A NETWORK of paved roads from the major northern Sarawak towns of Miri, Limbang and Lawas to the hinterland of Baram was high on forest conservancy group Save Rivers’ 2024 wishlist.

“The majority of the people in Baram have been asking for the tarred roads from the government for years,” Save Rivers managing director Celine Lim said.

She said this basic accessibility would facilitate better health and education services to the remote part of Sarawak and many other basic amenities that should have been afforded to Baram people by now.

“We cannot talk about energy transition when a majority of interior communities still have no access to basic amenities,” she said, alluding to the state’s aim to cut carbon emissions by 45%, increase green job opportunities, empower small and medium enterprises in the green economy, equip Sarawak with sustainable infrastructure and enhance local communities and ecosystem resilience by 2030.

Lim said Save Rivers’ wish was for greater buy-in and awareness from the public about sustainability and climate change, and how defending indigenous people’s rights was “one of our best climate crisis solutions”.

The group said it wanted fair emphasis on non-market approaches to climate mitigation/adaptation.

“Many indigenous people and advocates around the world have demanded direct funding in their efforts to combat the climate crisis.

“Laws and policies in protecting the rights of indigenous people, whose principles are stated in the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People, which Malaysia is party to – must be reviewed, reformed and supported with strong political will to effectively protect their rights.”

Lim said the law was inadequate in terms of land ownership, relocation and access to basic resources.

Habitat for Indigenous and Urban Programmes’s (Hidup) hope for 2024 was for the government to establish daycare services for special needs children at all health clinics in Sarawak.

Hidup chairman George Young Si Ricord said daycare centres must hire occupational therapists to care for special needs children.

He said Hidup also wanted to see more entrepreneurship and microfinance programmes for Sarawak people and digital inclusion initiatives.

Young said this included training, access to loans, and mentorship programmes.

He said the digital divide should be bridged by helping rural communities access technology and digital literacy. – January 7, 2024.