Sarawak Energy Bhd’s (SEB) Christmas and New Year ‘gifts’ of RM3,000 to buy two pigs to each of 33 villages of the indigenous communities of Baram are not only considered as an insult, but also as a form of bribery in order to induce them into supporting the construction of the Baram dam, said Sarawak Save Rivers Network (Save Rivers) chairperson Peter Kallang.

“Are we worth the two pigs knowing very well that we will lose everything such as our ancestral lands, longhouses, and our cultural heritage due to the dam?” he asked.

SEB said it was part of their “professional and ethical” engagement with the people.

“I hope that this is not how much SEB value the worth of the people. It is a cheap way to slowly lure the people into accepting this destructive dam.

“By any standard, it is a mockery and an insult,” Peter said.

The SEB-owned dam, when completed will submerge some 400 sq km of their ancestral land, and 20,000 ethnic people and 32 longhouses and villages will be displaced.

“Giving the villagers money to buy two pigs is indeed very insulting to the people,” stressed Peter when asked to comment on SEB’s Christmas and New Year donations.

Two police reports have been lodged against SEB over the alleged bribery, with the second report lodged on Monday at the Long Lama police station by Tua Kampung James Nyurang of Kampung Tanjung Tepalit, Baram.

The first report was lodged by three villagers - namely Kho Mei Teck, Maut Lanjau and Tasa Jok from Long Mekaba, Silat - at the Central Police station in Miri last Friday.

The villagers told the police that they received RM3,000 from a representative of SEB, who insisted that they sign a blank form.

“We made this report because we were not sure about the money and suspected the intention of SEB.

“We did not want our signatures as evidence of our support for SEB to carry out the construction of the dam,” said Maut to the police.

“All of us are against the construction of the dam,” he said, urging the police to investigate their report.

They said they were in the dark about the donations and only knew about it when a church leader told them that the money had been used to buy two pigs.

They suspected the money to be a form of bribery to induce them into supporting SEB in the construction of the dam.

SEB denies allegations

The SEB had issued a statement on Monday categorically denying the allegations by individuals that the company was bribing the communities in Baram to support the development of the Baram dam project.

The statement said that the monies were donations made by SEB to village security and development committees or churches in the communities in conjunction with Christmas and New Year celebrations.

The monies were in response to requests made by the communities in the area during one of the discussions, as well as in a letter dated Nov 28, 2013.

“SEB takes great exceptions to these accusations. We are aware that such allegations are usually made with malicious intention by people who have their own political agenda or to further the individual’s or the related non-governmental organisations’ cause,” the statement said.

“SEB will assess the assistance required by the communities that we engaged with. Our engagement with the people has always been professional and ethical and it is frustrating to note that this good intention has been misconceived by a small group of orchestrated by the anti-dam NGOs who have been  instigating the people with these lies in order to protect their own agenda,” said the statement.

Commenting on SEB’s denial, Peter said: “You can deny the allegations, but the villagers believe that the money was a form of corruption to induce them into supporting the dam project.

“Otherwise why should the villagers lodge two police reports against SEB, and why did they only give the money to villagers who are affected by the construction of the dam, and not to other people?” he said.

“The denial is utter rubbish,” Peter said.

The writer, who uses a pseudonym, is based in Sarawak.