Shahrizat: Logging firms have been identified

(The Star) KUALA LUMPUR: Logging companies whose workers were involved in the rape of Penan girls and women have been identified and their information will be submitted to the police for further action.

In the meantime, several measures were being taken to rehabilitate the Penan community, said Women, Family and Community Develop-ment Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

“We will leave it to the police to take the necessary action but we are looking at the rehabilitation of the victims and to make life easier for the community there.

“The safety of the Penan girls and women must be ensured and they must not be put at risk. The Government will never condone such a crime although the Penans live far away from the capital.

“That is why the Government had authorised the report to be made public and for all the relevant ministries to take any necessary action together with the NGOs,” she told reporters at her ministry’s buka puasa function here last night.

The ministry’s women’s development department director-general Datuk Dr Noorul Ainur Mohd Nur has been assigned to monitor the situation of the indigenous people in Sarawak.

“Dr Noorul has gone to Sarawak to visit the various communities and to begin the rehabilitation work,” she added.

Dr Noorul, who was in the committee of the task force that investigated the rape cases, confirmed that the information would be handed to the police.

The task force, she said, looked at resolving various issues, including helping the Penans get their identity cards and providing transport for the students.

Many of the Penans have been hitching a ride from the loggers to get to schools.

The report, which was approved by the Cabinet in May, is available on the ministry’s website.