KUCHING: Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing says he is curious about the issue of federal funding for Native Customary Rights (NCR) land perimeter survey.
“Works Minister Baru Bian said there were no funds from federal as this job is not under federal control.
“But how did our Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah (Embas) managed to get funding from former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak year after year in the last few years?
“Did YB Baru ask for it or was he too scared to ask (Finance Minister) Lim Guan Eng for it (funding)?” asked Masing.
Former federal minister and Batang Sadong MP Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri has expressed disappointment that the federal government did not allocate funds for NCR land perimeter survey when debating Budget 2020 in Parliament last week.
Nancy also accused the Pakatan Harapan federal government of “suppressing” and “ignoring” Sarawakian natives.
Saratok MP Ali Biju, also PKR vice-president, stood up during the debate and said he would disagree and object strongly if funding for NCR land perimeter survey was used for survey under Section 6 as it converted native land to state land.
Sarawak Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) information chief Desmond Kho said Sarawak PKR would object, and continue to object, any funding for conducting perimeter survey under Section 6 of the Sarawak Land Code 1958 in Sarawak.
He said it was known that land in Sarawak came under the purview of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) state government, and governed by the Sarawak Land Code.
He added that it was well known that the state government was intent to survey native land in Sarawak under Section 6 of the same land code.
According to him, the pertinent parts of Section 6 (3) read that “any such land shall continue to be state land, and the native community for whose use it was reserved or any member thereof acquiring any rights therein shall hold the same as licensee from the government”.
As such, he said land surveyed under Section 6 had the effect of converting the native’s proprietary right under the customary law practices of Pemakai Menoa/PulauGalau/Temuda/Garis Menoa into a mere licence.
“This is contrary to the native adat and all that the natives hold dear. This is also what our leaders in the state PKR is keen to avoid and reject.
“It must be stated that it is and has been our stance all this while that PKR rejects any survey of any native land under Section 6 of the Sarawak Land Code 1958,” Kho said in a statement.
