BELAGA,Malaysia: Many Penan families living in the Belaga district of central Sarawak have been affected by the clearing of jungles for the construction of the RM3bil Murum Dam.
Source: mStar
- The jungles being cleared for the dam, located 70km inland from the Bakun Dam, have a large population of Penans, many of whom have lived in isolation from the outside world for centuries.
- The clearing of the jungles has affected their food supply and they have been forced to migrate in search of food.
- Catholic priest for the Belaga parish, Sylvester Ding, recently came across a group of semi-nomadic Penans who had wandered out of Murum while searching for food.
- “A community made up of some 20 Penan families from Murum have now moved out from the dam area because they are short of food. We found them wandering near the Bakun resettlement site in Sungai Asap.
- “They are now taking temporary shelter in a long-house,” said Ding.
- He added there might be more needy Penans who would be forced to migrate once the dam construction was in full-swing.
- He hoped the Government would look into the plight of the Murum Penans. There are some 1,800 Penans living in eight long-houses along the Murum River who will have to make way for the construction of the dam.
- The Star found that the access road into the Murum Dam site has already been paved. The construction of the site office is in progress and the terracing of the hillslopes on both sides of the Murum River is being carried out.
penan...penan...penan...
ReplyDeletesemua org kasihan tetapi belum ada orang atau pihak yg benar2 mahu tinggal bersama mereka dan menurunkan ilmu kahidupan moden terhadap kaum ini. cubalah ajar ilmu bercucuk tanam atau berternak secara sistematik... mana kerajaan 1Malaysia?? mana haluan kerajaan negeri?? buat perancangan biar ikut saluran norma nilai bangsa malaysia. pihak NGO pula, jgn la meng-api2kan suasana yg sememangnya sudah muak dan hampir menggugat keamanan negeri. kalau boleh, biarlah berpada2. bagi saya, kerajaan yg sedia ada masih dapat diajak berunding utk jalan penyelesaian. beri alternatif terbaik untuk dibincangkan agar kaum ini dan kerajaan seluruhnya dpt manfaat.. saya juga sudah melawat hampir seluruh penempatan kaum ini, namun penan (highland dan bukan di sebelah coastal) nampaknya masih perlu masa dan didikan yg berterusan utk mendalami ilmu hidup secara moden dan perlu bergaul dgn masyarakat luar.
golongan kerajaan yg tidak ikhlas ketika bertugas di pendalaman juga perlu dinobatkan pilihan berhenti bekerja, dan biar mereka yg benar2 ada isi hati untuk menabur nikmat dan khidmat ikhlas saja yg menghuni masyarakat ini.
saya percaya kaum ini tidak meminta terlalu byk malahan mungkin sekadar jaminan hidup masa hadapan dan sedikit harapan untuk warisan anak2 mereka dan impian kaum masing2.
En Untol ( whoever you are), I wish that you had written your comments in English, so that our international viewers could share our point of view with better understanding.
ReplyDeleteHowever, terima kasih jua atas lawatan dan ulasan sdra yang begitu menyayat hati. Sedih pun ada...
Pada keseluruhan nya saya setuju dengan pandangan sdra. Namun kerana saya tidak berapa pekah dengan keadaan yang sebenar nya berlaku di sana, maka saya tidak dapat mengulas dengan lebih luas.
Justru itu, saya serah kepada para pembaca dan pemerhati kalian untuk mengeluarkan pendapat masing-masing selaras dengan maksud yang tersurat dan tersirat dalam post tersebut.
Salam dan semuga sukses