documents. The registration process which requires us to travel to the nearest town is too costly for most of us. Unfortunately the authorities have also been lax in sending the representatives from the Registration Department to visit Penan villages to carry out the process.
Tomorrow: Our demands
