A group of Penan from Murum have travelled to Kuala Lumpur to hold protests outside the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman and will head to Parliament tomorrow to urge the authorities to look into their plight.
The Penan are scheduled to meet the Inspector-General (IGP) of Police Khalid Abu Bakar at Bukit Aman in the morning and will submit a memorandum to him calling for a stop to all police harassment in Murum.
After meeting the IGP, they will walk to Parliament House to report the Sarawak government’s discrimination of the Penan community to MPs. They also hope to meet the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, opposition leaders and lawmakers.
The Penan are calling on civil society and NGOs to walk in solidarity with them tomorrow morning.
A public talk will take place tomorrow 20/11/13. See below for further information:
Public Talk: The Plight and Story of Penan Women and Children in Murum, Sarawak
Penan women and headmen will be updating the public on the situation on the ground at Murum, Sarawak with regards to their protest against the Murum dam. They need your support in bringing attention to their plight, and funds and other support to keep the movement going. Please do attend this talk in solidarity with the Penan peoples. Attached is a poster of the event – kindly circulate widely.
Details of the event below:
Date: 20th Nov 2013
Time: 8pm
Place: Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH), No.1 Jalan Maharajarela, 50150 Kuala Lumpur.
Background information: The government of Sarawak and its state-owned energy utility Sarawak Energy Berhad, plan to build 12 dams with the goal of completing 6 of them by 2020, despite the fact that Sarawak already has enough energy to meet local demand for the foreseeable future. These dams are part of what the government calls the SCORE (Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy) Initiative, a rapid industrial growth investment plan that will hurt native people and the environment.
Two dams have already been completed – the Batang Ai and the Bakun dam. The Murum Dam is currently under construction.
Penans of the Murum region are strongly against the dam, with over 100 Penans protesting at the dam site, erecting a blockade to the road leading up to the dam, and demanding fair compensation and resettlement which will allow them to continue with their traditional way of life.
The blockade has been up for 6 weeks with, what we have been told, the entire population in the area, including women and children living in tents, suffering from the sun and rain, and facing intimidation and harassment by the police and law enforcement units.
Penans in Murum are in need of urgent attention and support to sustain the movement, including food, daily necessities and funds.
Organisers and Supporters: The Penan Action Group, Jaringan Kampung Orang Asli Semenanjung Malaysia (JKOASM), Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG), The Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Civil Rights Committee and Women Section (KLSCAH CRC, KLSCAH Women’s Section) are jointly organising the public talk, “The Plight and Story of Penan Women and Children in Murum” on 20 November 2013, at 8pm at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) at the request of the Penan representatives.
Further information: For any further information, please contact KLSCAH secretariat at 03-2274 6645
For more information see: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/246980