Land Bill aimed at ‘punishing natives’
By Joseph Tawie, FMT
KUCHING: The bill to bar Sarawak natives from seeking legal redress for grievances involving their native customary rights (NCR) to land is draconian, says Sarawak DAP.
State chairman Wong Ho Leng said the move clearly showed that the government of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud was bent on depriving the natives of their legal rights to their land.
“This bill is draconian in the topmost degree. It is unfair to stop the natives from going to court, even when they receive no dividends or benefits from joint ventures (to develop the land).
“It is a draconian law which only the Barisan Nasional (BN) has the audacity to introduce,” he said when debating the Land Custody and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill 2011 at the 10th State Legislative Assembly sitting.
The bill was introduced by State Land Development Minister James Masing.
Wong said DAP never opposed the development of NCR land so long as it is “meaningful and for the general good of the natives”.
“Let me assure this House that contrary to the lies of Deputy Chief Minister (Alfred Jabu Anak Numpang) uttered so many times in this House, DAP never oppressed or suppressed the opportunities of the Dayaks in NCR land development.”
Earlier, Wong, who is also the Bukit Assek assemblyman, said that while Sarawak natives had helped BN secure a more than two-thirds majority in the recent state election, the BN state government did not deem it fit to reward them positively.
“This bill is introduced to punish the natives.
“Less than two months before the state election, on Feb 18, the Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA) and the state government had lost a legal battle in a case involving the development of NCR land.
“Clearly, this bill is introduced to plug what was so profoundly shown in the judgment of Justice Linton Albert in Kuching High Court in the popularly known Pantu Land case, where the learned judge ruled against the LCDA and the state government,” he said.
Wong said that for the LCDA to develop the land, it is paramount to obtain the consent of the native landowners first, adding that the consent must be “genuine and sincere” and not the Ali-Baba type of agreement.
Development agreement
Wong said the question is how to secure “genuine consent” from the landowners.
“Land titles may be issued to the tuai rumah (longhouse chief). But the land is enjoyed by all the longhouse folk.
“Will a development agreement between the LCDA and the tuai rumah be sufficient to bind the majority or all the longhouse folk?
“The question hinges on the extent of the authority of the tuai rumah,” he said.
Wong said he had received many complaints from Selangau, where the penghulu and tuai rumah had signed agreements for oil palm plantations.
But the penghulu and the tuai rumah had signed the agreements without prior consultation with the longhouse folk.
“Under the bill, the development agreement cannot be revoked, for the only requirement is that the agreement is signed by the LCDA with the owner, even if the majority of the longhouse folk do not know of the agreement or even object to it.
