Sarawak govt has failed to abide by Court of Appeal's ruling on NCR land, says Baru Bian

I refer to two articles in the Borneo Post dated 8 February 2012; the first headed ‘Detractors out to delay issuance of land titles’ and the second ‘Understand, accept land acquisitions’.

I notice that there has been regular coverage in the press of BN politicians officiating at ‘presentation ceremonies’, with photographs of landowners rejoicing at the payments received for their lands compulsorily acquired or handing over of titles of lands surveyed. The message is that the government is caring and compassionate towards the people, compensating them for taking away their lands, or issuing titles to NCR lands.

All that is well and good but as long as the BN politicians continue to harp on land surveys, I will continue to ask the questions to which I have not received any satisfactory answers: What is the state government’s understanding of the areas that constitute NCR land? Does the government accept the Court of Appeal and Federal Court’s definition, which includes Pemakai menoa (communal/territorial domain) and Pulau galau (reserved forest or land) as NCR land?

In every NCR land case I bring to court, the submission by the State Attorney General is that NCR land is restricted to temuda established before 1958. This shows either that the State AG’s office is ignorant of the Court’s ruling, or that the State has totally no regard for the authority or the supremacy of the highest courts of the land.

I again call on the Chief Minister, the Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment, or the Special Functions Minister to declare publicly that the State recognizes that Pemakai menoa and Pulau galau are part and parcel of NCR land, as defined by the Court.

The Special Functions Minister was quoted as saying that there are some people telling landowners to oppose the NCR new initiative. I assure the Special Functions Minister that PKR and I do not oppose the NCR new initiative. In fact, we would welcome any initiative to document and ensure the security of our people’s NCR lands. The only stumbling block is the inability of the state to assure us of that there is a meeting of the minds with regard to the meaning of NCR, and that has resulted in people being wary of the surveying exercise by the Land and Survey department. In fact, the explanation made by the Land and Survey department to the landowners is the same as that of the state AG, that NCR is restricted to temuda established before 1958. This is wrong and unacceptable. Our native landowners must have the assurance that the state will adhere to the definition of NCR as pronounced by the Courts. Only then can we lend our full support to the NCR new initiative.

Baru Bian

State Assemblyman

N 70 Ba’ Kelalan/

Chairman

PKR Sarawak