BEFORE THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE CLEMENT SKINNER IN CHAMBERS DECISION

This is an application by the plaintiff for interlocutory injunctions to restrain the defendants from doing the acts hereinafter complained of. The plaintiff was formerly known as Novelpac Sdn. Bhd. The 5 named defendants are the ?Tuai Rumah? or headmen of 5 longhouses identified as Rumah Anchih, Rumah Ketip, Rumah Lipo, Rumah Lanyau and Rumah Mulok (hereinafter 'the longhouses'), all in the Mukah or Balingian district, near Selangau, Sarawak. The 5 defendants represent the residents of the said. longhouses and are sued in their own behalf as well as representatives of all the residents of their respective longhouses.

On or about the 28th May 1999, the Superintendent of Lands and Surveys, Sibu, (hereafter 'the Superintendent') Issued to the plaintiff a Provisional Lease of State Land at Sungai Dasai, Mukah, over an area of approximately 1,440 hectares described as Lot 11, Buloh Land District (hereinafter referred to as 'the said land') wherein the Superintendent agreed, in consideration of the payment of premium and of the rent reserved in the Provisional Lease, to the plaintiff entering into possession of the said land subject to the terms and conditions indorsed on the Provisional Lease which take the form of ?Restrictions and Special Conditions?. It will not be necessary to set out here all those terms and conditions except those that are relevant to the Issues raised by this application. Thus, it is a condition of the plaintiff occupying the said land that:

it shall be used only for agriculture purposes and for processing of crops grown thereon and such other purposes as may be approved by the Director of Lands and Surveys

the plaintiff shall not extract timber or mineral deposits from the said land without an appropriate licence issued by the relevant authority;

the plaintiff shall commence field planting within 3 years of the issue of the Provisional Lease and shall complete at least 50% of the planting of the nett plantable area at the end of the 7th year, a breach or a default In the observance of any of the conditions specified in the Provisional Lease shall render the said land liable to forfeiture

the plaintiff as holder of the Provisional Lease shall not be entitled to a lease of an area equal to the 1,440 hectares stated in the Provisional Lease but only to such an area as the survey shows to be available;

the plaintiff will undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment study (hereafter 'the EIA study') on the area prior to project implementation.

The plaintiff has, accordingly, since June and July 1999 entered into possession of the said land and plan to bring it fully under palm oil cultivation In three phases of development. The plaintiff has commenced works in phase 1 of its planned development and these works include the construction of drainage and desilting a river within the said land. The plaintiff has also obtained from the Director of Forests, Forest Department, Sarawak, a licence to take forest produce (hereafter 'the licence') from within the said land. The licence permits the plaintiff to take all species of forest produce except belian and the protected species listed in the licence. The licence lasts for a period of one year from 17 September 1999. For completeness, I mention that the licence issued to the plaintiff authorises it to also take forest produce from an area of land neighbouring to the said land known as Lot 12. The plaintiff has engaged a company called Alwayield Sdn. Bhd. (hereinafter 'the subcontractor') to undertake the works of taking forest produce.. To enable it to do so, the subcontractor has constructed a rail system to the area of extraction. By way of further background information, Lot 11 and Lot 12 measure in total some 3,720 hectares, of which Block 11, which comprises the said land, measures some 1,440 hectares. As explained later, the plaintiff originally applied for and was approved 5,000 hectares of

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