Current Issues in Sarawak

Sarawak is very divided between the mostly Chinese and Malay in the coastal cities, and the indigenous tribes in the interior. Many in the coastal cities are rich, but all too often through the economic exploitation of the people and lands of the interior. Here are some of Sarawak's major problems - all related to issues of resource extraction and justice.

Logging

Timber, Sarawak's oldest industry, will continue to be the largest source of revenue for the state. It contributes RM $839 million (about US $221 million) annually to the state economy, which makes up about 37 per cent of the total state revenue (1). Most of the profits from the oil industry goes to the federal government, while most of the profits from timber goes to the state government. As a result, the state strongly promotes logging.

Until 1945, logging in Sarawak was confined to the swamp forests along the coast. The development of chainsaws, skidders, bulldozers and trucks made the forest more accessible, and opened up the interior to loggers. By 1971 Sarawak was exporting 4.2 million cubic meters of wood annually, and this rose to 18.8 million cubic meters in 1990. Today, in the Baram River drainage area alone, more than thirty logging companies, some equipped with twelve hundred bulldozers, are working on one million acres of forest that traditionally belong to the Kayan, Kenyah, and Penan. Within the territory of the Penan alone, 72 per cent of the forest is designated for logging purposes (2). In total, it has been estimated that 90 per cent of the virgin jungle has been logged in the past 40 years alone (3).

Sarawak companies, generally owned by the ethnic Chinese, pioneered hill logging techniques. Because of their early start and financial acumen, these companies are now some of the largest logging companies in the world, and have operations in virtually every major forest of the world. These companies, typified by the infamous Ribunan Hijau, are known for their ruthlessness and ability to operate in politically treacherous places around the world.

The logging industry has affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Sarawak in ways that no other economic activity in modern times has. Huge areas in the interior of Sarawak have opened up, exposing more indigenous tribes to the outside world. A large proportion of the rural population has been drawn into the labor market (4) - the timber industry provides direct employment to about 3 per cent of the labor force (5). Many of these have worked in Malaysian logging operations around the world.

Corruption in the Logging Industry

Instead of being a source of employment for the poor, the timber industry in Sarawak has often been manipulated to benefit the ruling elite. Sarawak's Chief Minister Abdul Taib bin Mahmud (who is also the Minister of Resource Planning) has dominated politics for the past two decades. He has the sole authority to grant or deny logging concessions. The Environmental Minister is one of Sarawak's biggest loggers.

The licensing of logging concessions has been used as a political tool and a means to amass personal wealth. Recipients have included relatives, friends, political associates, and even the Sarawak Football Association. The public was given a glimpse of some behind-the-scenes action during Taib's 1987 campaign for reelection. His opponent was his uncle, Abdul Rahman Yakub, who also happened to be the former Chief Minister. In a mud-slinging match, the two sides began to reveal each other's timber holdings to the public, and it was made known that Taib's family and friends held almost four million acres of land, and Yakub's family about three million acres. The lists of both candidates involved front companies and foreign bank accounts (6). Together, they controlled 6.38 million acres of forest - over half of all logging concessions and a third of Sarawak's total forested land (7). The value of the logging concessions controlled by Taib was estimated to be in the area of four billion dollars in the early 1990's (8).

Loggers and/or the ruling government party owns controlling interests in all the major newspapers, TV stations and radio stations. As a result, embarrasing questions about collusion, corruption and nepotism are very rarely asked. Aside from the one glimpse mentioned above, no one really knows who controls what and how. How much more wealthy is Taib after ten more years of rule?

Effects of Logging on the Environment and on Indigenous People

Besides destroying much of Sarawak's valuable biodiversity, logging also encroaches upon the lands of the state's indigenous people, and has placed their livelihoods in danger. Logging and the building of logging roads to extract timber efficiently have exposed over 40 per cent of the forest floor, resulting in severe soil erosion. Once-clear streams are now choked with sediment, and indigenous people often can no longer drink the water or fish from these streams (9). Deforestation has also resulted in the loss of animal species that the indigenous people hunt for food. The Penan once found everything they needed for survival in the forest, but today many of them have been driven out of it by starvation, and have moved into longhouses and settlements. There have also been reports of logging workers robbing Penan communities, molesting their women and desecrating their graves (10).

The state government has a well-funded and experienced forestry department, which is eager to show that logging is under control. On paper, its policy of selective logging on carefully-chosen sites is impressive, but in reality, the department's Enforcement Division has trouble coping with the huge tracts of land it has to police, and with nabbing illegal loggers (11). Unfortunately, years of irresponsible logging means that there is little valuable forest left, and many companies are turning to various plantation schemes to keep profit margins high.

Continue to Part 5 - Blockades

Return to Part 3 - Ethnic and Biological Diversity

1. Timber Revenue Mainstay for Sarawak, Says Dr George Chan. 5 Nov 2001. Bernama. 25 Feb 2002
2. Davis, Wade; Mackenzie, Ian & Kennedy, Shane. Nomads of the Dawn. The Penan of the Borneo Rainforest. California: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1995, p. 93, 94.
3. Parry, Richard Lloyd. The Hunt for Bruno Manser. Independent on Sunday (London). 23 Sept 2001.
4. Institute of Social Analysis (INSAN) and authors. Logging Against the Natives of Sarawak. Malaysia: INSAN, 1992, p. 3.
5. Tan, Kevin. 'Timber Plays Vital Role in Country's Economy'. 28 March 2001. Sawarak Tribune. 25 Feb 2002.
6. Sesser, Stan. "A Reporter At Large - Logging the Rainforest." The New Yorker, 27 May 1991, p. 62.
7. Davis, p. 95.
8. Sesser, p. 62.
9. Davis, p. 105.
10. Parry.
11. Eliot, Joshua; Bickersteth, Jane and Hinton, Amanda. Malaysia and Singapore Handbook. Bristol: Footprint Handbooks Limited, 1996, p. 373.