PKR supreme council member Zaid Ibrahim and Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian, who is also a leading land rights lawyer, both affirmed yesterday that Sarawak natives have inalienable rights to their land under adat or native custom.

They were speaking to reporters at the Kuching High Court after Baru had won another significant victory for native customary rights (NCR) to land for Iban longhouses in Sebuyau, Simunjan.

NONE Iban leaders from Rumah Liuk, Rumah Santok, Rumah Arit, Rumah Kaoh, Rumah Mansor and Rumah Kelang had sued the state government in 2008 for gazetting a national park on the Ibans' communal land, without asking or even telling the local villagers.

"We managed to come to an agreement (with the state government)...a huge area of native land affecting 27 longhouses is now excluded from the national park - that's the good news," said a smiling Baru ( right ), flanked by Zaid and a large group of Iban villagers from the longhouses.

The judge will hear the case again on Sept 23, to award legal costs.

Zaid, as PKR national coordinator for Sarawak, has been visiting Kuching regularly, highlighting the party's stand on NCR land. PKR has made NCR recognition a pillar of their electoral platform in the push for a breakthrough in Sarawak in the upcoming state election.

There has been widespread anger on land issues among many Ibans, Bidayuhs, Malays, as well as Penan and other Orang Ulu, throughout the state. They have accused the state government of imposing land policies on them that have enriched timber and plantation companies, while depriving locals of their ancestral land.

Oral histories

The Iban plaintiffs in the disputed area have said they are the 8th and 9th generations to have settled the NCR land, tracing their oral histories back to their pioneering ancestors in Tuba, Sebuyau, more than two centuries ago.

NONE "The natural terrain...has always been suitable for hunting and a source of jungle produce including timber for domestic consumption. Sungai Tuba is a rich source of fresh fish to meet daily needs," the Iban villagers stated.

The farmland and communal forest "provides food, valuable medicines, wildlife and other forest produce for (our) livelihood and sustenance. (We) also farm cultivate and plant padi, fruit trees, rubber, pepper, cocoa and other essential trees and crops," the villagers said.

The land was "not just a source of livelihood but also constitutes life itself...(it) is also fundamental to (our) social, cultural and spiritual survival as native Iban people of Sarawak," they asserted.

These farmers only discovered their land had been declared part of the Ulu Sebuyau national park in 2005 when, to their shock, the gazettement was published in a local newspaper. The Ibans wrote in desperation to every relevant government agency, but they met with frustration at every turn.

NONE "The whole problem started with the (state) government," Zaid ( left ) explained. " (The authorities) want to make a policy, a decision involving the rakyat , (but they) don't talk about it, don't consult, don't seek their views, they do it quietly, they do it in a way that only they know how.

"That's not the way to run a government. You have to be open, you have to consult people."

He said he was encouraged by the Sebuyau Iban plaintiffs. "They are prepared to come forward to fight for their rights. It is a very good sign."

Land rights activists have been struck by a strong sense of deja vu during this latest court case. In 1983, Iban, Malay and Selakau communities in Lundu, western Sarawak, had lost part of their land to the Gunung Gading national park, but the local natives were never consulted nor informed of the gazettement.

In a savage twist of irony, a quarter of the area of the Gunung Gading national park, including some of the local natives' former land, was later excised from the park and awarded to a timber company closely connected to a ruling political party. The timber licence was frozen after news of the scandal broke.

Scepticism on promised NCR land surveys

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's heavily publicised promise to provide funding to survey NCR land has been met with a great deal of scepticism.

alfred jabu "We would be very happy if the government is going to survey all the native customary land, including those in the (Ulu Sebuyau) national park and also including those we claim in the provisional lease in the timber licences.

"Then we would be very happy, but I think they (the state government) will not be very happy," Baru said sarcastically.

He pointed out the government would then have to recognise the native communities' rights above those of the timber companies.

He challenged Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu ( right ) to begin by surveying the NCR land of the numerous native communities that had filed more than 200 lawsuits against the Sarawak government. Baru's firm alone handles more than 100 of these land cases.

Asked why the state government had been so secretive regarding decisions on NCR land, Zaid replied, "The government is too powerful, whether the government in KL, or the government in Sarawak, they are the same. They can do what they like...they couldn't care less."

KERUAH USIT is a human rights activist - ‘anak Sarawak, bangsa Malaysia'. This weekly column is an effort to provide a voice for marginalised Malaysians. Keruah Usit can be contacted at keruah_usit@yahoo.com.