KUCHING: Is there a way to solve the predicament caused by last Sept 12 federal court’s decision to dismiss an application from land claimant Tuai Rumah (TR) Sandah and Siew Libau for review of its own earlier ruling on native customary rights (NCR) land?
The answer is yes, according to Works Minister and Selangau Member of Parliament, Baru Bian.
“The way I see it, we can solve this matter by amending Section 5 of the Sarawak Land Code (SLC), and this can be done through a political move,” he said.
Baru, who is Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sarawak Branch chairman, said the federal court’s decision has effectually put the legal position of ‘pemakai menoa’ and ‘pulau galau’ (PMPG) as ‘usufractuary only’ and it restricts the hectares of land which can be claimed by Dayaks in the fight for their NCR land.
“According to our ‘adat’ (custom), we can claim beyond 1,000 hectares of NCR land whereas the amendment to the state land code limits our rights to only 1,000 hectares,” he said when attending the opening of the Sarawak PKR Branch annual general meeting (AGM) last Sunday night at Imperial Hotel.
