Year-long Baram dam blockade removed

KUCHING: The year-long blockade by native villagers who are against the proposed Baram hydroelectric dam in Sarawak ended Tuesday with forestry officers, backed by armed policemen, removing the barricades in place.This was the third time that the authorities have removed the logs and fencing which the anti-dam natives had put up across the road near Long Kesseh leading to the dam site.

No violence was reported and Peter Kallang chairman of the non-governmental organisation Save Sarawak Rivers, said the forest concessionaire Autorich Sdn Bhd and its contractor M M Golden (M) Sdn Bhd have already moved tractors, bulldozers and earth moving equipment into the dam site.

The villagers claimed the proposed dam site is on land that is still in dispute. The government had acquired the land but the native landowners have taken the government to court to challenge the acquisition.

Kallang said the timber companies had erected their own barricade to keep the anti-dam protestors out of the concession area. A representative of the people of Long Kesseh and Long Nahah'a lodged a police report in Miri this afternoon against what they claimed was a collusion between the Forest Department, Autorich and MM Golden to intrude and illegally harvest timber on native customary lands.

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Long Kesseh is about a four-hour drive from Miri.

The villagers have also lodged a complaint with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

"We once again appeal to the Forest Department not to be involved and collude with the timber companies Autorich Sdn Bhd and MM Golden (M) Sdn Bhd in illegally harvesting timber on our native customary land," Anyie Eng stated in his letter to the state director of forests Sapuan Ahmad.

Last Tuesday, forestry officers removed the barricades after the timber concessionaire complained the blockade had hampered the company's operation.

However, within hours, anti-dam protestors numbering some 200 people erected another barrier further down the road. The forest officers returned last Saturday to remove the barrier but left without doing anything after they were confronted with a barrage of questions which they said they needed to refer to their superiors.

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Sapuan had sent a notice to the natives in July giving them two weeks' notice to dismantle and cease any kind of timber road blockade in the area. He stated in the letter that MM Golden and Autorich have the legal right to harvest timber in the area.

Sapuan had also warned the anti-dam protestors that the blockade was in contravention of Section 90(B) of the Forests Ordinance and those found guilty could be jailed up to two years and fined up to RM6,000.

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