MIRI: Riding on 64.1% popularity high in Sarawak, Barisan Nasional chairman Najib Tun Razak is set to head straight for the state’s deepest interiors tomorrow to “see for himself the real situation” among the Penan, Kelabit, Kenyah, Kayan, Saban, Berawan and Lakiput communities.
Najib is keeping his word. He had once told Sarawakians that he wanted a first-hand look at the state’s remotest areas, accessible only by boat, helicopters or trekking.
This will be only the second time since independence that a prime minister has ventured into the interiors of this vast landlocked state sliced by the mighty Rajang river.
The last visit was when former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad visited Long Bedian in 2003.
Excitement is high among the simplistic Orang Ulu sub-ethnic communities as they await Najib’s arrival to launch a bridge in Long Banga in Ulu Baram, which is an eight-hour drive from here along a dirt road.
Ulu Baram is home to the Orang Ulu comprising the Penan, Kelabit, Kenyah, Kayan, Saban, Berawan and Lakiput. Together with downriver tribes, Lun Bawang and Lun Dayeh, they make up 5.5 % of Sarawak’s population, a voter base that state BN officials have touted as unreacheable to the opposition. (The recent Merderka Centre Survey polled 11.2% support for the opposition Sarawak, but political analyst Faizal Hazri notes that Pakatan Rakyat will need 20% swing in votes to take Sarawak.)
According to Telang Usan assemblyman, Lihan Jok, the Orang Ulu are a minority community long since left behind by progress.
The prime minister’s visit, he said, will give them a chance at experiencing development.
“I believe this historic visit by Najib to Ulu Baram will pay off. He can see for himself their needs and explain many things to them.
“We are a minority community that has long been left behind by progress and development because we live in the far interiors of the rainforest,” Jok said.
The wish list
Reiterating his confidence in the imminent change which Najib will bring, Jok said he had forwarded the people’s wish list to the Prime Minister’s Department during his recent visit to Putrajaya.
“We’ve asked for development that will directly benefit each community’s quality of life and I believe the government will implement these plans for the Orang Ulu,” said Jok.
He said all the Orang Ulu sub-communities will be given a fair share of the development plan.
“For the Kelabit who live in the highlands, we have asked for roads and a bridge linking them to Miri city.
‘For the Penan, we have asked for clinics. The Penan community needs better healthcare and clinics that are closer to their settlements.
“For the Kenyah in Telang Usan, we have focused on economic development such as mini rubber estates for them to improve on their income.
“For the Kayan in Ulu Baram Tengah, we have also asked for a road and a bridge linking them to the outside world.
“And for the Berawan and Lakiput communities, they live in the low-lying areas and face regular water problems so we have asked for clean water to be supplied for their daily use,” said Jok.
While Jok has put forth the infrastructural needs of the Orang Ulu community, another group is fervently hoping to convince Najib to save its women and children from an endemic scrounge.
Said a source close to the Penan Support Group (PSG): “We know the visits into the Sarawak interior is time consuming but since he (Najib) is here in Baram, we sincerely hope that he will meet with groups like us.
“We want to tell him the real issues… that the Penan children are vulnerable. They are prone to rape and sexual exploitation because they are dependent on the logging companies for transport to schools... There are no schools near their settlements.
‘The fact is, he is the only one who can put a stop to this wide-ranging endemic exploitation.”
The PSG incidentally has rankled both state and federal governments with its recent report entitled “A wider context of sexual exploitation of Penan women and girls in Middle and Ulu Baram, Sarawak,” which contains intimate details and first-hand interviews of the scrounge in the interiors.
"Many BN leaders have slammed us. They find these confessions embarrasing and say the Penan are lying. But the report is factual and far more real than police reports and professed government action," said the source.
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