“THE CHIEF Minister need to
realize that NCR and native lands are life to the natives and too precious and
should not play with words to hoodwink the natives” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey
Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief, in response to the Chief Minister’s reply in the
State Legislative Assembly on Monday that the government has given priority to
native rights.
The government’s ploy in
using the State Attorney General and more recently the Lands and Surveys
Director to state the government’s policy that NCR did not exist after 1930 has
obviously backfired. The move had
incurred the wrath of the natives and reduced substantially the support of the
Umno/BN government especially for the local KDM parties, PBS and Upko.
The Chief Minister’s
statement is clearly an attempt to pacify the natives and to hoodwink them into
thinking that the government is protecting and safeguarding the native rights
when it is abundantly clear that native rights and NCR have been ignored and
sidelined throughout the entire State.
NCR and Native Lands is Life
It cannot be more emphasized
than the decision of the learned Kota Kinabalu High Court Judge who ruled in
March 2011 that native customary rights was equivalent to a ‘right to life’ in
setting aside the conviction of 6 natives who were found guilty of trespass in
the Kuala Tomani Forest Reserve, Tenom.
The learned Judge also overturned the ruling of the lower court which in
effect establishes the law that NCR can be claimed in a forest reserve.
The learned Judge went on to
add that “The legal status of native customary rights in this country, in my
view, is well established,” and cited several cases to support his view.
The State Attorney General
has appealed against the decision of the said Judge. This is equal to the government saying that
the natives have no NCR and should be convicted and sent to jail.
How much more cruel can this
present Umno/BN state government be?
The irony is that such a policy is supported by Sabah KDM parties like
PBS and Upko who should by right be the strongest supporter and advocate of
native rights including NCR.
Lest we forget, the
government and the BN component leaders should be reminded that in the recent
past, the Forestry Department have not only evicted natives but have in fact
torched their homes and destroyed their crops and plants.
Umno/BN State Government
Does Not Respect NCR Nor Prioritize Sabahans
In land administration and
practice, the State government has failed to protect and safeguard NCR claims
and it is wrong for the Lands and Surveys Department to impose on the natives
to “apply” for their NCR lands via a land application (LA) or “permohonan tanah
(PT)” when all is required by the Land Ordinance is for the natives to stake
their claims.
Under the Land Ordinance, it
is imperative on the government right down to the village head or 'ketua kampung'
to verify and confirm the NCR. It is not
right to ask the natives to apply for NCR and be treated as a land application.
This may be the reason why
the Chief Minister has given the figure that there were only 615 claims for NCR
for the past 15 years of which 338 cases are still pending. For the information of the CM, there are
many, many cases of NCR claims which may be classified as land applications and
many have been pending for years with a particular case which was told to the
Lands and Surveys Director at a national forum in January 2012 that his
application is still pending after 31 years.
The CM has also failed to
explain that under the Land Ordinance, lands under lawful occupation as in NCR
cases are excluded from state or government land. It is mischievous for him to merely state
illegal occupation (and implying to include lawful occupation via NCR) does not
confer legal land rights or conclude that all State lands belonged to the State
government after 1930.
As the law stands on
December 13, 1930 or even now, the natives have every legal right to NCR and to
claim for the land rights.
If the Chief Minister and
the Umno/BN government agrees with the views of the State Attorney General and
the Lands and Surveys Director (which appears to be the case in view of the
large number and land and NCR conflicts throughout the State), the government
should amend the law to clearly recognize NCR and to update the law in
accordance with today’s needs and to simplify the process of NCR claims for the
benefit of the natives.
If the State government and
their leaders have doubts, they should refer to the Land and NCR Reforms of
STAR Sabah for guidance.
The numbers given by the
Chief Minister also clearly shows that there is no priority for lands to be
approved for natives as only 24.7% of the State lands are given to natives and
that the government also did not prioritize the alienation of land to the local
Sabahans.
No Sense of Urgency
The native land rights issue
in Sabah is critical and needs an urgent solution (as was highlighted by the YB
of Sukau) and not rhetorics. Unlike the
rhetorics of the Chief Minister, if the Umno/BN government had done all the
right things in defending the people, all the land disputes would not have
happened.
“If the Umno/BN government
fails to resolve the land disputes and problems and the NCR issue, the natives
such as in Sukau, Tongod, Pitas and Sook, who are forced from their homes, may
have no choice but to take up arms to defend themselves and their lands and
properties.
Set Up Land Tribunal and
Establish Clear Land Policy
On step forward to be taken
to resolve the land disputes is to immediately establish the Land Tribunal.
Another immediate step that
the government needs to be take is to come up with a clear Land and NCR Policy
that prioritize native rights as well as for the ordinary Sabahans for other
lands and not for outsiders. (STAR Sabah)
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