![island in sarawak island in sarawak](https://www.dee-luxejourneys.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/map_sarawak-768x709.jpg)
With little to no training in these foreign practices, the monetary compensations and later donations of raw building materials offered by the companies and the government are useless.Ĭontinuing pressure from the logging companies, and lack of recognition from the government led to the construction of 17 blockades, and the arrest of 222 Penan during 1989. The most pressing need has arisen as food from the forests has become scarce and Penan have had to struggle to provide food for large families from small plots of land, cultivating unfamiliar crops. They have been merged into systems of capitalism, agriculture, and government that are completely foreign to them, with no introduction. The changes in lifestyle they have been required to make are immense. Since logging has begun destroying the forests the Penan used to rely on, it is as if their market has been closed. All of their needs were traditionally met by the forest. They are adept at gathering materials for temporary structures, and building them as required. Since the Penan traditionally lived as nomads in the forest, they have developed extremely effective hunting skills and their knowledge of medicinal and consumable plants is truly impressive. A fund of RM$1 million per year was allocated to the Penan for government implemented development projects. The trials were slow to come to court, due to numerous delays by officials, while logging continued.įinally, the government made its first move to compensate for the destruction being carried out in Penan forests. Despite international pressures on the Malaysian government to stop logging and recognize indigenous rights, 27 more Penan were arrested at the end of the year for blockading.
![island in sarawak island in sarawak](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/vector-road-map-malaysian-states-sarawak-sabah-island-borneo-malaysia-196621651.jpg)
Since the government had made no action on their promises to monitor the activities of the logging companies and ensure no further encroachment on native communal rights (NCR) lands, new blockades were erected in Long Napir on roads cutting through the Penan's customary lands. Seven months after the original blockades were torn down, logging continued to destroy the Penan's source of food, medicine, building materials, and all other requirements for life. This was submitted to regional officials to reinforce the requests made by the delegation at the national level. After the visit, SAM held a workshop for the delegation and assisted in the development of a written resolution. In a further attempt to make themselves heard, a delegation of chiefs and elders from several ethnic groups, including the Penan, traveled to Kuala Lumpur aiming to meet with National Ministers.
#ISLAND IN SARAWAK TRIAL#
Late in the year, the State Assembly made the action of blockading a logging road an illegal offense punishable by a 2 year prison sentence without trial and a RM$6000 fine. Communities then turned to more powerful action and erected 25 blockades across logging roads in the Baram and Limbang Districts of Sarawak. SAM lodged additional reports with the local authorities on behalf of the communities, which also yielded no reply. Penan leaders then turned to the non-government organization Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) for guidance and assistance. Numerous communities lodged reports of land encroachment to the government authorities in Marudi to no avail. The Penan people, along with members of other tribes, took action against the relentless logging destroying the forest on their lands. By the end of 1986, 2.8 million hectares of forest had been cleared in Malaysia, much of it on Penan land.ġ987: Penan resort to peaceful demonstrations on logging roads When logging concessions were established and sold to international corporations by the government, the presence of the Penan, their dependence on the forest, their native customary land rights, and their practices of sustainable forest use were ignored completely. Ancestral traditions and agreements between different Penan tribes set boundaries for areas of sustainable forest collection for hundreds of years. Until recently, the Penan were a fully nomadic group, completely dependent on the forest.
![island in sarawak island in sarawak](https://i0.wp.com/www.wideworldtrips.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/sarawak-tourist-attractions.jpg)
Sarawak is inhabited by numerous Dayak groups, all of whom depend on the forest for their resources, and some who rely on it completely for their livelihood. Efforts were concentrated in Sarawak, one of two Malaysian provinces on the island of Borneo. Large scale logging in Malaysia began in the early 1960's.
![island in sarawak island in sarawak](https://img.theculturetrip.com/1440x807/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/shutterstock_278417735-1.jpg)
A HISTORY OF THE PENAN STRUGGLE IN SARAWAK, MALAYSIA