Company denies threatening Long Urun villagers over plantation

Summary

• Investment holding company Sin Heng Chan denies threatening Long Urun villagers for speaking out over a nearby oil palm plantation.

• The company says the dispute revolves around planting encroachment and the location of a homestay.

• It also claims that those against the company in the dispute are not villagers, but newcomers to the area.

Within a small village 180km away from Bintulu in Sarawak lies a brewing conflict between a homestay owner and an oil palm plantation.

Amidst claims that an investment holding company had threatened villagers in Long Urun for speaking out against its plantation nearby, Sin Heng Chan (Malaya) Berhad denied the allegations and said it has been engaging critics to resolve the dispute amicably.

Sin Heng Chan told Malaysiakini that its plantation arm, Urun Plantations Sdn Bhd, will be meeting with villagers who made claims against the company at the district office next week.

“Urun Plantations has always adopted a policy of active engagement with the Jawatankuasa Kawasan Kampung Long Urun (JKKK) and local communities. The claims are untrue,” the company said.

‘Dispute not spread by locals’

In a comment piece published by Malaysiakini, a homestay owner alleged that Sin Heng Chan had threatened villagers for speaking out against the company.

Sin Heng Chan said the dispute revolves around planting encroachment and the homestay’s location, which is within a protected buffer zone near upper Sungai Belaga.

In a letter dated Dec 16, 2024, sighted by Malaysiakini, the JKKK denied its involvement in the dispute. The letter had 220 signatures.

The piece also claimed that village leaders who had championed the excision of their ancestral land from the plantation’s licence later backed out quietly, believed to have been motivated by promises of money and jobs.

READ MORE: COMMENT | Promise of 'no deforestation': Sarawak's forests tell different story

However, Sin Heng Chan said that the claims were perpetrated by a group of around 20 people who do not belong to the village.

“Urun Plantations has been engaging with these individuals since April 2024 through established channels including the JKKK, the temenggung (highest level of community leader), penghulus (village heads), and local authorities including the district officer and Sarawak administrative officer.

“In all cases, there has been no support for these individuals as they are considered to be new residents to the area,” it said.

‘Blockade causing inconvenience’

Besides that, the comment piece said that residents enacted a homemade fence as a blockade to prevent entries into the plantation.

According to Sin Heng Chan, a meeting was held between the group behind the blockade, Urun Plantations representatives, and members of the JKKK. It was agreed that the blockade would be taken down by Dec 26.

“In the meeting, the JKKK mentioned that the blockade was causing inconvenience to longhouse residents by stopping them from using the road. 

“Upon expiry of the time period given to the individuals to clear it, the blockade was removed by members of the JKKK themselves,” the company said.

It claimed that the blockade was located adjacent to the road outside the homestay, which was 22km away from the settlement area which Urun Plantations provided for the villagers.

The settlement area is more than 1,400 hectares in size, containing 15 longhouses in which villagers reside, the company explained.

According to a news report from Dayak Daily, Long Urun villagers are Orang Asli of Kenyah and Penan descent.

Urun Plantations also provided a monthly contribution to the JKKK for community development, totalling RM7.5 million since the project began, it added.

The company further denied claims that it has been carrying out deforestation activities.

Lease from 1997

On Dec 27, Senator Abun Sui Anyit called on the Sarawak land and survey department director to permanently stop Urun Plantations from opening any new areas in upper Sungai Belaga.

The PKR Hulu Rajang branch chief said in a statement on Facebook that the company was supposed to complete its deforestation operations in 2007, 10 years after it obtained its provisional lease in 1997.

Abun urged the state government to enforce the lease’s conditions against the company.

When Sin Heng Chan was asked about its deforestation activities, the company stopped short of denying the allegations, saying that it has been carrying out agricultural activities on the land in question for about 27 years now.

EAIC uncovers DOE officer's attempt to release e-waste containers

'It's just maintenance work,' mining firm says amid Orang Asli uproar

Orang Asli: Iron mining ongoing despite minister's stop work assurance

Monsoon season a 'mandatory holiday' for flood victims in Kelantan

S'wak has no plans yet to mine rare earth elements - Abang Johari