Baru: Pakatan Gov’t will respect all NCR land

KUCHING: Whatever statements or the clarifications made by the Barisan Nasional (BN) Government, their intentions are obvious and crystal clear from their actions in the legal cases pertaining to NCR lands and in their conduct in the State Assembly, said Sarawak Opposition Chief Baru Bian in a statement.

“The unsavoury truth is that the BN Government refuses to recognize the full native customary rights lands of the people.”

“This is why they appealed to the Federal Court in Tuai Rumah Sandah’s case. This is why they rejected my attempts to have the definition of ‘Native Customary Rights’ in the Land Code amended to include Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galau.”

It would be much better for the people to support a Pakatan Government, added Baru. “We have pledged to recognize that the NCR lands of the people cover Temuda, Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galau.”

“It’s written for all to see in our policy documents, notably our 18-Point roadmap for the upcoming Sarawak elections.”

Baru, a senior lawyer in private practice, was commenting on a media report on a “purported clarification” of the position of the perimeter survey carried out by the Land and Survey Department (LSD).

“Not surprisingly, the so-called clarification totally avoids the burning issue that’s at the crux of the whole NCR debate, the government’s refusal to accept that Pulau Galau and Pemakai Menoa are part and parcel of the natives’ NCR lands, as recognized by the courts in Malaysia.”

In fact, stressed Baru, the media report was an admission that the government was turning, under Section 6, NCR land into native communal reserves. “This creates shared ownership by the community, possibly including those who have no NCR rights.”

The Opposition Chief welcomed the fact that some natives were given compensation where surveyed land has been acquired, as was their right. “These lands are the Temuda lands of the people anyway.”

However, he continued, there are many cases where other natives in similar situations are denied compensation. “There are other cases where untitled NCR was acquired without any compensation being paid. To my knowledge, there are over 200 such cases, for example, in Kakus.”

The point to be stressed was the fact that the areas which the authorities are willing to survey and issue titles for are confined to the Temuda lands which were cleared before 1 January 1958, said Baru. “The larger areas making up the Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galau are not included.”

“Besides the fact that the surveyed lands are classified as communal land, the proviso accompanying such perimeter surveys was that any areas outside of the Section 6 title granted are classified as state land.”

This is something that is not made known to the people who “gleefully and gratefully” received the communal Section 6 titles thinking they are individual longhouse land titles, lamented Baru. “We also question the purpose of conducting Section 6 perimeter surveys instead of surveying under Section 18 and issuing titles straightaway. “

He fears that conducting a Section 6 perimeter survey first may be a way for the government to delay and deny the NCR rights of the people of Sarawak. “The total area of NCR land if it includes Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galau could easily be more than three times the 1.5 million hectares of existing NCR lands as disclosed by Awang Tengah not long ago.”

The Section 6 perimeter surveys are merely distractions by the government to cover up the unsavoury truth about their refusal to recognize the whole NCR lands of the people, charged Baru, “It appears that they have too much to lose.”

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