The Sarawak government will study and take action based on the recommendation of the findings of the National Task Force set up by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry on sexual harassments against Penan women in the state, Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu said today.

Jabu, who is also the minister-in-charge of Penan Affairs, however said he had not received the report, which was made public this week as a result of the investigation involving several Penan settlements, four primary and two secondary schools in the Baram district, including Long Item, Long Kawi, Long Luteng, Long Muboi and Ba' Keluan since November last year.

The matter, including the documentation of at least eight cases of rape and molesting of Penan women and girls by timber workers in the report, would be referred to the state cabinet and discussed once he had receive it, he told reporters.

The report, among others, recommended the appointment of 'trusted' lorry drivers and student management assistants to escort Penan schoolchildren back to their villages and the need for awareness programmes on personal safety, sex education and violence against women to address the problem.

The report also found that the Penans had little access to registration, healthcare and education due to poverty and the remoteness of their settlements while many did not have personal documents.

The Penans also felt neglected because of negative perceptions and prejudices against them and their children had a high drop-out rate at school.

Jabu said the state government was concerned about the welfare of the Penans as such issues were likely to be manipulated by the opposition and negative foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

It would be unfair if such NGOs and foreign media chose to capitalise on the three percent of the estimated 16,281 Penans who still remained nomadic in the jungles for their own ulterior motives, he said.

"We don't mind if it is balanced reporting but there had been a lot of manufactured lies," Jabu who is also State Rural Development Minister said, adding that he had been dealing with the Penans for the past 40 years.

Police inaction or insufficient evidence?

Meanwhile the Penan Support Group says that it will seek justice for victims of rape among Penan women by workers of logging companies in Sarawak.

Saying that it would help expose and correct the wrongs being committed in Penan society, the group, a loose coalition of 35 non-governmental organisations, added that the long-occurring sexual abuse of Penan girls in Sarawak was a hideous crime.

In a statement today, the group said the ministry's report confirming that the rapes did take place was also a distressing symptom of the overall situation being faced by the Penans and other vulnerable indigenous groups in Sarawak.

The Penan Support Group also criticised the police force for dragging their feet on three allegations last year where they had dismissed them as "nothing with proper evidence for us to proceed in court" and that activists "did not give specific details to support their claims".

However the Criminal Investigation Department director Mohd Bakri Zinin said that the police had been unable to charge anyone with any offence because "no witnesses have been brought to the police by any NGO fighting for the Penan cause".

He added that since 1995, the police have investigated 14 reports of alleged rape in the Baram area but only four cases involved Penan women, including the three cases reported in 2008.

"These cases were not brought to court due to insufficient evidence. There was also a case involving the sudden death of a Penan elder, where no foul play is suspected," he said.

- Bernama