Beyond The Bombs: How Bombers Affect Villages In Sabah

While visiting the northern islands in Sabah one of our team members, Clark Dunson, spoke with a village chief of the Bajau Laut about how the bombers are organized and other ways they are affecting village life.

The chief described a fish bombing operation that starts with a big boat coming out from Kudat in the north. Dozens of day boats meet the larger boat looking to get work. The big boat provides the day boats with fish bombs. Each will detonate between 300-400 bombs per day, returning their catch to the big boat throughout the day in exchange for more bombs.

The big boat carefully throws out any fish with bomb damage, and after 5-9 days, returns to port and offloads fish to exporters who ship it north. Everyone is paid off, including officials.

In addition to bombing the reefs, Dunson also learned that the bombers have taken over 30 out of 46 villages in the islands. They bomb the chief, take their food and women, and set themselves up as the new village boss.

The chief feared his village was next and that the bombers had thrown a bomb at his house the week prior while he was away. Fortunately, his wife was not hurt.

"We want to fight them, no one wants to live under lawless warlords with bombs. But we cannot. They are too strong,” explained the chief. “We've lived here for hundreds of years, but now they take our fish and we go hungry."

"We are stateless people. No medicine, no school, no guns, no law enforcement. The bombers know that we cannot get help, and that they can hurt us as much as they want, and that no one will come help.”

After learning about SFB’s system he not only offered his and his son’s help but exclaimed:

“Your system can pinpoint their location? Good! Now I can mount a cannon on my roof and destroy them. Everyone hates them."

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