Belaga people finally get free ferry rides across Melurang River

Last updated on 23/03/2014 - 18:01
Posted on 23/03/2014 - 17:59
Anna Chidambar

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SARAWAK FOCUS: The hue and cry over exorbitant ferry fares have finally been
put to rest as the operator of the ferry service has now agreed to waive the
fees for Penans using the improvised ferry that crosses the Melurang River
in Murum.

The issue reached boiling point in late February prompting Belaga District
Officer Abdul Halim Abdullah to call a meeting between 20 Penan village
chiefs from Murum and the ferry operator believed to be either a subsidiary
or a sub-contractor of logging concessionaire Shing Yang Group.

Belaga police chief DSP Bakar Sebau had confirmed the meeting and revealed
that besides some 20 Penan village chiefs from Murum and the logging
concessionaire in the area, representatives from Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB),
Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) and the police also attended the meeting.

The outcome resulted in an unanimous decision that the Penans re-settlers at
Metalun and Tegulang would not be charged for using the improvised tongkang
ferry to cross the Melurang River which came as a welcome relief to the
natives who were being taxed for carrying out their daily tasks.

Raymond Abin, an official with Save Sarawak's Rivers Network (Save Rivers)
told theantdaily: "The Penans are now allowed to use the ferry service free
of charge as agreed in the meeting held on Feb 25 between the Penan village
chiefs and the ferry operator. It was enforced with immediate effect."

Some of the village headmen who attended included Lian Buek from Long
Menapa, Madai Salo from Long Luar, Abok Jalong Long Tangau and Paren Usak
Long Singu.

Sentiments on the ground was that the local people had been very tolerant
and had given up both their lands and the rivers for the Murum HEP Dam and
had been re-settled but they considered the Murum area as their hunting
ground as well as the place where they could get their jungle produce such
as rattan.

"Charging the natives such a high price was like adding salt to injury. They
have already been made to endure so much by being re-settled in the Metalun
resettlement area and they still need to get around and go about their daily
activities of hunting and fishing. This is their way of life and it should
be respected," Abin said.

The affected Penan villages are those resettled in the Metalun resettlement
area, from the villages of Long Menapa, Long Luar, Long Tangau and Long
Singu.

According to Abin who is also the regional coordinator of Borneo Resources
Institute Malaysia (Brimas), the Sarawak government under former Chief
Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud had granted logging and plantation
concessionaires to the Shin Yang Group that covered more than 100,000
hectares of land and forest areas comprising the entire Murum dam catchment.

The ferry service was set up to negotiate the river and the reason provided
by the operator for charging high fees on vehicles belonging to outsiders
for using the ferry which was actually a barge was to discourage them from
entering the concession area and to 'protect their interest'.

The operator stated that the makeshift ferry was used by the logging company
to cross the swelling Melurang River as a result of the impoundment of the
Murum HEP Dam. The logging company was actually planning to build a bridge
across the river so the 'tongkang' service was just a temporary means of
crossing the river.

While the Penans were guaranteed their free rides, at the meeting the
operator also agreed that it would not charge government vehicles crossing
the river. Unregistered government vehicles could also use the service free
provided those using them got prior verification from the district office in
Belaga.

The operator had also extended the daily operating hours from 7am to 6pm
from the previous closing time of 5pm and had agreed to provide the service
at any time in case of emergency involving the Penans. The operator had
rationalised that it could not extend the operations 24 hours a day as the
current expenses reached a staggering RM80,000 a day for the two tractors
from both river banks to pull the 'tongkang' across the river.

The 'tongkang' operator had been charging RM150 per crossing for a 4WD
vehicle, while a truck below 10 tonnes was charged RM250 per crossing.
Logging trucks and dump trucks were charged RM400 per crossing; a trailer
without goods RM1,000 per crossing and those with goods were charged double
the amount.