SIBU: Sibu District Officer Khalid Andong is appealing for a Native Court Complex (Kompleks Mahkamah Bumiputera) to be established in the district to cater to the legal needs of natives.
According to Khalid, the existing Native Court here has limited space, including a lack of proper place for filing and documentation.
“We have limited space here compared to our previous office at Wisma Sanyan.
“We have to store up to seven years of documents (cases) and we have very limited space,” he said during a briefing in conjunction with the Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department (Native Law and Customs) Jefferson Jamit Unyat’s working visit to the Native Court office here today.
He said that apart from limited spaces, the Native Court in Sibu also faces other issues such as lack of staff and allocation.
“We hope to have more staff employed, especially Auxiliary Police (Polis Bantuan) due to ‘hot’ and sensitive cases (involving angry defendants and prosecution). We need someone with authority to control the situation, “ Khalid added.
He also stressed the need for more allocation to provide training to community leaders such as tuai rumah (longhouse chiefs) and the penghulu (village chiefs).
“The community leaders play a crucial role. They have the power to handle court cases at their respective levels as speakers from the Native Court.
“Hence, proper training is needed so that they have a better understanding of their role and responsibility,” he added.
The officer also hoped that the Native Law and Customs Ministry would find a solution to resolve issues faced by the Sibu Native Court.
Khalid added that the court has handled a total of 158 out of 283 cases since 2019, while another 125 hearings have been postponed.
Meanwhile, a total of 397 out of 411 marriage registrar under the Native Court have been approved since 2019.
