KUCHING, Dec 17, 2014: PKR Mas Gading chairman Boniface
Willy Tumek (picture, right) has blasted the Land and Survey Department for giving a short notice to the Bidayuh villages in Singgai on its intention to conduct a
perimeter survey on their native customary rights (NCR) land.
The perimeter survey is supposed to start today, after announcement was made through the villages churches to NCR landowners on Sunday, he said.
He also blasted the manner in which a dialogue was held
yesterday between the NCR landowners and officers of the Lands and Surveys at
REDEEMS Centre in Kampung Apar, Bau. Tasik Biru State lawmaker and assistant
minister for community service Peter
Nansian was present.
"What was supposed to be a dialogue on the Inisiatif
Baru Tanah NCR (New NCR Land Initiative) turned out to be a mere briefing on
the process involved in a Perimeter Survey. There was no dialogue,"
Boniface charged.
He added:"The villagers who were present at the
event and those who were unable to be present were sore over several points
including over being denied the opportunity to ask questions and to present
their viewpoints.
"First, the notice given to the landowners was so
short - in fact one day only - that vast majority of the landowners were unable
to arrange for leave from work to attend the dialogue. Notice was given via
announcement in their village’s church last Sunday.
"Secondly, only seven villages out of the 12
villages in Singgai were informed to attend. The seven villages are Kampung
Sudoh, Kampung Atas, Kampung Tanjung Poting, Kampung Tanjung Bowang, Kampung
Senibong, Kampung Daun and Kampung Bobak Sanjuong," he said.
He said the villagers from Kampung Segong, Kampung
Barieng, Kampung Apar, Kampung Bobak Sejinjang and Kampung Sagah.
He even the villagers
from the invited seven kampungs are wondered whether there is a separate plan
for the other five uninvited kampungs.
He said the villagers from the five kampungs are wondering why they were
left out and asked whether the organisers and the Land & Survey Department
have something to hide.
"Thirdly, those present at the event (numbering
about 600 people only, hardly 10% of the total population in Singgai) were told
that the perimeter survey and the resultant communal reserve, to be carried out
under Sect 6 of the Land Code will be based on an Approved Boundary issued by
the Ministry of Resource Planning.
"They were also told that once the communal reserve
is created and gazetted, all land outside the reserve is automatically
considered government land.
"The villagers have not seen the Approved Boundary
and they are unable to tell whether or not their land is within the Approved
Boundary.
"A very significant size of the land in Singgai has
been documented by the Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA) under the DBNA
NCR Land Initiative and the land’s perimeters have been agreed on by the
villagers and duly documented since 2010.
"There are plots of land that were not documented
and this was due to reasons like disputes among co-owners, disputes with
neighbours and inability to finance the related costs involved.
"The villagers were told by the Land & Survey
Department officers that the DBNA maps will be used up to maximum of 90 % only
in the perimeter survey works.
"What this mean to the villagers is that there is a
real danger that their land or part of it will be excluded from the communal
reserve created.
"This has compounded their fears especially when at
the end of the ‘dialogue’ the department’s officers mentioned that they will be
sending their surveyors to commence the surveying works immediately the
following day," Boniface said.
He said he was infomed that the villagers were of the
idea that the maps produced by DBNA under their NCR Land Documentation
Initiative were never intended for use as a basis for a perimeter survey under
Sect 6 of the Land Code but to facilitate the survey of their individual plots
of land by the department.
"The villagers are already very bitter over the loss
of their ‘pulau-galau and pemakai menoa’ at Rayu and Otak Butan. Provisional
leases were given over the land for development into oil palm plantations and
the land is now almost completely cleared," he said.
Boniface said Mas Gading PKR is greatly concerned by
these developments and by the apparent attempts by the dialogue organisers and
the Land & Survey Department Kuching to deny the villagers access to
crucial information.
He said PKR Mas Gading joined the villagers from the 12
kampung in Singgai to demand the
followings:
1. The department must not commence the perimeter survey
works on the land in Singgai until all the villages are sufficiently informed
of the planned survey and their consent duly obtained.
2. The Approved Boundary must be displayed in the
village’s balai raya and church’s notice boards for all who are affected to
inspect. Sufficient time must be given to the villagers to conduct their own
inquiry with regards to their land and to the Approved Boundary.
3. The department must hold dialogues with each village
separately and during a weekend, to explain the implications of the perimeter
survey and to determine the villagers land vis-à-vis the Approved Boundary.
4. Upon expiry of the notice, all the ketua kampung from
the 12 villages must call a meeting of villagers under their respective charges
and secure their written consent to proceed with the perimeter survey. This is
to ensure that the majority of the villagers in Singgai agree to the perimeter
survey planned for their land.
No comments:
Post a Comment