LIMBANG: Forty-one landowners affected by the Nanga Medamit-Rh Aling road project have received land compensations totalling over RM1.2 million.
Sarawak Public Communications Unit (Ukas) quoted Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan saying that land acquisition was inevitable to ensure that development projects could be implemented in the interest of the public.
He assured that the state government would pay appropriate compensation for lands involved in development projects based on the existing provisions in the Sarawak Land Code (SLC) and the Federal Constitution.
“In SLC Chapter 81 and Article 13 of the Federal Constitution, among others it states that no one can be deprived of their property except in accordance with the law.
“No law can provide for the forcible taking or use of property without adequate compensation. All land taken by the government will be compensated based on assessment by Land and Survey Department (JTS) Sarawak.
“This compensation will be assessed accordingly based on the available crops, building structures if any, and the size of the land involved according to the current value,” he said at the land compensation cheque handover ceremony for projects in Limbang District which was held at JTS Limbang Division Office on Wednesday.
Awang Tengah, who is also Minister of International Trade and Industry, Industrial Terminal and Entrepreneur Development, handed over the compensation cheques totalling RM1.2 million to 41 recipients involved in the Nanga Medamit-Rh Aling road project.
The RM119 million project was approved on Aug 1, 2019 and the land acquisition process was completed on April 28 this year. It is being implemented by the Northern Region Development Agency (NRDA).
The road will facilitate access between both areas and more importantly it will enable the community, which previously did not have this connection, to open up their lands once the road is constructed.
“At the same time, we will implement the Water Supply project which connects to the reticulation system implemented by the Northern Region Water Board (Laku). We estimate that this water supply project alone will cost RM10 million,” said Awang Tengah.
