BELAGA, SARAWAK – The Customary and Native Land Committee of Hulu Balui has protested against a large-scale bamboo plantation by Rich Venture Sdn. Bhd. near the Bakun Dam in Belaga, alleging encroachment into Native Customary Rights (NCR) land and severe environmental damage.
The plantation, licensed under LPF/0056 and covering 44,545 hectares, is part of Sarawak’s License for Planted Forests (LPF) scheme. Documents show plans to clear over 20,000 hectares of native forest to establish a commercial bamboo monoculture. Satellite imagery confirms that deforestation began earlier this year and continues within the concession area.
The license overlaps with the NCR lands of seven Indigenous Kenyah, Kayan, Lahanan, and Penan communities. Many of these communities were already displaced when the Bakun Dam reservoir flooded their ancestral territories.
According to the Committee, the project has caused:
- Destruction of endangered species’ habitats through large-scale clearing;
River pollution and declining fish stocks; - Soil erosion and siltation in the Bakun Reservoir, threatening the dam’s lifespan; and
- Encroachment onto ancestral lands.
“We have lived on this land since the time of our ancestors — before Sarawak became a state, before the Brooke rule (1841–1946), during the British administration (1946–1963), and after the formation of Malaysia until today,” said Denis Hang Bilang, Chairman of the Committee.
On September 26, 2025, the Committee representing the seven affected communities filed a police report demanding the suspension of LPF/0056, citing lack of consultation, absence of an Environmental Impact Assessment, and no access to a plantation management plan.
The Committee also condemned the 1997 Land Order (Extinguishment of Native Customary Rights) (Bakun Reservoir Area) (No. 4), which they say nullified community rights without consent or compensation, in violation of Article 13 of Malaysia’s Federal Constitution.
The Committee is urging the Sarawak Government to suspend and review LPF/0056, repeal the 1997 gazette, restore native land rights, re-gazette NCR lands with official maps, and ensure adequate compensation from Rich Venture Sdn. Bhd.
“We do not oppose development, but we reject any attempt to erase our ancestral rights in violation of Article 13 of the Federal Constitution,” Denis added. “Our land belongs to the countless number of our ancestors who are dead, the few who are living, and the multitude of those yet to be born.”