Tambat ak Belon, a resident of Rh Tukok being one of the residents from the longhouses involved said the developer had even warned that they would engage gangsters when the residents questioned them.

"We only wanted them to furnish us the pemali (compensations) for encroaching our land in accordance to our customs, but yet we were threatened in return," he added.

He made the exposure to reporters after leading several residents from the longhouses for a meeting with Bintulu Member of Parliament, Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, whom they had sought for help to settle the matter.

According to Tambat, they had been occupying the lands in question for generations since 1954 to stake a temuda (native customary rights) status for it.

In 1997, however, a company had been engaged by the State Government to develop the land they occupied for plantation purpose that had led their rights into dispute.

On the same year, the residents had proceeded to file a suit at the Miri High Court with the aim of clarifying their rights for the area and the case had been pending trial.

A photostated copy of the suit filed by them revealed that the residents had named the State Government, Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA), Tradewinds Plantation Service Sdn Bhd and Johnson Enterprise as the defendants of the case.

As a layman, Tambat understood that the developer should not have carried out any activity on the disputed area until the court reached its final decision.

However, the company restarted their activities since last year to clear the land and destroying trees and other floras planted by the longhouse residents in the area.

The residents attempted to approach the site management of the company for the action but instead was told off as one of the company's representatives threatened to engage thugs to keep them at bay.

Tambat had claimed that several police reports had been lodged but no actions seemed to be taken by the authorities concerned, leading them to highlight their plights to Tiong.

The Member of Parliament was disappointed on learning about the issue and had requested Suai/Niah community leader, Temenggung Atong Limpin to assist in addressing the issue.

If the allegations by the residents were true, Tiong felt that the company would only paint a bad image for the government that had always strive to assist particularly the rural people to progress.

"I just could not see why they could not sit down and negotiate with the residents so that an ultimate solution could be reached for common benefits," he added.

He saw no benefits could be achieved from the stand allegedly taken by the company in order to get their works done and would never get the government's endorsement.

"If this is true, it is not what the government wanted to happen. 

"Instead, the company concerned should have been helping the residents to solve their problems to signify their appreciation for been given the chance to develop the lands," he added.

While urging all relevant authorities to take serious attention to the rural people's plight, Tiong also called for fairness and firmness from them in dealing with problems of such kind.

"I believed they should stay neutral to deal with the situation and look for the best way to solve it," he added.