SIBU: Certain political parties, non-governmental organisations and individuals have been trying to influence owners of native customary rights (NCR) land so that they won’t allow the government to survey their land under Section 6 of the Sarawak Land Code.
These people, who are either just bad and devious, or trying to score some political points, claimed that such land would be seized by the government, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
He was speaking last Sunday night at a dinner held in connection with a seminar on Land Code (Amendment) 2018 for central Sarawak at Kingwood Hotel.
Of the 2.2 million NCR land surveyed under Section 6 of the Sarawak Land Code, Uggah explained that not a single acre of land had been seized by the government for whatever reason.
“The allegations are completely false because if and when the government intends to use an NCR land for any public purpose the landowner is paid a fair amount of compensation,” he explained.
He said the government had challenged its accusers to prove that land surveyed under Section 6 was seized by the government.
“To this day no one has produced any evidence of that,” he said.”
Uggah also reiterated that a sum of RM40 million has been allocated for surveying native customary rights (NCR) land which the state government began to do in 2010.
“The government will continue surveying the estimated 1.5 million hectares of NCR land to safeguard them,” he said.
About 400 attendees at the dinner comprised community leaders and senior government officers such as Residents, District Officers, and Sarawak Administrative Officers from Sibu, Mukah, Kapit and Sarikei divisions.
Uggah said as of last July 31, 2.2 million acres had been successfully surveyed and out of that 1.8 million acres had been gazetted for the benefit of about 1.03 million people in the state.
He said a total of 11,889 titles had been handed over to the owners.
“A total of 86,381 acres making up 28,235 lots have been surveyed. The government will intensify the programme because it is very beneficial to the natives,” he said.
Uggah then thanked the people for their support and cooperation in the implementation of the NCR land survey.
