Penans of Ba’ Medamot
A new chapter for the 80 Penans 
of Ba’ Medamot
Borneopost -Posted on December 3, 2010, Friday
MIRI: As for those who have never set foot in Ba’ Medamot in the deep interior of Baram in Sarawak, they may not be aware of the difficulties in bringing development to this remote settlement.
Located on the mountain range, about 2,000 feet above sea level, Ba’Medamot has no roads or rivers that directly connect the settlement with the outside world.
The only way to reach Ba’ Medamot is by walking.
Thus walking for hours or even days through the thick jungle is nothing new for people like Raja @ Sabin Libat, head of the Ba’ Medamot settlement with a population of 80 Penans.
“To get to the nearest logging trail, we normally walk for four hours. To Bario it takes two days and we have to put up in the jungle for the night,” he said in the little Malay that he knew to the writer who was recently in Ba’ Medamot.
The writer accompanied the team headed by Sarawak’s Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan who officiated the new houses complete with the basic amenities for the Penans there.
As they have been long isolated from the outside world and still hold to their traditional ways, the Penans are often seen naive or even ignorant.
The reaction of Raja and the Penans in Ba’ Medamot in receiving outsiders during the event clearly illustrates that they are hardly visited by outsiders or do not know much of the outside world.
“Which is the Minister?” Asked Raja to the writer on the dignitary that he has never met before.
After pointing out the person, Raja who was still doubtful went towards him and asked: “Are you the minister? What is your name?” Awang Tengah cast aside the protocol and introduced himself to Raja and soon both were in a conversation.
The Penans here have lived in spartan simplicity in several wooden huts and depend on the jungle for a living.
Nonetheless, Raja and his people are set to see changes in the way they live starting with a more comfortable abode complete with gravity water supply.
“This is the most challenging undertaking,” noted Datuk Len Talif Salleh, the acting Permanent Secretary for Sarawak’s Second Planning and Resource Management Ministry.
Len Talif is also the Director of Sarawak Forestry.
This pioneering initiative is being undertaken by the department with the cooperation of the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) and two private companies – Samling Strategic Corporation and Erickson Air-Crane.
About 30 employees of the department had put up in Ba’ Medamot for two months to complete the 20 houses and a small dam to provide gravity water for the settlement.
The employees, worked with the locals to source timber from the jungles and cut the timber into wood and carry them to the site where the houses were built.
The whole exercise was virtually a test of endurance with the muscle power ensuring the completion of the houses.
However, certain construction material like bricks and sand were brought in from Lawas, in north of Sarawak, using a lorry to the last stop at Ravenscourt Logging Camp, a remote post in Limbang Division located 10 hours drive, and then airlifted by the Erickson Air-Crane helicopter services to Ba’ Medamot.
Len Talif estimated that the cost involved is about RM750,000, minus the cost of the processing the timber into wood.
“However, I’m really impressed by the commitment shown by the department’s staff and the diligence of the locals here in ensuring the success of this undertaking,” he said.
After two months of hard work, the new houses helped to change the Ba’ Medamot’s monotonous landscape.
If previously the settlement only consisted of 15 dilapidated huts where the 80 residents lived, a view of Ba’ Medamot now from air resembles a tropical resort within the lush jungles of Sarawak.
Now the people here no longer need to fetch water from the Kubaan stream as tap water is already available right at their homes.
A resident Ngau Usin related to Bernama that his family was ready to move into the new home after living under cramped conditions with his wife and eight children in one of the huts.
Ngau who does not know his age was visibly excited to see the water flowing fast from the tap right in front of his new home.
“It is like a dream,” said this man who for the first time in life felt the tap water running on his hands.
Out of the 20 new houses, 15 has been allocated to the Penan families, while the remaining five will serve as the offices for the Forestry Department, Ranger’s post, Information and Cultural centre, and a place for tourists to put up.
Last year, the Sarawak Forestry Department completed a 32 meter suspension footbridge across the Kubaan stream near Long Semirang, about a day’s walk from Ba’ Medamot.
According to Len Talif, the footbridge would be useful for Ba’ Medamot settlers to walk to Bario to send their children to school.
“Without the footbridge, it is quite difficult for them to cross due to the strong currents in the stream,” he said.
Apart from providing the basic infrastructure, the department also teaches the people here to farm for self sustenance and reduce dependence on the forest.
of Ba’ MedamotBorneopost -Posted on December 3, 2010, Friday
MIRI: As for those who have never set foot in Ba’ Medamot in the deep interior of Baram in Sarawak, they may not be aware of the difficulties in bringing development to this remote settlement.
Located on the mountain range, about 2,000 feet above sea level, Ba’Medamot has no roads or rivers that directly connect the settlement with the outside world.
The only way to reach Ba’ Medamot is by walking.
Thus walking for hours or even days through the thick jungle is nothing new for people like Raja @ Sabin Libat, head of the Ba’ Medamot settlement with a population of 80 Penans.
“To get to the nearest logging trail, we normally walk for four hours. To Bario it takes two days and we have to put up in the jungle for the night,” he said in the little Malay that he knew to the writer who was recently in Ba’ Medamot.
The writer accompanied the team headed by Sarawak’s Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan who officiated the new houses complete with the basic amenities for the Penans there.
As they have been long isolated from the outside world and still hold to their traditional ways, the Penans are often seen naive or even ignorant.
The reaction of Raja and the Penans in Ba’ Medamot in receiving outsiders during the event clearly illustrates that they are hardly visited by outsiders or do not know much of the outside world.
“Which is the Minister?” Asked Raja to the writer on the dignitary that he has never met before.
After pointing out the person, Raja who was still doubtful went towards him and asked: “Are you the minister? What is your name?” Awang Tengah cast aside the protocol and introduced himself to Raja and soon both were in a conversation.
The Penans here have lived in spartan simplicity in several wooden huts and depend on the jungle for a living.
Nonetheless, Raja and his people are set to see changes in the way they live starting with a more comfortable abode complete with gravity water supply.
“This is the most challenging undertaking,” noted Datuk Len Talif Salleh, the acting Permanent Secretary for Sarawak’s Second Planning and Resource Management Ministry.
Len Talif is also the Director of Sarawak Forestry.
This pioneering initiative is being undertaken by the department with the cooperation of the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) and two private companies – Samling Strategic Corporation and Erickson Air-Crane.
About 30 employees of the department had put up in Ba’ Medamot for two months to complete the 20 houses and a small dam to provide gravity water for the settlement.
The employees, worked with the locals to source timber from the jungles and cut the timber into wood and carry them to the site where the houses were built.
The whole exercise was virtually a test of endurance with the muscle power ensuring the completion of the houses.
However, certain construction material like bricks and sand were brought in from Lawas, in north of Sarawak, using a lorry to the last stop at Ravenscourt Logging Camp, a remote post in Limbang Division located 10 hours drive, and then airlifted by the Erickson Air-Crane helicopter services to Ba’ Medamot.
Len Talif estimated that the cost involved is about RM750,000, minus the cost of the processing the timber into wood.
“However, I’m really impressed by the commitment shown by the department’s staff and the diligence of the locals here in ensuring the success of this undertaking,” he said.
After two months of hard work, the new houses helped to change the Ba’ Medamot’s monotonous landscape.
If previously the settlement only consisted of 15 dilapidated huts where the 80 residents lived, a view of Ba’ Medamot now from air resembles a tropical resort within the lush jungles of Sarawak.
Now the people here no longer need to fetch water from the Kubaan stream as tap water is already available right at their homes.
A resident Ngau Usin related to Bernama that his family was ready to move into the new home after living under cramped conditions with his wife and eight children in one of the huts.
Ngau who does not know his age was visibly excited to see the water flowing fast from the tap right in front of his new home.
“It is like a dream,” said this man who for the first time in life felt the tap water running on his hands.
Out of the 20 new houses, 15 has been allocated to the Penan families, while the remaining five will serve as the offices for the Forestry Department, Ranger’s post, Information and Cultural centre, and a place for tourists to put up.
Last year, the Sarawak Forestry Department completed a 32 meter suspension footbridge across the Kubaan stream near Long Semirang, about a day’s walk from Ba’ Medamot.
According to Len Talif, the footbridge would be useful for Ba’ Medamot settlers to walk to Bario to send their children to school.
“Without the footbridge, it is quite difficult for them to cross due to the strong currents in the stream,” he said.
Apart from providing the basic infrastructure, the department also teaches the people here to farm for self sustenance and reduce dependence on the forest.
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