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Sundaily

NCR land dispute: Admin staff detained for assaulting villager

Surik’s badly injured legs after the assault on Friday.

KUCHING (March 17, 2013): Native customary rights land owner, Surik Muntal, 67, who was brutally assaulted last Friday by several plantation company workers, is responding well to treatment.

“Surik is out of immediate danger. The surgery at the Sarawak General Hospital took almost five hours on Saturday,” said See Chee How, a lawyer representing Surik and other villagers of Kampung Danau Krangas in Serian district.

The villagers are in dispute with United Teamtrade Sdn Bhd over land which the villagers claim they have customary rights over.

The dispute is pending in the High Court.

Serian district police have arrested the administrative executive of the company and he is currently being held under remand to assist police in their investigations.
Surik had identified him as one of the assailants.

NCR land dispute: Admin staff detained for assaulting villager

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Free Malaysia Today

Farmer slashed by Taib-linked men

Surik Muntai and 300 other landowners from 17 longhouses from Melikin in Serian district are suing a company linked to two PBB leaders for encroaching into their NCR land.

KUCHING: A director of an oil palm plantation company, linked to two leaders in Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu has been detained for allegedly assaulting a 67-year-old farmer over a native customary rights land issue.

Serian police confirmed that Andrew Wong, a director in United Teamtrade Sdn Bhd was arrested three days ago and is currently in remand.

Wong together with three other security personal, one allegedly armed with a  parang, had attacked farmer Surik Muntai last Friday while he was waiting to pick up his son from the Sungai Menyan primary school.

He was severely wounded and suffered a broken right arm and legs in the attack. He is now recuperating in the Sarawak General Hospital, Kuching.

Farmer slashed by Taib-linked men

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1 Three companies have been give provisional leases to plant oil palm in the area. Besides United Teamtrade, the other two are Memaju Jaya and Tetangga Arkab.

Memaju Jaya is said to be owned by the former Kedup assemblyman, Frederick Bayoi Manggie, a senior leader of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu.

2 The natives have instructed lawyer Baru Bian to file a legal suit against United Teamtrade Sdn Bhd for asking them to pay for access into their own lands.

3 The dispute between the company and the native landowners has reached a critical point after the company issued a notice demanding anyone riding a motorcycle using the company’s road will have to pay RM5 per entry.

For cars, the drivers have to pay RM30 and for 4WD vehicles, the drivers will have to pay RM50 per entry.

The toll has angered the people who have lands and farms at the other side of the plantation and in retaliation, the native landowners mounted a blockade to stop the company from using their road to the plantation.

500 natives storm police station

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Borneo Post

5 men released on bond on expiry of remand

Posted on August 16, 2012, Thursday

SERIAN: Five men including the headman of Kampung Danau Melikin near here were released on bond after their two-day remand expired yesterday.

The suspects aged between 58 and 41 were released about 11.30am with their family members as their bailors. No charge was preferred against them.

They had been locked up at Serian police station to facilitate police investigation after setting a bridge on fire.

Four of them are from Danau Melikin and the other from Ensebai Plaie, also in Serian.

More 200 people including family members, relatives and friends turned up at the compound of the Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

They were seen crying and hugging each other after hearing of the men’s release.

Initially, they thought the men would be charged in court after their release, so they gathered at the Magistrates’ Court here from as early as 7am.

However, after being informed that no charge would be framed against them, they proceeded to the police station.

The five men were suspected to have taken part in setting up a blockade to stop a plantation company from encroaching into their land which they claimed to be their native customary rights land.

They were also said to have burned a makeshift wooden bridge belonging to the plantation company.

At 11.45pm on Sunday a police party went to Kpg Danau Melikin to pick up the villagers after a report was made against them.

Meanwhile, state PKR vice-chairman See Chee How who is the men’s lawyer, who was also present at the court and the police station yesterday said the arrest was malicious in nature and that the five men might consider filing a lawsuit against the authority concerned.

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Free Malaysia Today

500 natives storm police station

Sarawak police raided a village and detained five people whose names were not even in the report filed by a plantation company for allegedly burning a bridge.

KUCHING: Some 500 angry villagers with their children from Melikin and nearby longhouses in Serian and Simunjan stormed the Serian police station yesterday, demanding the release of five individuals who were detained on Sunday night for allegedly causing a fire.

The villagers learnt that the five – Sanjan Ambol, 58, Musit Ngawing, 52, Tuai Rumah Nyalu Tampa, 55, Samad Junna, 41, and Singa Unsit, 58, – were to be charged at the Serian district court. All five were villagers from Melikin, Danau Melikin and Ensebang Plaie.

The villagers first went to the Serian district office, but on hearing that they were still being detained at the Serian police station, they rushed there and demanded that the detainees be released immediately.

The police had to restrain the angry villagers from entering the police compound and even threatened to arrest them, but they ignored the warning.

The five detainees were released at about 11am without any charge being framed against them despite being remanded for three days.

Freed detainee longhouse chief Nyalu Tampa expressed surprise to see so many people had come to support them.

“Their support gives us strength and makes us more determined to defend our NCR [native customary rights] land,” he said.

The detainees’ lawyer, See Chee How, said that they were arrested on Sunday night after representatives of United Teamtrade Oil Palm Company lodged a report that a bridge to the plantation was burnt.

“My clients should not have been arrested in the middle of the night when the police have not carried out investigation first.

“They simply arrested them based on a report lodged by the company, and without concrete evidence. Moreover, this is not a serious crime.

“Why can’t they wait until the next morning? I can even ask my clients to surrender themselves to any police station,” said See, who is also Sarawak PKR vice-Chairman and the Batu Lintang assemblyman

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500 natives storm police station

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Hornbill unleashed

August 4, 2012

Angry natives to sue over ‘access fee’ order

Native landowners of Kampung Danau, Melikin, Serian are preparing to sue an oil palm company which is allegedly using gangsters to threaten them and prevent them from entering their gardens and farms.

The natives have instructed lawyer Baru Bian to file a legal suit against United Teamtrade Sdn Bhd for asking them to pay for access into their own lands.

“We will file the suit very soon, maybe next week against the oil palm company,” said Bian.

According to Bian, the natives received a letter signed by one Ha Haw Kong, who is a director of United Teamtrade Sdn Bhd, claiming that the lands now belonged to the company as they had been awarded provisional leases and that villagers wanting to enter the land must now pay an accessibility fee.

The letter dated Feb 29 was copied to the Serian police chief, the superintendent of Lands and Surveys, and Samarahan district officer.

Said Ha: “It has come to our management’s notice that motor vehicles from outside our estate have often times used our estate’s field road to get access for private activities.

“We would like to bring forth to your kind attention of our management’s decision effective March 15, to impose accessibility fee per single… for all motor vehicles for using our field roads unless permission is being granted by our management…

“A motorcycle will be charged RM5, while a saloon car will be charged RM30 and land cruiser, lorry and above will be charged RM50.

“The fee has to be paid at our estate’s guard house or such office decided by our management… and an official receipt shall then be issued in return for payment made.

“However, our management reserves the right not to endorse such permission at any time if it deems appropriate,” the letter stated.

Company owned by ex-assemblyman

Bian, who is also the Sarawak PKR chairman and Ba’Kelalan assemblyman, said: “This is crazy as the natives have various patches of farms, gardens and plots of land for oil palm.

“And the company is using gangsters to prevent them from criss-crossing within the provisional leased area given to the company. One vehicle was burnt in June and believed to be the work of a group of gangsters.

“How can they do that as the farmers have to go to their farms and their gardens? Now they are being prevented if they use motorcycles, cars and 4WD vehicles unless they pay the stated amount,” he said.

“For the first time, I see this sort of thing. I think it is really crazy. So I want to raise the issue in the press and question the three authorities – the Serian OCPD, the lands and surveys superintendent of Samarahan and the district officer – whether it is permissible or not.

“To my mind this is not correct, and now they [the landowners] have sought my legal advice. We will be filing the case very soon, maybe next week,” Bian said, urging them also to raise the matter with their representatives.

Melikin is under the Sri Aman parliamentary constituency whose representative is Masir Kujat of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).

The area comes directly under the Balai Ringin state constituency which is represented by Snowdan Lawan of PRS.

According to Bian, these natives were once the strong supporters of Barisan Nasional.

“I remember we were chased out from their village when we campaigned for our candidate in the last election. But today we were given a rousing welcome when we visited them on Wednesday,” Bian said, pointing out that they have been “sold” by the BN to the oil palm companies.

0. Angry natives to sue over ‘access fee’ order

   Native landowners of Kampung Danau, Melikin, Serian are preparing to sue an oil palm company which is allegedly using gangsters to threaten them and prevent them from entering their gardens and farms.

   Hornbill Unleashed – Aug 03 09:10am

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