Jaringan Orang Asal Semalaysia (Joas) is rallying to raise funds for prominent native rights lawyer Harisson Ngau, who is hospitalised for a "brain infection".

Ngau was rushed to Kuching via a chartered flight yesterday because the facilities in Miri, where he lives, could not provide the high resolution scans required for diagnosis.

The charter flight cost RM37,000, Joas said in a statement.

"The doctors said they need a higher resolution machine. There is one at Miri General Hospital but in order to use it, he has to be admitted to the hospital for a few days and there is a queue.

"So in order to get an urgent diagnosis to treat his illness, the doctors decided to refer him to Timberland Hospital in Kuching, as it also has a higher resolution machine," Joas secretariat director Mark Bujang said.

Ngau, who is now in the intensive care unit at Timberland Hospital and awaiting the scan results, is conscious and able to talk, Mark said.

The former Baram MP was admitted to Columbia Asia Hospital, Miri, when he lost his ability to walk and his speech became slurred.

He has represented Sarawak natives in customary rights cases for more than 20 years and represented the Baram community in court in the recently scrapped Baram Dam project.

Ngau was also detained for 60 days under the Internal Security Act during 'Ops Lalang' in 1987, for anti-logging activities.

Donations can be banked into his wife Uding Ngau's Maybank account (161181039023).

"We really need your support and let us pray for Harrison's speedy recovery," Mark said.

Due to the overwhelming response in incoming donations, transactions to the Maybank account has for the moment been suspended by the bank, as family members are contacted to verify the account and settle the matter with the financial institution concerned.

This is a precautionary measure standard to most banking accounts not registered or verified for retail transactions or frequent multiple deposits.

Until then, donations will not be able to be banked in for the moment.