A group of Sarawak natives are taking the state government to court for failing to pay compensation after acquiring their communal reserve land and model teak plantation to make way for a controversial aluminium smelter linked to the Bakun dam project.

The Kadayan natives from the Kuala Nyalau and Ulu Nyalau villages, some 50km from Bintulu, said they have been fighting for fair compensation for more than five years when the state government acquired the land for the smelter.

The project, named Smelter Asia , is to be developed by Gulf International Investment Group (GIIG), a company headed by Syed Mokhtar Albukhary (a tycoon closely linked to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad) and Dubai-based businessman Mohamed Ali Alabbar.

The villagers filed the lawsuit in 2000 after various appeals to Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and Mahathir failed to gain any response from either party.

In a 48-page document sent to malaysiakini , a leader of the community Sapuan Abdullah said the community is seeking RM110 million compensation for yet-to-mature teak trees which were planted on the reserve land, known as Lot 3, between 1994 and 1998.

"The largest and first ever teak plantation in Sarawak by the indigenous Kadayan community had 717,306 teak trees with a potential worth of an estimated RM2.244 billion.

"(It was) acquired by the Sarawak government in 1998 and yet to be compensated but is about to be bulldozed to give way for a proposed RM7.6 billion aluminium smelter undertaken by politically well-connected Malaysian and foreign private investors," he said in the memorandum addressed to DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock.

Problematic venture

Sapuan said the Lot 3 plot was first gazetted as a native communal reserve land in 1987 by the state government as part of an election strategy by the ruling coalition to win support of the villagers.

He said the state government had repeatedly advised the natives to develop their customary rights land in commercial agriculture ventures with non-native financiers.

As a result of this, Sapuan said the Kadayan villagers engaged a local company in 1994 to develop a teak plantation in a joint venture whereby the villagers would get 25 percent of the share of sales revenue of harvested teak.

"The turnkey contractor would bear all the cost of development in return for 75 percent share of the revenue upon the harvest and sale of commercial teak trees in stages during the 8th, 11th and 25th year," he said.

The company, Bumisar Jaya Bhd, was chaired by former Sarawak state assemblyperson Michael Sim Kiam Hui.

However, Sapuan said the terms of the villagers' joint venture with Bumisar has since been cited as a reason for the government not to pay compensation for the teak trees.

When the legal suit came up for mention, Sapuan said the government had put up a defence claiming that the villagers had contravened Section 8 of the Land Code as the trees were planted by a non-native turnkey contractor.

The state government also claimed the villagers had no proprietary rights over the Lot 3 trees because they were planted by the non-native contractor.

Sapuan contended though that under the Land Code, the maximum penalty for engaging non-native contractors is a RM1,000 fine only without affecting propriety rights over the trees.

"A lot of government projects have been awarded to natives who subcontract them out to non-natives. None of them have been penalised," he added.

Lawyer representing the villagers, John Antau said there has been no resolution to the matter although both sides have met several times for discussions and negotiations.

"The hearing before the Bintulu High Court had been scheduled earlier for March 6 this year but it has since been postponed to June 17," he said when contacted on Wednesday.

Impoverished natives

Meanwhile, the Kadayan villagers also protested plans to clear the land to make way for the aluminium smelter without allowing for existing trees to be harvested.

"Smelter Asia informed that it would commence site work in mid-2004. Aggrieved villagers are very concerned that Smelter Asia will bulldoze the trees and destroy any physical evidence for evaluation purposes.

"Many local timber merchants have made enquiries on the possibility of harvesting and buying the teak trees," said Sapuan in the document.

Last month, the Smelter Asia project suffered a setback when the government called off a deal to sell 60 percent of Sarawak Hidro, the operator of the 2,400 megawatt Bakun dam project, to GIIG.

Had it been successful, the deal would have allowed Smelter Asia to purchase energy generated by the controversial dam which as already been estimated by environmental groups to exceed Sarawak's future power needs .

Sapuan further criticised the government for ignoring the plight of poor communities whose plantations had been confiscated without adequate compensation.

"Why did the government acquire an area that was already cultivated? Did it consider (that it will) impoverish the natives? Social activists have argued that the acquisition defied logic because the teak trees and oil palms (also planted) could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign exchange for Sarawak," he said.

The Kadayan leader said the community has been forced to seek assistance from opposition leaders, non-government organisations and foreign governments.

"Without help from influential parties and the world community, (the villagers) would probably never get a single cent of the compensation claims...No influential Sarawak politician had ever dared bring up the compensation claims for settlement with the chief minister," he added.

Copies of the villagers' memorandum are directed to leaders of opposition parties, local and international human rights organisations as well as the governments of the United States and United Kingdom.