RM50k for Penan cause
From left:
See Chee How (Lawyer for Penans), Jenita Engi (Penan Support Group), YB Zuraida Kamaruddin, YB Rodziah Ismail, Barubian (Lawyer for Penans), Voon Shiak Ni (Lawyer for Penans), John Liu (Penan Support Group)
Press Statement
YB Rodziah Ismail
26 October 2009
The Penan Taskforce Report , which was initiated by the Federal Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, was finally released after endless calls for nearly a year from many quarters of civil society and enormous international pressure.
The Penan Taskforce report was released to KEADILAN Women Chief Hajah Zuraidah Kamaruddin (Parlimen Ampang), after a demonstration by KEADILAN Women outside Sharizat’s office on the 8th September 2009.
The full report makes for heartbreaking reading and the report runs to more than a hundred pages. Testimonies in the report describe the widespread crimes of loggers or logging truck drivers sexually abusing and molesting schoolgirls them along their way to school. It outlines a common practice of forcing schoolboys to get down from the vehicle they were hitching on, while the logging truck drivers proceed to molest or rape the girls.
Another common tactic used by the loggers to hunt for their prey was by going to their villages, to buy food and later entice the girls and ask to have sex with them.
These crimes committed on the Penan community has been going on for the last 10 years and nothing much has been done to address the issue either by the Federal Government or the Sarawak State government.
Its a regret that some of our fellow Malaysians has to endure a life in fear and threats and the girls and women has been used ann abused for sexual pleasures , short of the word ” sex slave” only , by the influx of male workers from outside because of the extensive logging activities in their area. Girls as young as 10 years old were sexually abused and raped.
Rape is one of the worst crimes against humanity! Yet the Ministry had unreasonably withhold the taskforce report for nearly a year and many quarters has called for an explanation for the undue delay for the release.
Following up the release of the taskforce report, Keadilan women’s leaders led by KEADILAN Women Chief , YB Hajah Zuraida Kamaruddin, initiated a Memorandum to Alfred Jabu, the Chairman of the State Cabinet Committee on Penan Affairs pertaining to concerns by the Keadilan Women’s Wing over the rape and sexual abuse of Penan girls and women in Sarawak as revealed by the national Ministerial Task Force Report by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development..
However, the whole team of delegates were refused entry into the premises to Alfred Jabu’s office by security guards, who closed and locked the gate to the building.
Alfred Jabu who is also the The Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister and Minsiter in charge of Penan affiars, has refused to accept a memorandum concerning the plight of Penan.
It has been seen that the Sarawak Government has not been responding well to the issue and we do condemn Sarawak Govennment for continuing to be in the denial mode.
Selangor Government has been following up the issues closely with the penan support group in Sarawak and has been very concerned with the seriousness and urgency of the matter and call for the Sarawak State government to be more pro active to look into the issue with urgency and to take the necessary measures and steps to prevent further abuse and rape of the girls and women in the community.
Selangor Government expressed their grave concerns and passions for the problems faced by the Penan Community in sarawak and it is understood that the member organizations of the Penan Support Group are planning various empowerment programmes for the Penan communities in Baram particularly with the Penan women and to assist the victims and survivors of the heinous sexual offences.
The Selangor government through the Women’s Affairs, Welfare, Science Technology & Innovation and Culture Committee had approved a fund of RM50,000.00 being Selangor government’s heartfelt contribution towards their good efforts which we hope will give the necessary relief and to spur other organizations and individuals to contribute generously.
YB Rodziah Ismail
Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Tetap Hal Ehwal Wanita, Kebajikan,
Sains Teknologi & Inovasi dan Kebudayaan
Kerajaan Negeri Selangor,
merangkap
Timbalan Ketua Wanita KEADILAN
Latest: Penan rape
International pressure is mounting on Gilles Pélisson, Europe’s leading hotelier, over business ties between Accor, the group of hotels he leads, and Interhill, a Malaysian logging company.
Disquiet over the Accor-Interhill partnership has increased following accusations of sexual abuse, criminal intimidation and environmental degradation in the logging concession operated by Interhill in Baram, Sarawak.
Pélisson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Accor, one of the largest hospitality groups in the world, jointly commissioned an independent fact-finding mission with Interhill to investigate these allegations.
Forestry Consultant Hugh Blackett conducted the mission and released his report on Sept 10.
The Blackett report details alarming social and environmental threats to the communities of Baram, and to the forests these communities call home.
Accor and Interhill are partners in a 23-floor five-star Pullman hotel project in Kuching, Sarawak’s capital.
Accor operates over 4,000 hotels in 90 countries, including the Pullman, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis and Sofitel chains.
Accor says its hotels champion social and environmental responsibility. Accor hotels run a A Plant for the Planet tree-planting campaign, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme.
Logging ‘not sustainable’
The hotel and adjoining shopping centre built by Interhill was announced in 2005 as a Novotel. It now appears to be slated to be run as a Pullman hotel, the second in Malaysia after Putrajaya.
Interhill’s core business is logging, but it has diversified into construction. The company, registered in Miri, Sarawak, has come under fire by its own fact-finding mission. Logging in Interhill’s concession was found to be “definitely not sustainable”.
“The future of the forest is already threatened,” the report warned.
The mission found that the area under the timber licence Interhill is operating, T/9089, had already been logged by another company from 1989 to 2000.
Interhill began logging the concession area in 2002. According to the report, “responsible logging” in the mountainous terrain would be extremely difficult.
“The Sarawak government permits logging in such areas and it also permits short cycle re-entry.
With much of the area having already been logged twice in ten years the forest is inevitably suffering degradation.
“This is clearly indicated by the reduction in harvested volumes from 2.2 million cubic metres by the previous logging contractor during the 1990s at an average of 60 cubic metres per hectare to the estimated 940,000 cubic meters that will eventually be harvested by Interhill at a rate of 20 cubic metres per hectare,” the report pointed out.
Interhill did not comply, as required by Malaysian law, with the National Resources and Environment Board’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report Approval for the timber licence T/9089.
According to the report, “field observation indicated that full compliance was not being achieved and in some cases compliance was minimal or absent.”
The EIA concerned has not been made public, despite repeated calls from civil society for greater transparency.
Interhill is the contractor for timber licence T/9089. The licence is owned by a company called Damai Cove Resorts Sdn Bhd, closely linked to the Sarawak Government.
‘Married’ after rape claim
Logging has also brought Interhill workers into contact with local indigenous tribes, including the Penan.
The report of the National Task Force to Investigate Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Penan Women in Sarawak, released on Sept 8 this year by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, described accounts of an Interhill worker having raped a Penan girl at least twice, causing her to bear two children.
Interhill claims the logging camp worker and the alleged rape victim are “now living in a married state” but has no documentary proof of this.
According to the ministerial task force report, the Penan woman, known by the pseudonym ‘Bibi’, had been raped after refusing the advances of the Interhill employee, known as ‘Johnny’ or Ah Heng, because he already had two wives.
‘Bibi’ made the report in a Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) safe house in Petaling Jaya a year ago. Despite lodging a police report at Bukit Aman in Kuala Lumpur, no police action was taken against her alleged assailant.
Local indigenous rights Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) activists claim Ah Heng intimidated the victim after she returned to Baram from the WAO safe house in Peninsular Malaysia, and forced her to deny that she had been raped.
The Blackett mission, conducted between June 21 and Jul 2 this year, made no mention of the findings of the ministerial report. The Ministry had in fact, released its findings two days before the Blackett report was published.
“No conclusion is drawn on the allegation of sexual harassment as the joint investigation by the police and NGOs is pending,” the Blackett report stated. The police have now announced they will not support a joint police-NGO mission.
Communal land rights
In April this year, 77 Penan leaders, including 25 village chiefs from all over Baram, sent a letter to Pélisson, protesting against the partnership between Accor and Interhill.
The leaders said “Interhill is extracting timber from our forest against our declared will and without our consent. Interhill does not respect our boundaries, continues to encroach on our land and disregards our native customary rights. Many of us are affected by severe health problems caused by logging and have suffered because we have lost our fishing grounds and hunting has become much more difficult.”
The Accor-Interhill report noted that the Sarawak Land Code 1958 recognises Native Customary Rights (NCR) to land. The report quotes Interhill’s timber licence T/9089 as stating that “it is the licensee’s responsibility to acquaint himself with the boundaries of any such lands falling within his licence area“.
Therefore, it is Interhill’s responsibility to ask local communities where logging may be allowed, before starting work.
However, Blackett could not verify any agreements negotiated between Interhill and local communities. Interhill was unable to provide adequate objective documentation of compensation payments.
“Communities visited said that Interhill’s logging operations encroached areas that they consider to be theirs and that neither operations nor compensation were in compliance with agreements as understood by the Penan,@” the report pointed out.
There were “obvious contradictions” between the Penan testimonies and Interhill’s claims that they had paid compensation to local communities.
Intimidation by ‘gangsters’
According to the report, Penan victims allegedly raped by logging workers say they “have been threatened with violence by gangsters if they give damaging testimony”.
These claims echoed those publicised by the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), an NGO based in Switzerland that supports the Penan. The BMF has been running a campaign against Accor’s business links with Interhill.
The Blackett report said “the Penans claim they are badly treated by some Interhill workers and are frequently threatened that they will be attacked by gangsters if they try to oppose the company”.
Penan communities said that they had not reported the threats because the police would not listen to them.
The report described a collision on June 21 this year, between an Interhill vehicle and a local motorcyclist from Long Item.
As a result, the local villager was “badly hurt”, and his motorcycle was wrecked. The Interhill employee took the villager to the nearest clinic. But he warned the villager not to implicate the Interhill employees in the incident, or else the villager “would be visited by gangsters”.
The report concluded, “if the accusations are true, some of Interhill’s employees clearly do the company no credit”.
Following a request for comments from Malaysiakini, Accor replied, “The report written by Mr. Hugh Blackett was commissioned by Interhill and Accor jointly. This document is a major step towards transparency and Accor can be satisfied that it has put no issues aside”.
“It is our understanding that BMF’s call for Accor to terminate the partnership has evolved into a call to improve the situation on the ground. This is something Accor is working on with its partner,” said Evan Lewis, Vice President (Communications), Asia Pacific.
Interhill has not disputed the findings of the Blackett Report. An Interhill statement said it “respects the findings of the Mission and the contents of the Report” but called for “better context and greater understanding”.
What mothers, Shahrizat?
Tell us…how shall we mother Altantuya’s children?
How should mothers act with so many cases of child abuse jammed at the JKM?
What will mothers say the the police who let sons die in their care?and those that they abused and acted violently against suspects?
And what about “mother to mother” to Beng Hock’s mother?
& those children on humantrafficking? Those foreign daughters unpaid and abused? What do mothers say to the authorities who colluded so human trafficking flourishes in Malaysia?
ah, what mother, Shahrizat?
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Umno General Assembly: Shahrizat tells Wanita Umno to help mould society
2009/10/14
Describing women as “mothers to all Malaysians”, Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil today called on members of the movement to help mould Malaysians into a highly-civilised society.
Shahrizat said members of the movement would be able to guide, teach and nurture the country’s generations.
“All women must work sincerely towards this objective,” she said in a speech at the movement’s general assembly at the Putra World Trade Centre here.
Shahrizat, who is Women, Family and Community Development Minister, said Umno and Barisan Nasional’s struggles had allowed women in Malaysia to actively contribute to the country’s development.
However, the current situation required them to handle new challenges, including the low rate of women joining the employment sector, issues regarding women’s economic development and the increase in the incidence of violence against them.
Shahrizat, who was elected to the movement’s top post last March, also urged the members to be brave and pioneer the process of rebuilding the Malay race.
She also said that the Malays could be easily be moulded towards excellence.
Earlier, Shahrizat presented the Anugerah Nadi Negara to 11 graduates of public institutions of higher learning.
The award recognises graduates who not only excel in academics but also exhibit leadership characteristics. – Bernama
What do the Penans really want?
Hornbill Unleashed
September 24, 2009
Penans with cars and big houses?
By Sim Kwang Yang
The Sarawak Environmental advisor Dr. James Davos Mammit has parroted Alfred Jabu’s attack against NGOs, by blaming the Penan problem on the NGO, who he said manipulated them.
James has a PH D I think. He is also an old schoolmate from St. Joseph’s in Kuching. I think he was a few years my junior.
But too many years of politics in BN must have dulled his intellect. His attack against the NGOs is really a bad reflection of the standard of his political narrative. Surely, he can have something more original to say, like “I feel sorry for the Penans, and will seek way to get to the truth of the rape of Penan girls.”
But then, as the state environmental advisor, James would probably be fired by his boss the termite, if he shows any sign of support for the Penans.
I wrote an article entitled Will the Penans with cars and big house stand up and it was published on the Malaysian Mirror. It was on the comment made by Shahrizat, the Minister for Women, Family and Community Development. The next day, the ministry Director General replied to my article. I reproduce below both articles for your entertainment.
Will the Penans with cars and big houses stand up!
The Women, Family, and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil was clearly wrong to slam the 27 NGOs who demonstrated in front of the prime Minister’s Department Wednesday morning.
Her Ministry was a few months late in releasing the report of the task force set up to investigate police reports of logging workers raping the Penan girls lodged in October last year. She failed to release the report promptly, and did so only when the Keadilan Wanita Chief Hajjah Zuraidah Kamaruddin and her gang demonstrated in front of her office over the matter.
So far, no authority in both Putrajaya and Kuching has announced any plan to act on the task force report, as if they are in denial still even when the facts of the rape have been established.
In Kuching, the Deputy Chief Minister and the state Minister in Charge of Penan affairs Alfred Jabu was even more ludicrous when he suggested that the task force report might have been influenced by NGOs. He is obviously more interested in demonising the NGOs than in protecting and preventing Penan girls from being raped.
The 27 NGOs were just exercising their constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly when they demonstrated on the issue of the Penan girls. They were just doing their job in highlighting this burning issue to ensure the raped Penan girls will not be forgotten. They have shown themselves to be concerned engaged citizens and good civil society groups.
Whether the Minister Shahrizat was ready to meet them any time or not is totally beside the point. She should shed the negative ministerial attitude that every demonstration is an affront to the government and her ministry. Demonstrations like that one can actually give her leverage to use in pushing her programme through foot-dragging by other ministries and departments to help the Penans.
She should drive out to Putrajaya to the demonstration site and treated the protestors to tea and cake!
She also showed her mandarin facade when she questioned the presence of the Executive Director of Women’s Aid Organisation Ivy Josiah at the protest. She clearly does not understand Ivy can wear two hats, one as head of a special committee set by Shahrizat’s ministry, and the other as the head of an NGO.
Obviously, The Minister has yet to understand the fiercely independent stance of the best NGOs in our country. By mumbling about Ivy’s “hidden agenda”, she has betrayed her lack of understanding of our home-grown NGOs, and insulted Ivy in the process. The Minister owes Ivy an open apology.
Just because an NGO leader has been appointed to a committee to help any government to do any work does not mean the appointee has sold her entire soul to the government.
The following two paragraphs on the Bernama story quoting the Minister are mind-boggling:
“The Minister has rejected a claim by the NGOs that Penan women and children had been marginalised by the mainstream development as a lot of development programmes had been implemented
“’The claim is baseless as it only refers to those left behind. There are others who have big houses and cars with successful children, she said.”
Penans with big houses, cars and successful children?
There must be the odd ones I am sure out of their total population of about 12,000. But the Minister needs badly a lesson or two about the indigenous people of Sarawak for her to do her job well.
Perhaps the NGOs can take her on a trip to the 3000 Penans in Bakun in upper Rejang who need food relief from the outside world to stave off starvation. Then they can guide her through the forests of Upper Baram to search for those Penans with cars and big houses and successful children!
At least she has rapid transportation in a helicopter. The Penans have to walk for hours or days plus a long ride in a boat or a logging truck over punishing terrain to reach the nearest clinic!
Perhaps after such a trip, the Minister for Women, Family, and Community Development will make some allocation of money to buy special buses to help ferry the Penan girls to school, so that the girls will not be raped by logging worker who are worse than the worst of wild beasts.
Perhaps then, the Minister will allocate funds for general hospitals in Miri and Sibu to have a few helicopters to stand by, to fly those Penan and Orang Ulu patients who need urgent medical attention for prompt treatment.
Then, Shahrizat can be said to have worked for women, family, and community development for those remote rural communities in Sarawak!
Shahrizat didn’t say it: DG clarifies
This is the full statement from Dato’ Dr Noorul Ainur Mohd. Nur, Director General, Women Development Department, Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development
I wish to clarify on the article “Will the Penans with cars and big houses stand up!” by Sim Kwang Yang posted on the Malaysian Mirror on 18 September 2009.
I also wish to inform that I was heading and directly involved with the Penan Taskforce.
During the press conference which was held on 16 September 2009, I was with the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, YB Senator Dato’ Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. During the interview session, YB Senator Dato’ Sri Shahrizat did not say the Penans have “big houses and cars with successful children.”
However, I personally made comments that there are some developments among the Penan community as reflected in the Penan Taskforce Report, but there must be more efforts geared towards assisting the Penans to benefit from development.
In this context, I have been invited by Pejabat Ketua Menteri Sarawak on 6 October 2009 to make a special presentation on the Penan Taskforce Report. The objective of the meeting is to establish an integrated approach with all government agencies and NGOs to strategise the holistic development of Penans.
With this explanation, I hope that this has clarified what actually was said by YB Senator Dato’ Sri Shahrizat during the said interview.
Thank you and Selamat Hari Raya to the management and staff of the Malaysian Mirror.
No Budget for Penan women safety, but RM1 billion to keep our team in F1 races
Penan women and children risked being raped daily…but Sarawak Police says they have no budget to support operations to protect Penan people…
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2009/09/17
By Minderjeet Kaurmkaur@nst.com.my
KUALA LUMPUR: 1Malaysia F1 Team Sdn Bhd may need at least RM1 billion a year to keep its Lotus F1 team in the Formula One races beginning next year.
Those behind the Lotus F1 team didn’t want to commit themselves into revealing the annual budget needed, but Datuk Kamarudin Meranun said it would come from local entrepreneurs, private companies and government-linked companies.
Kamarudin, who is the deputy group chief executive officer of AirAsia, said the bulk of the budget will go to “persistent engineering, engaging professionals to design the F1 engine and for testing”.
AirAsia is one of the backers of the team. Others include Sepang International Circuit, Naza Motors, the Malaysian Motorsports Association and Malaysian Automobile Association.
The government participation is through Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Bhd (Proton).
The Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA), the governing body for world motor sport and the federation of the world’s leading motoring organisations, announced on Tuesday, the return of the Lotus name as a constructor to Formula One for the first time since 1994.
Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes was named as team principal while the team’s technical Director is Mike Gascoyne, who has more than 20 years of experience in Formula One, having previously performed the same role for the Force India, Toyota, Renault and Jordan Formula One teams.
Kamarudin said having a team in Formula One was the country’s achievement.
“In sports, when is the right time? A country bids for Sea Games, Commonwealth or Olympics even during economy slowdown.”
He said it was not about the timing but grabbing the opportunity to be the 13th team for the 2010 championship.
“We got a slot and it will be a waste to miss it.
“We have our own circuit, car and technology.
“It will be a shame if we do not make use of the facilities we have.”
Malaysia, he added, had facilities to learn car engineering and the technology transfer from world renowned experts would help locals to design, manufacture and run a F1 team.
According to the FIA statement, the team will initially be based at the RTN facility in Norfolk, UK, about 16km from the Lotus Cars factory.
A 50,000 sq ft fully equipped facility, RTN was built by Toyota for its initial Formula One programme and then used by Bentley for its successful Le Mans programme.
The team’s future design, R&D, manufacturing and technical centre will be purpose built at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit.
As part of its application to compete in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, the team has ag-reed to an engine supply deal with Cosworth and a wide variety of technical partnerships, including Xtrac and FondTech.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/6mkf/Article/index_html
Minority Penan ignored by BN Government
Independent review finds logging company has abused rights of indigenous Penan in Borneo
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
September 15, 2009
An independent review of Interhill Logging found that the Sarawak logging company has regularly violated forest laws and abused the rights of the indigenous Penan peoples.
The review, conducted by French tourism giant ACCOR, found that Interhill Logging had not received free, prior, and informed consent from the local Penan people for its logging operations; the logging being done by Interhill “is very definitely not sustainable”; the company is not fully compiling with Sarawak’s Natural Resources and Environment Board; and Interhill is providing no long-term benefits to the Penan peoples.
The review declined to comment on allegations that Interhill employees had been sexually abusing Penan women and young girls, citing that an official police investigation was looking into the issue.
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A press release from the Bruno Manser Fonds, which works to defend the rights of the Penan people, says that while the organization welcomes the indepnedent review, “it must, however, be borne in mind that Interhill – and subsequently ACCOR as its business partner – will be judged by deeds and not by mere words.”
The French hotel company, ACCOR, was pressured into conducting this review after it received criticisms from several fronts—including Bruno Manser Fonds—for partnering with Interhill on a 23 story luxury hotel in Kuching, despite the on-going conflict between the company and the Penan peoples.
According to the review, the forest in the Middle Baram region has been anything but sustainably managed. Interhill began logging in the 61,000 hectare (150,000 acre) concession in 2002, however during the ten years before this the forest had already been logged twice by another logging company. Interhill currently has access to the forest for logging until 2013 and it expects to log 940,000 cub metres of logs (or 20 tons per hectare), but the forest had already lost 2.2 million cubic meters (60 tons per hectare) in the dozen years prior.
 Loggers’ truck using logging road in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. |
“Logging in natural forest on such short cycles is very definitely not sustainable as can be seen from the reduced harvest volumes being achieved by Interhill compared to the much higher volumes achieved ten years ago,” cites the report.
The state of Sarawak allows such short cycles of logging, unlike Peninsula Malaysia and Indonesia which do not allow re-entry into a forest for logging until 35 years has passed.
Besides being unsustainable, the review found that the Penan peoples were the losing party in the logging scheme. The review begins by stating that the Penan people have received the benefit of roads, improved transportation, and some jobs, however the review says that “there is no inherent long-term development advantage” for the Penan people, adding that “when Interhill eventually completes the logging and presumably withdraws from the concession area, the Penan will be deprived of the current benefits received and are unlikely to have achieved much to elevate themselves from their current status, described by the Marudi District Officer as being among Malaysia’s hard-core poor.”
Even the compensation given to the Penan peoples appears to have been handed out arbitarily with some communities saying they have received no compensation whatsoever for the loss of their forest. Interhill has failed to keep any records of compensation given.
In addition the reviews states that “field observation indicated that full compliance [Sarawak's Natural Resources and Environment Board] with was not being achieved and in some cases was minimal or absent”. However, the review does not cite which compliances are not being met by Interhill
 Aerial view of heavily logged rainforest in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. |
Part of the blame is laid on Sarawak’s government and enforcement agencies. Official inspections of Interhill’s operations, according to the review, “do not appear to be routinely conducted and are perhaps only very cursory” and that “the pressure to comply with legally required terms and conditions is not great.”
Conflict has arisen between the Penan people and Interhill Logging due to allegations that the company has logged community reserves, felled fruit and poison-dart trees which are vital for the Penan people, polluted fresh water supplies, not paid adequate compensation, and refused to be transparent about the quantity it is logging.
“For a company like Interhill, corporate social responsibility must first and foremost mean respecting the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of the local communities. All measures must be undertaken from a long-term perspective, permitting the local communities to engage in sustainable development in what is already a heavily damaged forest environment, even after the expiry of the current logging licence in 2013,” stated the Bruno Manser Fonds.
The organization asks that Interhill scales down its logging operations, take-out all machinery from areas where they lack indigenous community’s consent, remove any employees who have been accused of sexual abuse or intimidating communities, fully cooperate with the police investigation into the alleged sexual abuse, acknowledge the Penan people’s legitmate cliam on the forest and to stop fighting this claim legally, and, finally, stop denying that sexual abuse is a serious problem for indigenous communities.
Despite the findings against the company, the review found that the Penan people stated that “Interhill operates in a more agreeable manner than either its predecessor or companies operating in neighbouring timber concessions.”
The Burno Manser Fonds has heard the same from the Penans: “among the logging companies active in Sarawak, Interhill is a medium player, and other companies might engage in even worse behaviour. The Penan point, in particular, to misdeeds committed by Rimex, a company that had been logging the area before 2002, and by Samling, a multinational logging giant that is active in several adjacent concessions and shares logging roads and a timber camp with Interhill.”
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Kenyataan Media
Ketua Wanita KEADILAN 16 September 2009
Shahrizat berdolak dalik malapetaka kaum Penan
Jelas berpandukan laporan Jawatankuasa Khas yang menyisat kes wanita dan gadis Penan dirogol telah tidak mengkhususkan peranan dan tindakan untuk membawa pesalah ke muka pengadilan dan langkah-langkah bagi menjamin keselamatan wanita kaum Penan.
Wanita KEADILAN berasa amat hairan bagaimana seorang Menteri Wanita, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil yang diamanahkan untuk memelihara kesejahteraan wanita telah membisu dan beraksi tidak tegas serta berdolak dalik mengenai permasalahan wanita kaum Penan yang sentiasa menghadapi risiko dicabuli kehormatan mereka oleh mereka yang tidak berperi kemanusiaan yang sanggup merogol anak-anak semuda 10 tahun, dan ada yang dirogol berulangkali. Sebaliknya beliau telah bersungguh-sungguh mempertahankan kelekehan polis dan kepolisian PDRM Sarawak dalam memastikan perogolan wanita kaum Penan tidak berulang lagi sewenang-wenangnya dan dengan begitu mudah sekali.
Yang lebih menghairankan ialah kenyataan Timbalan Ketua Menteri Sarawak, Alfred Jabu, yang mendakwa bahawa beliau ragu kes rogol ke atas wanita Penan benar-benar berlaku dan kumpulan NGO telah mempengaruhi wanita-wanita Penan untuk mereka-reka cerita rogol berkenaan. Kes rogol yang dirujuk oleh Alfred Jabu adalah yang telah disahkan berlaku oleh Jawatankuasa Khas, yang diketuai oleh Shahrizat Abd Jalil, yang menyiasat kes rogol tersebut. Laporannya telah dihebahkan kepada dunia oleh Wanita KEADILAN sejurus setelah mendapatinya.
Kerajaan BN di Sarawak tidak langsung mewujudkan rasa selamat dan aman di hati rakyat Sarawak, khususnya kaum Penan. Kerajaan BN Sarawak tidak dapat menjamin dan memelihara keselamatan fizikal, mental, emosi dan jiwa rakyat Sarawak. Kerajaan BN Sarawak dilihat sentiasa menjamin keselamatan dan kesejahteraan taukeh-taukeh kaya seperti syarikat pembalakan yang mempunyai pekerja yang merogol anak gais dan wanita Penan sesuka hati mereka. Syarikat-syarikat balak ini dengan mudah menepis isu rogol terhadap wanita Penan bukan permasalahan mereka dan mereka tidak patut dipersalahkan. Ketandusan sifat kemanusiaan, apalagi untuk mengangap anak-anak gadis kaum Penan sebagai insan seperti juga anak-anak kandung taukeh balak itu sendiri, yang perlu dilindungi sebaik mungkin, tidak menapak dihati dan sanubari mereka yang hanya rakus mengaut keuntungan hasil pembalakan.
Kerajaan Sarawak pimpinan BN telah melahirkan para ahli perniagaan besar, dan Timbalan Menteri yang kekontangan nilai dan rasa tanggungjawab sosial terhadap rakyat yang ditindas dan di cabuli kehormatan mereka.
Persekongkolan Sharizat Abdul Jalil dengan kedua mereka itu merupakan suatu malapetaka bagi rakyat jelata, khususnya kaum Penan di Sarawak.
Zuraida Kamaruddin
Ketua Wanita KEADILAN
News: Child protection Policy
08 September, 2009 10:23 AM
Kabinet Lulus Dasar Khusus Untuk Kebajikan 10.5 Juta Kanak-kanak Malaysia
By: Ramjit
KUALA LUMPUR, 8 Sept (Bernama) — Dasar Kanak-kanak Negara dan Dasar Perlindungan Kanak-kanak Negara yang diluluskan Jemaah Menteri pada 29 Julai lepas merupakan penggubalan dasar yang khusus dan menyeluruh bagi kesejahteraan dan kebajikan 10.5 juta kanak-kanak di Malaysia.
Menurut Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat, Dasar Kanak-kanak Negara menyokong dan melengkapi matlamat Dasar Sosial Negara dengan memberi hala tuju kepada semua pihak yang berkepentingan untuk memperdanakan kesejahteraan kanak-kanak dalam arus pembangunan negara.
Ia merupakan dasar mengenai hak kelangsungan hidup, perlindungan, perkembangan dan penyertaan kanak-kanak agar dapat menikmati peluang dan ruang untuk mencapai perkembangan holistik dalam persekitaran yang kondusif.
Pernyataan dasar itu penting dan bertujuan melahirkan individu yang sihat, cergas, berilmu, inovatif, kreatif, berjati diri, berdaya saing, progresif dan mempunyai nilai-nilai murni, kata kementerian itu dalam satu kenyataan di sini, pada Selasa.
Secara amnya, enam objektif utama digariskan di bawah Dasar Kanak-kanak Negara iaitu setiap kanak-kanak mempunyai hak untuk hidup dengan diberi jagaan, pemeliharaan, kasih sayang, perkhidmatan kesihatan, sokongan dan bantuan sosial, selain setiap mereka termasuk kanak-kanak kurang upaya mempunyai hak untuk dilindungi daripada sebarang bentuk pengabaian, penderaan, keganasan dan eksploitasi, dan seterusnya diberi habilitasi, rehabilitasi dan diintegrasi ke dalam keluarga dan masyarakat.
Dasar itu juga menetapkan bahawa kanak-kanak mempunyai hak untuk bersuara, menyertai dan melibatkan diri mengikut tahap keupayaan dalam perkara-perkara dengan kepentingan terbaik dan kesejahteraan mereka.
Menurut kementerian, penyelidikan dan pembangunan mengenai kelangsungan hidup, perlindungan, perkembangan dan penyertaan kanak-kanak dilaksanakan dari semasa ke semasa.
Berdasarkan objektif itu, sebanyak 29 strategi dirangka dan disusun di bawah teras-teras utama Konvensyen Mengenai Hak Kanak-kanak iaitu kelangsungan hidup, perlindungan, perkembangan dan penyertaan serta komponen advokasi serta penyelidikan dan pembangunan.
Selaras dengan penggubalan dasar itu, kementerian menyediakan Pelan Tindakan Kanak-kanak Negara yang memperuntukkan program atau tindakan yang perlu dijalankan oleh pihak-pihak terlibat dalam tempoh tertentu iaitu jangka pendek, sederhana dan panjang.
Dasar Perlindungan Kanak-kanak Negara (DPKK) pula merupakan satu dasar yang mengandungi pernyataan mengenai prinsip perlindungan kanak-kanak selaras dengan Konvensyen Mengenai Hak Kanak-kanak (CRC) dan Akta Kanak-kanak 2001.
PKK bertujuan memastikan setiap kanak-kanak mendapat perlindungan daripada pengabaian, penderaan, keganasan dan eksploitasi disamping menjadi pemangkin kepada kesedaran dan komitmen semua pihak termasuk setiap anggota masyarakat dalam melindungi kanak-kanak.
Dasar itu penting memandangkan golongan ini merupakan kumpulan masyarakat yang perlu diberi perlindungan dan perhatian oleh ibu bapa, penjaga, masyarakat dan kerajaan agar mereka dapat berkembang dalam suasana persekitaran yang selamat dan sejahtera.
Strategi turut dirangka di bawah dasar ini dengan mengambil kira tumpuan kepada aspek advokasi, pencegahan, khidmat sokongan serta penyelidikan dan pembangunan bagi memastikan objektif DPKK tercapai.
Pelan Tindakan Perlindungan Kanak-kanak juga disediakan dengan memberikan tumpuan khusus kepada tiga perkara iaitu Program Kesedaran Masyarakat, Kursus Perlindungan Kanak-kanak dan ‘Template’ Dasar Perlindungan Kanak-kanak.
– BERNAMA
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