KUCHING: Native customary land rights lawyer Baru Bian is a relatively quiet man when compared to his peers in politics.
In fact, many have speculated as to whether Bian, who is PKR Sarawak chief, is “fit” for politics because he doesn't appear to have the “verbosity” and “savviness” often associated with politicians.
But Bian is unperturbed by his perceived shortcomings. He is a man who believes in leaving strong impressions on the public mind.
Emblazoned across his website is a banner that reads: "Baru Bian will bring the change that Sarawak desperately needs. He will return the trees, the lands and the rivers to the people. Corruption will stop... Baru won't steal."
Succinct enough to let one know that he is alluding to Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and his destructive policies towards Sarawak's natural forest.
Sarawak is on the threshold of losing its “soul” and Bian, along with the state's “younger sons” are hell-bent on not letting this happen.
In a rare blog (www.barubian.net) posting about himself, Bian writes that his guiding principle was a proverb from the Bible which reads: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
“This has always been the guiding principle and foundation of my career as a lawyer," he said.
Recalling his early years, Bian said it was filled with youthful idealism and dreams of becoming an effective citizen of this “free country”.
“I returned to Sarawak after spending two years in Kuala Lumpur. My primary intention was to work with the natives on issues involving their forest and native customary rights (NCR) and native customary land (NCL).
"I didn't realise then that these legal battles would become a part of my life and a norm to fight for the preservation and protection of native lands against loggers, quarry operators, tree planters, oil palm plantation owners and housing developers," he said, adding that his first land rights case involved his own relatives against six logging operators who had encroached into NCL in Lawas district.
Source of life
Bian is among Sarawak's better known NCR lawyers and he is of the opinion that to understand Sarawak it is essential to appreciate the importance of the forest in native lives.
“To the natives, the forest is their source of life and the land their very foundation.
"To them, both forest and land represent ‘life’ itself. These forests, virgin or otherwise, are called ‘pemakai menoa’ or simply ‘menua’.
"Pemakai menoa is an area of land held by a distinct longhouse or village community, which include farms, gardens, fruit groves, cemetery, water source and forest within a defined boundary (garis menoa) normally following streams, watersheds, ridges and permanent landmarks."
Bian said within these boundaries, one may find farming land called “temuda” and virgin forests called “pulau”.
The “temuda”, he said, includes land deliberately left to lie fallow for varying periods of time for the soil to regain fertility and for the regeneration of forest produce.
The “pulau” is specifically preserved to ensure, among others, a steady supply of natural resources like rattan, wild fruits and timber and to protect and preserve water catchments areas and for the hunting of wild animals.
"For the natives, this is the most logical way to sustain and manage the forests and land for the sake of future generations," he said.
Development politics
In the mid-1980s, the Sarawak government launched the so-called “politics of development”.
Bian said the rationale behind the policy was to "eradicate poverty among the natives by allowing their idle land to be developed by outsiders”.
“It also allowed investors into large oil palm plantations or other enterprises on the basis of shared equity.
"This inevitably led to tension between the government and the natives who felt that it was an act of intrusion that deprived them of their rights," he said.
The government’s action, Bian wrote, was however undermined by conflicting definitions of what constitutes NCR or NCL; and blatant disregard for local sentiments and customs in the implementation of the policy.
He said that according to the government, only farm land (temuda) cultivated before Jan 1, 1958 are recognised as NCL.
“But the natives, however, take the view that NCL includes pemakai menua, pulau and temuda created before Jan 1, 1958 under the provisions of the Land Code of Sarawak.
"The government, on the other hand, regards any uncultivated land or virgin forests as state land, and therefore pulaus are not NCL.
"Herein lies the dispute: many logging and quarry licences, oil palm plantation and tree planting leases issued to investors encroach into pulaus, water catchment areas, even farm lands or temuda."
Morally wrong
Bian said that in the 1980s, natives were already up in arms against the rampant destruction of their forests by unscrupulous timber operators.
"They were mounting blockades against these operators to protect their forests and NCL. These blockades were acts of desperation that reflected the hopelessness of the natives."
He said that in 1990, the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) sent a team to Sarawak to investigate the impact of the logging industry on the lives of the natives.
"I had the privilege of meeting the team twice and expressed my views on the matter.
"I emphasised that half of the problems would have been solved if the operators respect and recognised the rights of natives over their lands and forests, and carried out proper negotiations with the natives in the hope of attaining mutual benefits.
"My advice went unheeded. Nothing much has changed since then," he said, adding that it is his personal belief that the disregard of native rights over their lands and forests "is not only unlawful and improper, but also morally wrong”.
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