Ibans Do Get Raw Deal – Admits Borneo Post
By Sarawak Report
Even the Borneo Post, Taib’s favourite propaganda sheet, has found itself unable to spin away the dire distress of the Iban population, which it alleges is so supportive of Taib Mahmud and BN.
In an article last week, the paper loyally insisted that Iban communities have “expressed their strong support” for the elderly Chief Minister to remain in charge, with one local leader citing his “vast experience” as being “greatly needed”.
The Iban paramount chief in Miri, Temenggong Wilson Atong Limping, was duly quoted making the required statement that ”only the BN government can continue to bring more development”. This is the message that Taib Mahmud likes to promote at every opportunity and it has been his mantra for his past 30 years in government.
What progress and development?
However, the Borneo Post then went on to detail the conditions that Taib has, with his ‘vast experience’, provided for the Ibans of the area after all those 30 years in charge. Far from experiencing progress, the paramount chief explains, many of the villages “are still in dire need of basic amenities”.
Furthermore, the communities “are desperately in need of basic infrastructure like a tar-sealed road, piped water supply and electricity”. He also points out that telecommunications are totally inadequate and that people are still having to climb to the top of hills to make a phone call out!
This is of course a region which Taib and his logging cronies stripped of timber long ago, in the name of this same ‘progress and development’. His promise then was that Ibans would be repaid for the loss of their forest by the provision of just such basic amenities. But that was decades ago.
Taib next made a second killing by acquiring their native customary rights lands and again ’developing’ them with oil palm. This he also did in the name of bringing ’progress and wealth’ for the local people. But while, Taib has certainly acquired riches beyond imagination, investing billions of ringgit abroad to build his own foreign property empire, the Ibans are still waiting for water and electricity.
The Iban leader tried to be as polite about the situation as possible. “We appreciate greatly efforts by the goverment”, he insisted, listing some ‘minor rural projects’ carried out by authorities, for which he attempts to be suitably grateful.
These projects included providing villagers with tanks to collect rain water. Thank you Taib for such progress and development after 30 years of exploiting our lands!
