THE Penan community in northern Sarawak is asking the government to grant protection for a tract of land the size of Brunei where the indigenous community lives.  

Keruan Organisation coordinator Komeok Joe said the request will be made to the Sarawak government, after assurances by the late chief minister Adenan Satem that logging and oil palm development will halt in the area.

“During the late Adenan Satem’s time, he said he wanted to stop logging activities and oil palm plantations. He gave his personal assurance, but then he died. I think Chief Minister Abang Johari Abang Openg has indicated that he wants to follow in the steps of the late Adenan,” Komeok said.

“The chief minister also said he would not renew the logging concessions. This is good news for us.”

Komeok is hoping to meet with Abang Johari to present a detailed map of Penan communities, covering 5,963km sq in Miri and Limbang, south of Brunei.

Komeok said a draft of the map was presented to Adenan before the latter passed away in January last year.

The map covers areas where the Penan hunt, gather food, and collect herbs and medicines. It is the most accurate and detailed indigenous community map, according to the Bruno Manser Fund, which partially funded the effort to map the area from 2002 to last November.

Komeok said the Penan community has faced ongoing encroachment since the 1980s from timber companies such as Sam Ling, Rimbunan Hijau, and Shin Yang.

“This map is an important tool to protect our forests and preserve the culture, heritage, and information on the ground,” he said after a public presentation of the map during a forum organised by Suaram in Petaling Jaya today.

“We want to show our culture to the government, logging companies, and the world. The land is like our bank, supermarket, and home. Everything is inside. We want to protect our history and our culture. Without the forest, we cannot survive,” he said.

Komeok added that he hoped the new government in Putrajaya would also support other indigenous groups who are affected by logging and corruption.

“We hope the new government can open the door to negotiations to protect the human rights of indigenous people.”

BMF programme director Simon Kälin said the documentation of Penan knowledge was to counter the cultural erosion and the process of acculturation by creating a written archive of Penan topography-related oral knowledge.

“The map will strengthen the collective identity of the Penan through the publication of state-of-the-art maps for the whole Penan area, and will lay the foundation for sustainable long-term development,” Kälin said.

A total of 63 communities contributed towards the making of the map.

The group seeks government recognition of Penan native customary rights to land by presenting historical evidence of land use within of each village.

The group is also proposing a government-communal collaboration for the construction of micro-hydro and solar power infrastructure; agriculture and resource management; and forest restoration.

Kälin said the map has already been forwarded to the Sarawak deputy chief minister and the state forestry department.

“They cannot deny knowledge of a map this detailed. We hope it will animate them into taking action to protect the Penan,” he told the forum. – July 24, 2018.