By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, May 14: The indigenous Penan and Kenyah communities from the Upper Belaga River have lodged a formal complaint against a plantation company, accusing it of violating the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) standards.
In a statement today, the Save Rivers Network claimed that the complaint, backed by detailed evidence, raised serious concerns over land rights violations, lack of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC), and environmental degradation linked to the company’s oil palm operations.
The communities are urging the MSPO certification body and relevant authorities to investigate the alleged violations, suspend the company’s certification until the issues are addressed, and ensure respect for indigenous land rights and environmental safeguards.
According to the complaint, the company has rapidly cleared forests for new oil palm plantations without securing proper FPIC from affected residents — a breach of both MSPO principles and indigenous customary rights.
While some village leaders have expressed support for the project, community members claimed that a majority of residents from nine out of 15 affected villages strongly oppose the expansion. They alleged that only the Village Security and Development Committee (JKKK) was consulted, excluding broader community involvement.
“We never gave our consent to the JKKK to give away our land to the company. Our forest is our life, and they are taking it without our permission. The JKKK has no power to sell our land just like that,” said Veronica Bungan Ta, a community representative from Uma Pawa.
In protest, residents have requested the exclusion of their customary land from the company’s planting zones and have erected blockades. However, they claimed these blockades were dismantled with police assistance, resulting in several arrests.
The communities further alleged that the company, in its public statements and legal filings, falsely claimed the opposition stemmed from a single family—an assertion they say is a gross misrepresentation.
“There are nine villages represented at the blockade every day. To say this is only the sentiment of one family or village is a gross misrepresentation and manipulation,” said Benard Luat, a community representative from Uma Labang.
Environmental concerns were also central to the complaint. The communities accused the company of clearing natural forests in apparent violation of the MSPO’s deforestation cut-off date of Dec 31, 2019, and of planting too close to rivers without maintaining required buffer zones. They also cited a lack of proper infrastructure for heavy vehicles, damage to river ecosystems, and frequent landslides caused by clearing steep terrain.
The communities said verbal agreements made during negotiations were not honoured. For example, the company reportedly failed to carry out a promised joint survey of watershed areas before clearing land. Maps provided to the community were incomplete, and no publicly accessible shapefiles of plantation boundaries have been shared.
“We want development that respects our rights and protects the environment. This is not that,” Veronica added. — DayakDaily
