The Sarawak United People’s Party (Supp) should not be fearful to tell all-powerful Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud about the plight of the Dayak community, especially vast tracts of natives’ land being given to oil palm companies, said a Dayak political analyst.
Many of the owners of these companies not only have links with the largely Chinese-based Supp, but some of them are even members of the party, said Joseph Tawie, a well-known local blogger.
Tawie’s latest posting in his ‘The Broken Shield’ blog was in response to Deputy Chief Minister and Supp president Dr George Chan’s denial that the party had neglected its Dayak members.
In an earlier posting, Tawie described Dayak leaders in Supp, Sarawak’s oldest political party, as “mere by-standers” as the party mostly caters to the needs and interest of the Chinese community.
The oil palm companies are given provisional leases to clear the land belonging to the Dayaks. In taking away the Dayaks’ ancestral lands where they and their forefathers have been farming for centuries, these companies have uprooted the natives’ traditional way of life.
Fruit trees, cash crops, longhouses and ‘pendam’ (graveyards) have been destroyed without any compensation as the ‘so-called lands’ belong to the state, decried Tawie.
Tawie, who is also the yet-to-be-registered Malaysian Dayak Congress (MDC) information chief, said: “One of the ways Supp can walk the talk is to advise the companies to negotiate with the longhouse people and come up with a win-win solution rather than showing their arrogance and disrespect towards the Dayak adat by bulldozing their way to the Dayaks’ land, clearing and destroying all the things that are so dear to them.”
By showing their arrogance, the companies are also inviting trouble as the landowners have retaliated by erecting blockades or resorting to the courts to seek injunctions, justice and compensations, he said.
There are about 200 cases pending in the court against these companies for trespassing on their lands. A few of the cases that have been heard favour the landowners.
Explanation accepted, now walk the talk
The blogger also said he welcomed the explanation from Chan in defending his party’s policy on the Dayaks.
“As far as Supp is concerned, we have never neglected the interests of our Dayak members as well as the Dayak community in general,” Chan (right) said in replying to an earlier posting in ‘The Broken Shield’ which accused Supp of failing to highlight the interests of its Dayak members.
According to a Supp Dayak leader, Andrew Shilling - who is also a political secretary to the chief minister - Dayaks form 30 percent of Supp’s membership.
He said Dayaks should be given more leadership posts in Chinese-dominated Supp, perhaps at the ratio of 30:70.
In the federal cabinet, there is no Dayak representation from Supp, lamented Shilling.
The party should have recommended Richard Riot, the Serian MP, who has been very loyal to Supp since 1993 to filled one of the two deputy ministers posts instead of Robert Lau, the MP for Bandar Sibu.
“After all, the Chinese are well-represented in the federal cabinet. At the state level, Ranum Mina should be appointed assistant minister in addition to Francis Harden to reflect the Dayak membership in the party. There are two vacancies for Supp that are yet to be filled,’ he added.
Many of the owners of these companies not only have links with the largely Chinese-based Supp, but some of them are even members of the party, said Joseph Tawie, a well-known local blogger.
Tawie’s latest posting in his ‘The Broken Shield’ blog was in response to Deputy Chief Minister and Supp president Dr George Chan’s denial that the party had neglected its Dayak members.
In an earlier posting, Tawie described Dayak leaders in Supp, Sarawak’s oldest political party, as “mere by-standers” as the party mostly caters to the needs and interest of the Chinese community.
The oil palm companies are given provisional leases to clear the land belonging to the Dayaks. In taking away the Dayaks’ ancestral lands where they and their forefathers have been farming for centuries, these companies have uprooted the natives’ traditional way of life.
Fruit trees, cash crops, longhouses and ‘pendam’ (graveyards) have been destroyed without any compensation as the ‘so-called lands’ belong to the state, decried Tawie.
Tawie, who is also the yet-to-be-registered Malaysian Dayak Congress (MDC) information chief, said: “One of the ways Supp can walk the talk is to advise the companies to negotiate with the longhouse people and come up with a win-win solution rather than showing their arrogance and disrespect towards the Dayak adat by bulldozing their way to the Dayaks’ land, clearing and destroying all the things that are so dear to them.”
By showing their arrogance, the companies are also inviting trouble as the landowners have retaliated by erecting blockades or resorting to the courts to seek injunctions, justice and compensations, he said.
There are about 200 cases pending in the court against these companies for trespassing on their lands. A few of the cases that have been heard favour the landowners.
Explanation accepted, now walk the talk
The blogger also said he welcomed the explanation from Chan in defending his party’s policy on the Dayaks.
“As far as Supp is concerned, we have never neglected the interests of our Dayak members as well as the Dayak community in general,” Chan (right) said in replying to an earlier posting in ‘The Broken Shield’ which accused Supp of failing to highlight the interests of its Dayak members.
According to a Supp Dayak leader, Andrew Shilling - who is also a political secretary to the chief minister - Dayaks form 30 percent of Supp’s membership.
He said Dayaks should be given more leadership posts in Chinese-dominated Supp, perhaps at the ratio of 30:70.
In the federal cabinet, there is no Dayak representation from Supp, lamented Shilling.
The party should have recommended Richard Riot, the Serian MP, who has been very loyal to Supp since 1993 to filled one of the two deputy ministers posts instead of Robert Lau, the MP for Bandar Sibu.
“After all, the Chinese are well-represented in the federal cabinet. At the state level, Ranum Mina should be appointed assistant minister in addition to Francis Harden to reflect the Dayak membership in the party. There are two vacancies for Supp that are yet to be filled,’ he added.
28/12/08
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