Despite the fact that the dam has recently been suspended, the Malaysian government still plans to move these people. The Dayaks have not been properly consulted or informed about the plans for their resettlement. It is the logging industry above all which is devastating the lives of the Dayaks. Their forests are logged 24 hours a day. Timber is the single largest source of export revenue for the state government and the control of timber is at the heart of Sarawak's political economy.
Japan is the largest importer of logs from Sarawak.
Contrary to the Malaysians' own claims of sustainable logging, Sarawak's forests are being destroyed at the fastest rate in the world. In 1991 a World Bank report estimated the rate of logging in Sarawak to be four times above the sustainable rate. The rivers are silted up, the pollution is killing the fish and the game is being scared deeper into the few remaining forests. However the Dayaks have fiercely resisted this destruction of their lands. After repeated appeals to both federal and state governments they were forced to adopt more direct methods.