Long Jawe at a crossroad

The Kenyahs Lebu Kulit of Long Jawe are at a crossroad of their history as a people, fighting for their rightful position in this land while defending their inheritance from encroachment by vested interests, said the secretary for action committee of Long Jawe Dennis Hang Bilang.

Long Jawe has a historic significance in the history of the country.

During the rule of the third Rajah Brooke on 1 April 1946, the ancestors of the Kenyah Lebu Kulit migrated from Long Jelarai in Indonesia to Tasak Aram in ulu Balui in Sarawak.

From there they were led by Nyipa Lawai, Pasan Abo and Pato Usat to move to Long Item. From Long Item they finally move to Long Jawe where Pasan Abo was appointed as the headman.

During the Indonesian Confrontation after Malaysia was formed in 1963, Long Jawe became a battleground when the British soldiers who were placed in the longhouse fought against invading Indonesian soldiers.

The people of Long Jawe were caught in the crossfire, their longhouse was fired upon with bullets and some of the able-bodied men of Long Jawe were conscripted as border scouts by the British army. A few men of Long Jawe were worth mentioning because they put their lives on the line fighting for the country, men like Liu Maling, Ubang Kasau, Along Tanyit and many more.

These men fought to defend the land they thought were their own.

It was the British that moved the people from Long Item to Long Jawe for military strategy- to defend the border, since Long Jawe was close to the border between Sarawak and Indonesia.

At first the Lebu Kulit refused to move but after being promised by the British that they would be given land, they relented but only on condition that a “surat tanah” be issued to them as proof.

At that time, there was no land and survey department, all administrative things were done through the district officer who at that time was assisted by a native officer.

On 15 June 1953, the Brooke government issued only a sketch map showing the boundary where the Lebu Kulit could settle freely.

During present day, the Kenyah Lebu Kulit were once again asked to move out of Long Jawe to make way for development vis-a-vis Bakun Dam.

While the Kenyah Lebu Kulit were resettled at Sungai Asap, albeit reluctantly, their ancestral land at Long Jawe were encroached upon.
“There were massive illegal logging being done on our land to extract timber such as meranti,” said Dennis.

According to him, they had brought the matter to court. ENDS.


Caption:
 ILLEGAL LOGGING: A group of young men from Long Jawe were dejected seeing what's happening to the forest where their ancestors roamed about.