The Sarawak government will be held responsible for any conflict between the people of the three villages, warns DAP leader

Kuching, April 20, 2012: DAP Serian branch chairman Edward Andrew Luak today warned the government that it would be held responsible for any conflict that would arise between the people of Kampung Nangka and Kampung Entingan against the people of Kampung Pingang in Samarahan Division.

The villagers of Kampung Nangka and Kampung Entingan have accused the government of giving away their native customary rights (NCR) land to the people of Kampung Pinang.

Through a gazette notification "Swak. L. N. 49" published in the Sarawak Government Gazette Part 11 dated April 7, 2011, the NCR lands belonging to the two vllages have been declared as the Native Communal Reserve for the exclusive use by the Malay community of Kampung Pinang, Samarahan, for agriculture purposes.

The notification was signed by Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Planning and Resource Mamagement Datu Wan Alwi Dato Sri Wan Hashim on March 26, 2011.

The villagers from the two Iban kampungs are giving the government a month, from today, to degazette the notice, failing which, they will hold a demonstration in front of the Lands and Survey Department headquarters.

"They are prepared to give this extention of one month to the government to rectify the wrong they have made," Edward said in a press conference at the DAP headquarters here.

He said taking legal action against the government would be a last resort.

He said they had, on Jan 20, 2011, submitted a memorandum to the Superintendent of Land and Survey Department, Kota Samarahan, objecting the notification on NCR land described as Lot 2152 in Block 5 in the Samarahan Land District containing 242.6ha or 599 acress.

Copies of the memorandum were sent to two relevant state ministers and six other relevant government agencies.

Edward said a police report had also been lodged on the matter.

He said that the notification only came to light on Jan 4, 2012 when a villager from Kampung Nangka, Merine anak Sakking, went to the Lands and Surveys office in Kota Samarahan to check the status of his land.

"He was shocked to learn that his land which he has planted with oil palm was within Lot 2152 which was gazetted as Communal Reserve for the Malay community of Kampung Pinang.

"What was even more shocking was that hundreds of acres of NCR land of the Iban community of Kampung Entingan and Kampung Nangka were within Lot 2152," he said.

He said the villagers had claimed their the land belonged to them under NCR tenure as their forefathers and ancestors had cultivated the land for almost a century.

"Moreover, their land boundary with the Malay as well as with the Bidayuh communities were well defined and was of common knowledge to all communities for decades," Edward said.

He said the Iban, Malay and Bidayuh communities had lived as friendly neighbours in the vicinity with honour and respect as their core principles of co-existence.

He said the people of Kampung Entingan and Kampung  Nangka were totally in the dark about any perimeter survey exercise being conducted and they were never consulted regarding their land boundary.

"They were unaware of any notice on the intention to declare their land as Communal Reserve," he said.

He said the villagers had suspected that the Land and Survey Department had overlooked the need to inform the people of the survey exercise.

"It failed to take into account that the land was NCR land of the Iban community. Serious mistake on the part of the government agency could breed serious conflict among the various ethnic groups.

"The DAP sees this slip in administrative procedure as a serious matter that need to be resolved urgently. Land is so dear to the people who own it. In most cases, especially NCR land, it is the source of their livelihood," he said.

He said he was surprised that the government  and its agtencies seemed to take the matter lightly and to take no action whatsover.

"The attitude and inaction of the government agencies go to show that the slogan "Rakyat didahulukan, Pencapaian diutamakan" remains merely a slogan. - By Sematong Express.