PBDS questions Awang Tengah's claim on surveying of NCR land, says should give priority to Section 18 of the land code

KUCHING, Oct 31 2025: Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) has questioned the Sarawak government’s claim that over 1.2 million hectares of Native Customary Rights (NCR) land have been surveyed under the first stage of perimeter survey, saying the figures do not represent real ownership or justice for the Dayak people. 

Sanjan Daik: Land rights are not political favours but birthrights protected by adat, the Federal Constitution, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Its secretary-general Sanjan Daik, who is also a practising lawyer, said most of the surveyed areas were only gazetted under Section 6 of the Sarawak Land Code, which remains state-controlled communal land.

“Surveying under Section 6 is not the same as giving ownership under Section 18. Until the government converts those communal reserves into individual titles, native landowners do not truly own their ancestral land,” he said in a statement today when responding to Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan’s speech on the surveying of NCR land.

Sanjan noted that only 47,443 hectares, or less than four per cent of the total surveyed NCR land, have been issued with individual titles under Section 18 since 2010.

He urged the state to prioritise Section 18 issuance and to include native representatives and PBDS observers in the NCR verification process.

“Land rights are not political favours but birthrights protected by adat, the Federal Constitution, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). NCR justice must be measured by ownership, not announcements,” Sanjan added.

Yesterday, Awang Tengah had said that a total of 1,217,766 hectares (3.009 million acres) of NCR land across the state have been surveyed from the year 2010 to September 30 this year under the first stage of perimeter survey.

Out of the total, he said 938,342 hectares (2.3 million acres) have been gazetted under Section 6 of the Sarawak Land Code.

Awang Tengah, who is also the Second Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Planning, said so far 105,344 individual lots involving an area of 125,703 hectares (310,618 acres) have been successfully surveyed.

Out of the total, he said 34,122 lots involving an area of 47,443 hectares (117,234 acres) have been issued with land title deeds under Section 18 of the land code.

 Awang Tengah was speaking at the handing over of land titles issued under Section 18 of the land code in Pakan, Sarikei.