KUCHING: Villagers of Kampung Giam Lama are dismayed that their signatures have been forged by certain quarters to obtain consent for logging activities to be carried out in their land.
They said although their names and identity card numbers were correctly jotted down, their signatures were faked.
This has led the villagers to ponder who was behind the scam.
The shocking revelation was exposed on April 23 when the villagers had a meeting, purportedly to discuss the activities of the village.
At least 48 names were mentioned in the list, which also included those who had died.
And those attending the meeting that night denied vehemently that they had been approached by the company, let alone sign the letter.
“Where does this letter come from because I know nothing about it?” asked village chief Sab Sambat when he was shown the letter.
His surprise was shared by the villagers attending the meeting.
The letter was also stamped with the TK seal complete with his signature, which the headman flatly denied was his.
The villagers, led by Sab and the secretary of the Village Security and Development Committee (JKKK) Andrew Ripen, lodged a police report on April 24. The problem was brought to the attention of Mambong MP Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit yesterday.
Dawos said he was unaware of the problem, and urged the villagers to lodge a complaint with the Forest Department, to tell them that the letter was forged.
“I can’t tell you much because I am not aware of the problem and have not seen the letter, but I would like to advise the people (villagers) to lodge a complaint with Forest Department,” Dawos, who is Deputy Tourism Minister, said when contacted.
Meanwhile, the construction of the Semadang/Skio Road seems to get the attention of logging companies by extracting timber along the areas.
Coincidentally, Kampung Semadang, like Kampung Giam whose land is affected by the construction of the road, is also the victim of a timber company which was given the licence to extract timber along the newly-built road.
Similarly, like in Giam Lama, rumours also have it that the signatures were also forged, for which a police report had been lodged.
As highlighted in Utusan Borneo yesterday, Kampung Semadang village chief Samson Mangang claimed that the company has had a dialogue with the JKKK about the intention to carry out logging activities.
However, the request was objected.
As reported yesterday, the said company was in the process of getting approval to build a logging track to link Kampung Semadang and Kampung Danu through Semadang-Skio Road.
The report also said that there was a possibility that the logging activities would start from Kampung Danu (bordering Kampung Semadang) as it was believed that the green light has been given by Kampung Danu.
The state was recently shocked by a protest staged by people from 10 villages against a company operating on their land in Tebedu.
The protesters had resorted to torching heavy machinery, lorries and workers’ quarters in their bid to chase away the logging company.
It was also reported in the media that the foreign workers in the timber camp had run helter-skelter as they were terrified with the protesters who also brought along ‘parang’ (traditional sharp weapon) with them.