UN body praises Adenan for revoking plans for Baram dam

KUALA LUMPUR: Indigenous leaders have commended the decision by Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem to revoke the gazette of land earmarked for the Baram dam site and reservoir.

Joan Carling, a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), called the decision a timely one, saying that mounting evidence showed the unpredictable and extreme weather caused by climate change would further increase the cost and reduce the benefits of mega dams.

“With the added irreparable damage to indigenous communities, who would be relocated for this purpose, the decision to revoke plans for the Baram dam is exemplary,” Carling said.

“The success of the Baram villagers in their five-year struggle is a huge victory for indigenous peoples around the world.

“It adds fervour to the momentum we need to double the global area of land legally recognised as owned or controlled by indigenous peoples and local communities by 2020,” Carling said, referring to the recently launched Land Rights Now campaign.

The decision to repeal the gazette that extinguished the native customary rights (NCR) of the indigenous Kayan, Kenyah and Penan communities in the area was published in the Sarawak Government Gazette in February.

Community-led NGO SAVE Rivers announced the decision early last week, sharing a letter from the State Legal Office dated March 15 informing them of the repeal.

The now-repealed gazettes in 2013 and 2015 saw native customary lands belonging to up to 20,000 indigenous peoples from 26 villages taken from them using the Sarawak Land Code for the proposed mega dam.

The community protested by setting up two blockades since October 2013 to prevent the construction of the access road and preparatory works for the proposed dam.

Local NGO Indigenous Peoples Network of Malaysia (JOAS) also commended the decision, with secretary-general Jannie Lasimbang calling it “one of the many land cases we will see through to victory”.

“We, the indigenous peoples of Malaysia are fully committed to realise the goals of the Land Rights Now campaign.”

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