Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) leaders readily concede that the battle for Batang Ai, expected to kick off within the next 60 days, will be an uphill battle for them, given the plethora of issues emerging from the woodwork.

Nevertheless, they have pledged "not to resort to twisting facts and history just to win an argument or an election".

james jemut masing "That has been my liability in politics. But for the last 25 years, it has worked for me," said PRS Chief Dr James Masing.

"Dublin Unting Inggot should not be faulted for the NCR (Native Customary Rights) legislation amendments in 2000.

leo moggie 03 "If indeed that is the case, which I doubt, Unting, it must be remembered, was secretary-general under Leo Moggie ( right ), who was president (PBDS) and Daniel Tajem who was the deputy president. Where does the buck stop?"

He was commenting on a report that Unting, the late state assemblyperson for Batang Ai, had failed to circulate a legal opinion which cautioned eight PBDS state assemblypersons on supporting the 2000 NCR amendment.

The legal opinion was drawn up by Dayak lawyers Baru Bian and Kilat Beriak, according to Kuala Lumpur-based veteran Sarawak watcher and senior journalist Terence Netto, who has researched the issue exhaustively.

PRS is the successor party to PBDS which was de-registered in Oct 2004 but has only managed to gather some 20,000 of the parent party’s 110,000 members.

Opposition party PKR is said to be eyeing the rest of the members after their proposed Malaysian Dayak Congress was twice rejected by the Registrar of Societies on ground of ‘national security’.

Wildfred Nissom, PRS secretary-general, was more apologetic about the faux pas on the 2000 NCR amendment, saying, "At that time, PBDS had only eight state assemblypersons while the other BN component parties had 61 seats. Just think about it.

batang air state seat 240209 "Unting didn’t have the power to make the blunder that was mentioned," said Nissom. "Besides, it’s bad feng shui to talk ill of the dead.

"We lost eight PBDS seats for championing NCR protection and compensation issues. What did the same characters do to us all over Sarawak?

"The Chinese, including the DAP, never helped us. The Chinese in the BN fed the fight against us. I even lost in Bidayuh areas because of the Chinese votes and the Dayaks in BN."

Nissom doesn’t expect talk of bad feng shui , however, to deter PKR from raising the 2000 NCR amendment. He is waiting to see how the opposition will play up the issue but feels that their "work will be cut out if Nicholas Bawin Anggat is fielded" against them.

He declines to dwell "too much" on Bawin’s reported candidacy on a PKR ticket. Bawin lost to Unting in 2006 by 806 votes.

Land issues dominate

Critics say the 2000 NCR amendment literally allows the Sarawak state government to seize Dayak land at will and hand it over to private developers.

In the past, the state government could only acquire private land - under Section 47 and Section 48 - for public purposes only and upon due payment of just compensation according to established procedures.

Landowners can also take the matter to court but only for revised compensation payments, which can either be higher or lower than that offered by the state government or maintained at the same level.

The 2000 NCR amendment is not the only thorn in PRS’s side in facing the looming battle for Batang Ai.

Dublin Unting Ingkot The opposition machinery has been openly working the ground in recent months, as Unting lay in an induced coma for nine months after a stroke - he succumbed last Tuesday - pointing out the neglect of the constituency by BN and a cash-strapped PRS.

Other unresolved problems include compensation to those asked to make way for the Batang Ai dam and similar problems in the on-going Bakun dam area, illiteracy, the high school drop out rate and widespread poverty.

sarawak state seat 2006 breakdown 011208 Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) has also been accused of bullying other BN component parties into submission, especially on the issue of candidacy by ‘loaning’ candidates, apparently a favourite tactic to circumvent the BN’s reportedly time-honoured seat and power-sharing formula.

"As senior minister for so many years in the state government, what has Masing done to address the many problems in Batang Ai and elsewhere in Sarawak among the Dayak communities?" asked lawyer and environmentalist Harrison Ngau from Miri, who recently joined PKR after many years in the political wilderness following his expulsion from PBDS.

Masing is not amused that the dam compensation payments have emerged as an issue in Batang Ai, especially as they are being linked to Bakun.

"Who was the MP for Lubuk Antu from 1986 to 2006, five terms?" asked Masing in laying the blame squarely on Jawah Gerang who recently joined PKR. "He was BN. What did he do to remedy the so-called wrongdoings?"

Lubuk Antu covers Batang Ai and Engkilili, the other state seat.

The Auditor-General’s report for 2007 pointed out that ten years after about 10,000 people from 15 communities along the Rejang and Balui rivers were forced into an exodus for the dam project, many have yet to receive full compensation.

The AG’s report mentioned some RM46.28 million yet to be paid out by Dec 2007.

Who will be chosen?

Question marks may also emerge over whether there is any fight left in PRS if PBB insists on ‘loaning’ yet another party supporter to the former for Batang Ai.

The current talk is that PBB will insist on the Lubuk Antu District Officer, Nelson Mujah Giri, a brother of PBB senior vice-president and Federal Minister Douglas Uggah.

The idea is to ask Mujah to ‘join’ PRS and then name him as the candidate for Batang Ai on a BN ticket. Analysts say it remains to be seen whether PBB will yet again get away with bullying PRS on the issue of candidacy.

"PBB is marginalising PRS within BN," points out Dr John Brian Anthony, a political analyst. "PBB planted MP William Nyalau and MP Mesir Kujat in Sri Aman and called them PRS members. It’s an open secret.

"Mujah is from Betong. It would be interesting to see whether the Iban of Batang Ai are willing to surrender the seat to an Iban from Betong. PRS, SPDP and SUPP are mosquitoes in Batang Ai. PBB is the kingmaker."

penan forest sarawak 100708 03 If a candidate from Betong is acceptable to the voters of Batang Ai, PRS has Supreme Council member Tedewin Ngumbang Datu, a former police officer who is a confidant of Masing and a close friend of Unting.

Ngumbang is no stranger to Batang Ai but hopes to stand in Layar which is currently held by Alfred Jabu.

Nissom fears the worst and worries that "Jabu - PBB deputy president and deputy chief minister – will do it (steal a seat) again". Jabu has often been accused of trying to emerge as the huguan siou (paramount chief) of the Dayaks.

PRS is yet to identify a candidate for Batang Ai. Unting’s private secretary since 1986, Nelson Naga Alam, has been mentioned as a possible candidate.

Another is Unting’s niece, Anchon Raoh, 46, relatively unknown but bolstered by the fact that there is not a single woman in the PRS line-up. "Not having a ‘record’ (clean slate) can be an advantage," concedes Nissom on Raoh.

Masing moans that the party feels besieged, both from within (BN) and without, even as attempts are being made to smear the party and the memory of Unting.

Like Nissom, he’s not as dismissive of PKR these days as he was several months ago when Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim announced that Sarawak had become the party’s frontline state in its bid to seize the reins of power in Putrajaya and began actively wooing the former members of PBDS in particular.

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