KUCHING: The perimeter survey of the Native Customary Rights (NCR) land in the state is important to ensure the rightful ownership of land title.
Assistant Minister for Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment Datu Len Talif (pic) said that the perimeter survey would not only solve the land title problem for the people, but it also helps to avoid future dispute regarding the matter, which will cost time and resources.
“The process to ensure the Native Territorial Domain (NTD), Native Customary Rights (NCR) and other land titles, must continue, and the narrative part of the survey must be taken seriously as the land ownership matter involves the future generations too,” said Len.
He told this to reporters during a press conference held at his office at the State Legislative Assembly building, in Petra Jaya, here yesterday.
Len also pointed out an excerpt from The Sarawak (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council, 1954 document, as saying, “Her Majesty, in pursuance of the powers conferred to upon Her by the Colonial Boundaries Act, 1895 (a), and of all other powers enabling Her in that behalf, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered as follows:
“One, this order may be cited as Sarawak (Alteration of Boundaries) Order In Council, 1954, and two, the boundaries of the Colony of Sarawak are hereby extended to include the areas of the continental shelf being the seabed and subsoil which lies beneath the high seas contiguous to the territorial water of Sarawak.
“Third, nothing of this order shall be deemed to affect the character as high seas of any waters above the said area of the continental shelf.”
Len also noted that he is surprised that the Works Minister Baru Bian, who is also the member of Parliament for Selangau, said in 27 July 2010 (local newspaper), that the perimeter survey is an important implementation.
He said, coincidentally in 2010, the federal government under the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government, gave about RM200 million for the perimeter survey.
Which, he said, is roughly about RM20 million per year, and up to the end of this year, we would have utilised over RM160 million, and some of it is still ongoing.
“So we only have a balance of less than RM2 million for this year, and what saddens us is there is no mention about this allocation this year, and why it is not reflected in the federal government budget presented recently.
“The RM4.5 billion that has been allocated for the state could be a lump sum amount for the Pan Borneo Highway project, as it was agreed previously that the Pan Borneo Highway project allocation was over and above the annual allocation,” he said, adding the state government is puzzled by the matter.
