Penans crash Taib's party

Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud's recent visit to the sleepy hollow of Long Lama, a remote logging outpost in Sarawak's vast Baram region, was met with protests from indigenous groups over many issues plaguing their community.

Some 70 people took their protest right up to the doorsteps of Baram MP Jacob Dungau Sagan's office, which played hosted a function featuring Taib as the guest of honour last Saturday. 
 
The protesters were armed with the placards which read, “stop Baram dam!”, “return our traditional land” and “listen our heave”. 
 
Peter Kallang, who heads environmental group Save Rivers Network, told Malaysiakini that the protesters included people representing the Penan community, who had to travel eight hours by boat to attend the protest. 
 
"Some of them had to pay up to RM300 per head to participate due to fuel costs. In contrast, Taib's and his entourage came in three helicopters," he said. 
 
Protest note not accepted 
 
During the protest, Kallang said there were police personnel who tried to confiscate his loudhailer while he was speaking. 
 
"I said that if Taib can use a loudspeaker, I should be given the same treatment.  
 
"After that, the police gave me five minutes to talk. I complied because I don't want them to disturb us," he said. 
 
He said that the protestors attempted to submit a protest note containing 3,000 signatures against the Baram dam to Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu Numpang. 
 
However, Alfred Jabu refused to accept the document and shooed them off. 
 
Some had to camp out
 
On the BN event, Kallang said there were about 400 people in attendance. He said that participants were rural indigenous folk who were brought to the event by BN's workers by four-wheel drive vehicles. 
 
"Some of the Penan folk told me that they were under the impression that they were brought to the town to receive BR1M," he said, referring to the Najib administration's 1Malaysia People's Aid RM500 cash handout programme. 
 
Although some people qualified for BR1M, he said that those who didn't received between RM50 and RM100 as a token for their attendance. 
 
After the event ended, not everyone who was brought to the event were provided with transportation to their respective villages. 
 
"About 20 people were stranded and stayed overnight under the tent where Taib spoke. We had to buy food for them," he said.