The villagers from various villages in Balai Ringin had been protested outside Wisma Pelita since 14th of May 2012. They had camped outside the Wisma Pelita demanding for the Land and Survey Department to recognize their NCR land title and give back their land back to the villagers.

The land grabs involve more than 10 villages around Balai Ringin and the size of the land is more than 10,000 hector. According to a source, the villages that were affected by this are Kampung Menyang, Kampung Kerangan Terusan, Kampung Kerangan Takalong, Kampung Kerangan Jaya, Kampung Sungai Inkatak, Kampung Kerangan Baru, Kampung Tapang Lemong, Kampung Keranji, Kampung Sungai Danau, Kampung Simpang Melikin, Kampung S…epan and there were some other villages as well.

The lands were “alienated” by Memaju Jaya Sdn Bhd, United Teamtrade Sdn Bhd and Tetangga Akrab Sdn Bhd. From a source, Memaju Jaya Sdn Bhd “grabbed” 2296 hector, United Teamtrade; 7300 hector and Tetangga Akrab 3231 hector. The villagers had brought Tetangga Akrab to court and this case is still on-going in court for around 10 years. These lands were used mostly for palm oil plantation for all these three companies. They refused to sell their land to the companies because the land is the natives’ livelihood and they depend on the land for agriculture purposes. If they sold the land, they would lose their livelihood.

We here are not condemning the companies but we were condemning the state government for allowing corporate firms to operate their activities on the natives’ land without proper compensation. We would like to urge, the public to show support to this group of villagers. They did not just representing themselves now; they are representing and defending the rights of the native not just in Sarawak but the whole Malaysia. We had to urge our government to recognize the native land and provide them with a land title.

We would like to highlight the point that to a native Dayak, their land is similar to their life. Taking away their lands would similar with taking away their life as their livelihood would be affected. I hope the members of public, non-governmental organization and even political parties can show some support to this group of villagers by demanding the state government to recognize NCR land and provide land title to NCR landholders. Give back the land that belongs to the natives.

The latest update, the Balai Ringin residents had left the place because the the Land and Survey directors had agreed on some of their demands. But whether they get what they wants is still unsure. (Update on 17th May 2012)

Written by: Sean Ho (Sarawak Activist)