Remun community wins in NCR land case

Kuching, Feb 24, 2012:  A Remun villagers have won a case in the High Court yesterday when they succeeded in claiming native customary rights over 4,000 acres of land in Serian district.

They sued Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA),  plantation company Nirwana Muhibbah Sdn Bhd and Lands and Surveys Department of Kuching Division for encroaching into their land without compensation.

The plaintiffs are the headman Nyutan Jami, Gangga Guma and Langga Kama, who took the court action on behalf of themselves and 183 other villagers of Kampung Lebor.

Remun, found only in Serian district in Sarawak, is one of the small tribes in the State.

The judgment of Appeal of Court Judge, Justice Datuk Clement Skinner, who heard the case in 2008 when he was a Kuching High Court, was delivered by Senior Assistant Registrar of the Kuching High Court Rosliah Abdul Rahman in her chamber.

The Lands and Surveys issued two Provisional Leases (PL) to LCDA and Nirwana Muhibbah Sdn Bhd, covering land claimed by the Remuns as theirs.

Baru Bian, counsel for the NCR landowners, said the case concerned Article 5 and Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.

 “We have brought these two Articles before the court, and the judge agreed with us,” he said.

He said Article 5(1) states that no person shall be deprived his life or personal liberty save in accordance with the law.

“The natives have always equated land to life. You take their land, you deprive them of their life,” he said.

“We have also brought the issue on equality before the law and that all persons are entitled to the equal protections of the law.

He said this Article concerns compensation for loss of their land.

“They (villagers) must be compensated for the acquisition of the land, but in this case, they were not,” he added.

He said the court agreed that the Remuns have customary rights over the disputed land and that the first and second defendants have trespassed into the land.

The court also ordered the Lands and Surveys to take steps to exclude the NCR land from the two PLs.

Damages to the land to be assessed later.