Land is one of the main issues that can work against the Barisan Nasional (BN) incumbent Jacob Sagan in the Baram parliamentary constituency, according to former independent Baram MP and social activist Harrison Ngau.

Describing the battle between Jacob and the Sarawak National Party (Snap) candidate Kebing Wan as 50:50, Harrison, a Miri-based human rights lawyer, said that despite the incumbent holding two terms, "there has been little development in Baram."

"Even the only road from Beluru, near Miri, into Baram has not been tarred. In fact, if not for the timber companies, there would have been no roads at all into the interior," he adds.

He told malaysiakini that even Barisan Nasional workers were finding it difficult to campaign for Jacob with so many issues on the ground against the state government.

Among these is that involving land that has been alienated to oil palm plantations in Beluru and Tinjar in Baram which does not benefit the local population much, said Harrison.

"And there are so many cases that have been brought against the government by native customary right land claimants," he added.

According to him, there are at least 10 cases from Baram pending against the government and another 15 from Bintulu..

Uneasy, insecure

Harrison said that many among the Orang Ulu community in Ulu Baram feel they have been deprived of development while outsiders seemed to be benefiting most from the extraction of timber and oil palm.

'The Ibans, especially in Bakong and Tinjar, are the worst affected,' he said.

Kebing Wan, meanwhile, told malaysiakini that 90 percent of native land in Baram has yet to be surveyed and issued with titles or leases.

He said it is understandable for the area's natives to feel uneasy and insecure particularly when they see outsiders coming in and taking up large tracts of land for reforestation and oil palm plantations.

The state government's policy on logging, the opening up of land for oil palm plantations and the gazetting of national parks and forest reserves has affected the semi-nomadic Penan community who live in the forests of Ulu Baram.

Through the Marudi-based Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) environmental NGO, the Penan cause has been frequently highlighted, particularly their campaign against logging companies. The tribe has frequently set up timber blockades but with little results.

Not ready yet

Harrison tells malaysiakini that although no longer part of the BN, Snap still has hard core supporters in Baram which until the early 1990s was regarded as a Snap stronghold.

Jacob, a Kenyah from a longhouse near Long Akah, Ulu Baram, belongs to Sarawak BN's newest member, the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP). Voters, however, may be more affectionate towards the Dayak-based Snap, one of Sarawak's oldest political parties.

As Kebing says: "Snap is the party, and the party is the people (of Baram)."

The BN, however, is confident that although there are issues not in favour of BN, the Baram electorate are not yet ready to ditch it for Snap.