Mujah (front, second left) with the Ulu Kelawit villagers after lodging their police reports in Kuching.
KUCHING: A group of villagers from Ulu Kelawit (Tatau-Mukah) lodged two police reports at the one-stop police station along Jalan Simpang Tiga here yesterday, claiming encroachment into their Native Customary Rights (NCR) land.
The group, comprising 60 villagers led by Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia) secretary-general Nicholas Mujah Ason, alleged that their NCR land in Ulu Kelawit had been encroached by two companies – one that operates a stone quarry and the other, an oil palm plantation.
According to Mujah, the villagers were unhappy that several police reports they had lodged in Tatau, Mukah and Sibu were not attended to, prompting them to come to Kuching to lodge the two reports.
Mujah also said the villagers felt unsafe as they claimed that they were followed by unknown individuals wherever they went.
“Previously, they (the villagers) went to Sibu to lodge a police report where they spotted the same individuals following them like here (in Kuching).
“Therefore, they lodged a police report for their safety and security, to prevent any untoward incident from happening. The police report also indicates their dissatisfaction and the alleged manhandling by police personnel in Mukah,” Mujah said.
He also pointed out that one of the villagers was allegedly slapped when lodging a report and their belongings was set on fire by police; a few of them were even arrested for allegedly interfering with the companies’ operation, despite them wanting to protect their NCR land.
Mujah also said the villagers had engaged a lawyer to protect their NCR land and for the matter to brought to court.