The indigenous people of Malaysia must be given the right to empower themselves to choose their own course especially in the face of development, the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) said today.

In terms of right to development, the 13-member commission said in its annual report released today that indigenous people must be part of the decision-making process in any development projects affecting them directly.

"The government should understand and recognise that decisions affecting indigenous people especially in relation to development projects involving native customary land should be made by the indigenous people themselves and not by private companies or any government agency, " the report added.

The 104-page report was made available to parliamentarians today.

Suhakam added that the government should understand and recognise that indigenous people are not against development but want sustainable development that meets their needs and benefits them particularly during the transition to a different lifestyle.

The human rights body also called on all timber concessionaires, developers and agencies to hold open consultation with all levels of the various indigenous communities in Malaysia.

"The government should also support the indigenous people in their efforts to obtain recognition of their ancestral customs, native customary rights, culture and language.

"The indigenous people should be given the opportunity to promote their indigenous history, origin, culture and knowledge and this should be included in the formal education curriculum," the report said.

Indigenous history

The report specifically touched on the indigenous communities affected by the government's ambitious multi-billion ringgit Bakun Dam project in Sarawak.

The Penans, a group of indigenous peoples affected by the dam were reported by the commission as having native land encroached by logging companies and "which resulted in degradation of the forests around their villages and pollution of their water supply".

"Other issues included the encroachment of their traditional lands for development of oil palm plantations without involvement of the natives," the report added.

The commission also said that it will take on the task to inform the government regarding cases where the police carry their duties in an unjust manner and are allegedly biased towards logging companies and oil palm plantations developers.

Suhakam had sent a team to the Bakun area in October 2001 for a closer study of the situation there.

The visit arose out of the concern of various communities living around the area who had complained that the project was exacting a great toll on both the environment as well as their livelihood.

10,000 resettled

More than 10,000 people, affected by the construction of the dam, have already been resettled.

The project was postponed several times due to the economic downturns the late 80s and 90s but was recently revived. The project is expected flood 69,640 hectares of land, an area larger than Singapore.

Suhakam's report also detailed instances where the indigenous communities have refused to move out of the affected areas due to the low compensation.

"We recommend that the provision of adequate and equitable compensation to the families who were forced to resettle due to the pending flooding by the Bakun Dam be reviewed and hardship allowance be paid," the report said.

"Suhakam considers claims by natives for their livelihood and practice of their customs as a basic human right and it is important that the issue be resolved amicably," the report added.