SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI. MINAL AIDZIN WAL FAIDZIN

Dalam kerendahan hati ada ketinggian budi. Dalam kemiskinan harta ada kekayaan jiwa. Dalam kelembutan lidah ada juga keterlanjuran kata. Dalam gurau dan senda ada khilaf dan dosa. MOHON AMPUN DAN MAAF DI ATAS SEGALANYA. EID MUBARAK.



Ikhlas dari,
ABD SAMAT BIN KASAH & KELUARGA
Subang Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan

What is the Story Behind the Eviction Order

After reading a newspaper report pertining to the Eviction Order given to Some 10,000 villagers from 13 Kedayan-Malay villages in Miri, is enough to make me, as a true-blooded Kedayan, terribly angry and disappointed on the inhumane actions by the authority which serves the Eviction Order.

More often than not, newspaper reports, is not telling the real story behind the Eviction Order. What we read from the newspaper reports is one-sided view, particularly on the timeline given by the authority in the Eviction Order. According to the report the villagers received the eviction notices from the Land and Survey Department recently (date not stated) asking them to move out by tomorrow (Monday, September 29, 2008).

If the report is true, the authority in Miri is indeed too cruel, unjust and inhumane towards the 10,000 Kedayan people particularly at the end of Ramadhan, merely two days before Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. As a true-blooded Kedayan, this is too much for me to swallow.

It is hard for me to evaluate the situation without the facts and figures. If there are any visitors / readers from Miri who are well versed with the issues and challenges faced by the 10,000 Kedayan people from 13 Kedayan villages in Miri, kindly post your comments or email to me direct at askasah@gmail.com.

At this moment in time the best thing I could do is to pray to Allah SWT, asking for His mercy to resolve the problem amicably in the shortest possible time. Amin.

Villagers see red over eviction order

Sunday September 28, 2008

MIRI: Some 10,000 villagers from 13 Kedayan-Malay villages in northern Sarawak are up in arms over a move to evict them from their century-old settlements.

They received the eviction notices from the Land and Survey Department recently asking them to move out by tomorrow.

The villages are located some 40km south of Miri City, along the Sarawak Second Coastal Highway near the Miri-Bintulu division boundary.

Yesterday, scores of villagers staged a demonstration by the road to tell motorists about their plight.

They unfurled banners and placards denouncing the eviction. The crowd grew as passers-by joined in the protest.

Two elderly Kedayan chieftains, Penghulu Sahar Pusha and Bengkil Bangkol, joined in the demonstration.

“This move to evict us is a huge shock. We have been living in these villages since 1910.

“We were told that they have plans to build a sawmill and develop oil palm plantations. We were informed that 1,800ha of our land had already been allocated for a sawmill.

“Where are we to go? This is our ancestral home. We have been here for almost 100 years,” said Sahar.

Bengkil claimed that the developer had already cleared four cemeteries to build access roads.

“We have sought urgent meetings with the relevant authorities to help us. We recently met Miri Land and Survey Department officials but they told us we have no right over the land because we only have provisional leases.

“We protested saying that we have native customary rights because our ancestors have been there since 1910 but they refuse to withdraw the eviction notices,” said Bengkil.

The villagers are now appealing to Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud to intervene and stop the eviction.

Source : Please click here