Eyes on Miri

MIRI: A father and his two sons have been detained for manufacturing firearms near the Sarawak-Brunei border.

Police raided their kampung house, located across the Baram River some 35km north of the city, on Tuesday and found an “assembly plant” making shotguns and bullets.

Police seized three shotguns and at least six cartridges and components to make the weapons from the house,

Miri police chief Asst Comm Jamaluddin Ibrahim confirmed the arrests of the father, in his 60s, and the sons, one who is in his 20s and the other in his 30s.

“We want to find out what they were doing with the weapons. We have classified the case as possession of firearms,” he said.

Asked if the family was making shotguns and bullets for sale or for their own use, he said police were investigating all possibilities.

The weapons have been sent for tests.

That's got to be eyebrow-raising.

So two years on, the flyover's been built, fuel prices skyrocketed, crime skyrocketed but where is our faceless clocktower?

Here it is: Unchanged since Day 1 when I first reported on it.

They even said in order to 'preserve' the clocktower landmark, they actually built the flyover AROUND the clocktower.

Preservation of old landmarks is all good except.. what use is to preserve it if you don't even keep it working and let its sorry state to view to the public and tourists? And what good is preservation to one small clocktower when all those really old buildings in Old Town are totally torn down to be built up instead of the more logical approach of just renovating them?

Well, I'm not sure what the papers are saying (if they are saying anything worth mentioning at all) but just this morning my parent's friend's office was broken in and his safe and valuables stolen.

They are the exact same friends who accompanied my parents to the police station when my parents' car were stolen. Now they find themselves making the police report themselves with my parents accompanying them to the police station.

What are the chances of two sets of people who know each other having become victims of theft within the span of just a week or so?

Is that coincidental?

I'm putting my finger on rampant crime activity instead.

This is from a Mirians' perspective. Yes, crime activities in Miri are very high. I already see several cars hatchback have their back windscreen broken, probably as a result of a break-in, cars stolen - including that of my parents' - and heard countless tales of other crime incidents not even published in the papers because the newspapers companies are gutless sissies.

With the increases in fuel prices - with Sarawak being affected the worst - crime might worsen.

I don't care what the authorities say, I don't care what the papers are saying, and I don't care what the leaders are saying. We are living in a crime infested city and the people with the powers to do something about it is keeping completely quiet.

Miri Branch of Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Malaysia will be holding Recycling Activity at various locations in Miri on the 4th Sunday of every month.

Things we collect include newspapers, cardboards, paper items, aluminium items, plastic items, old clothes, toys, car batteries, and etc that are recycable. Sales from the recycling items are used for charity purpose.

Please be reminded polystyrene items cannot be recycled. As such, please do not send such items to our recycle points. Your co-operation will be much appreciated. And try to avoid using polystyrene items in your daily life.

Location:
1. Piasau Garden
2. Pujut 7 (in front the Pujut SUPP office)
3. Krokop 5
4. In front Faradale Shophouse
5. Morjaya

Date: 22nd June 2008
Time: 8.30 a.m. - 11.00 a.m

MIRI, Sarawak, Malaysia, June 17, 2008 (ENS) - A month-long blockade of logging roads by indigenous people in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia set to protest illegal logging on their communal lands is about to be broken up by police.

More than 100 indigenous Kenyah people gathered at the blockade site on the upper Moh River on the island of Borneo claim that the blockade is their only way of calling on representatives of a certain Company and government authorities to have a consultation and meet with them to listen to their problems and demands.

Otherwise, they say, the timber Company will continue to ignore their demands and plights.

Kenyahs blockade a logging road on the Upper Moh River. The banner says, "Do not rob the wealth from the poor people's land and give it to the rich in the city."

According to the Borneo Resources Institute in Miri, which issued a statement today on behalf of the Kenyah peoples, ever since the logging company started its logging operations in the upper Baram area, the indigenous communities have suffered the environmental impacts of logging.

They say the company simply encroached into their communal land and forest areas to carry out logging activities, without any consultation and consideration for their source of livelihood.

The Kenyahs have forwarded some "reasonable demands for social benefits and development of the community as they are the rights stakeholders that should be fairly benefit from forest resources in their area," the Borneo Resources Institute says.

The Kenyah say they resorted to the blockade action after the company and the state forest agency ignored their demands and their rights of access and claims to the benefits of their natural forest resources.

Since the blockade was erected, the company's logging activities have ceased. Hundreds of timber logs that had been felled are stacked up along the sides of the logging road because the Kenyahs have stopped all the logging trucks and other logging machines from entering the area and transporting timber from the area.

The Kenyahs have written a letter to the Sarawak Forestry Corporation, a state government agency, requesting that the agency carry out an urgent physical inspection of all logs that have been illegally felled by the company in the area.

They also called upon the Sarawak Forestry Corporation to stop them from carrying out its operation until all inspection of timber logs has been completed.

Their request has been ignored.

Believing that they have no other alternative and being compelled to bring attention to their plight, the indigenous Kenyahs of Kedaya Telang Usan area in Baram Region have resorted to staging this protest, which is still continuing.

On May 29, upon receiving complaints from the timber company, a group of personnel from the Sarawak Forestry Corporation, went to the blockade site to remove the wooden barricades, but they were restrained from dismantling the blockade.

As a result, the Sarawak Forestry Corporation filed a court action requesting a Warrant of Arrest, which has been granted by the Magistrate Court in Miri.

Police personnel from the Marudi Police Station were ordered to the blockade site to enforce the Warrant of Arrest on June 14. So far, no arrests have taken place.

[ Source ]

Red Crescent Society International Dance for Humanity 2008
Multi-ethic cultural dance performance

Date: 15th June 2008 (Sunday)
Time: 1pm - 6pm
Venue: Miri Indoor Stadium

Entry is FREE, but lucky draw tickets are available with donations of RM5 or above.

About 6-8 cars were reported missing last night alone (10th June 2008). Not sure of the exact figures but it was around that.

My parents' car was also stolen.

In fact, we had sort of expected this to occur - this says a lot about the crime problems in Miri. It's not that we think it 'only happens to someone else' but we expected it to occur. Th problem is just 'when'?

Few days back, a friend's friend's Perdana was also stolen, but he was lucky as the police managed to spot it and get it back. It's interesting to know how they stole the cars - they simply drilled through the key hole, open the door and - if the car had a gear shift lock - using a hammer or heavy object, hit it hard enough so the lock mechanism breaks, but makes it drivable.

Steering locks are a deterrent but if they really wanted the car they'd be able to get past it anyhow (looking at the above example, a gearshift lock didn't work).

A post by Uchu Keling on how our Prime Minster totally 'forgotten' about rural Sarawakians - most highly affected by the increases in diesel for transport.

You see, diesel is not only vital for river and land transportation for goods in the rural areas (where off-road vehicles are needed sometimes), they are absolutely essential for generators for electrical power. The sudden jump in diesel practically put a halt to everything.

We're all really angry about it - but us here in the city are still lucky enough to have the basic needs covered (at higher costs) but it is the rural areas that have become extremely critical.

See what Uchu Keling has to say.

MIRI: Panic buying of cooking oil has started in northern Sarawak following talk that the price of this essential commodity may increase by up to 50% today.

The cooking oil rush was seen at all supermarkets and retail outlets starting from 5pm yesterday, sparked by an SMS rumour.

Just two days ago, the rush for petrol and diesel fuel caused traffic jams amid panic buying hours before the hike on Wednesday night.

However, the Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry has reassured consumers that there is no official approval for the price of 1kg, 3kg and 5kg bottles of cooking oil to be increased.

Rumors that cooking oil prices may be increasing sent shoppers scrambling to buy cooking oil today. Most shopping complexes and shops have cooking oil supplies emptied out.