Posted on 08/30/2009 7:54:56 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
HUNDREDS of Borneo tribes men armed with blowpipes are blockading roads in protest against companies they accuse of destroying their rainforests to grow oil palms for “green” biofuel, cooking oil, soap and margarine.
The confrontation is taking place in the endangered forests of the Malaysian state of Sarawak, where members of the Penan tribe have existed for centuries as nomadic hunter-gatherers living on fish, wild animals and plants.
“This is a last resort,” said See Chee How, a lawyer fighting land rights cases for indigenous people. “There have been allegations of rape by loggers, the rivers are being polluted and the Penan fear for their food supplies.”
Palm oil provides a third of all cooking oils and is used in household brands such as Palmolive soap and Flora margarine.
Soaring demand for its use in “green” biofuel has pushed up the price by 45% this year, prompting companies to clear more rainforest and plant yet more palms. The latest expansion seems to have set off the blockades.
Timber operations by four companies were halted while police and local politicians attempted to negotiate with the tribesmen late last week.
Lihan Jok, a state assembly member, accused unidentified “outsiders” of fomenting trouble and pledged to have “sincere” and “heart-to-heart” discussions. “I have spoken to the timber companies affected by the blockades. Their managements said they have always treated the Penan well,” he told a local newspaper.
The tribesmen responded by demanding that officials come to see the “dire situation” in their villages. Twelve villages had united to send their men, clad in traditional hats pierced with hornbill feathers and carrying blowpipes, onto the jungle roads to block the timber lorries.
“These logging companies don’t clear the whole forest – they take the valuable trees and wreak a lot
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
List"! list. list...I just finished reading the book “Strange in the Forest: On Foot Across Borneo”, which describes these wonderful people and their culture in depth. I hope these people and their culture fare well.
And I thought the Food Police Outlawed Palm oil like Coconut Oil.
barbra ann
Ha,ha, very good! I am old enough to remember this.
Hey, I thought only evil oil companies ravaged the planet! I guess evil environmentally correct companies do, too.
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