Vernon: Tuai rumah on the 『warpath』 on NCR land
William Mangor
| April 15, 2016
Pemakai menua (communal forests) and pulau galau (forests further away) were being left unsurveyed and automatically become state land.
KUCHING: PKR Sarawak Information Chief Vernon Aji Kedit wants the state government to clarify once and for all, in view of the forthcoming state election, whether only temuda areas i.e. farmlands immediately around longhouses were being surveyed, while pemakai menua (communal forests) and pulau galau (forests further away) were being left unsurveyed. 「Unsurveyed lands automatically become state land.」
Again, he added, it appears that there’s a trend towards turning temuda into communal native reserves through the perimeter surveys.
Vernon was commenting on four headmen (tuai rumah) in Betong going public with their unhappiness over their land being perimeter surveyed without their prior and informed consent and gazetted under Section 6 of the Land Code. 「The Sarawak Government Gazette is proof enough that not all is well under the land surveying exercises in the state.」
「The state government claims that the Opposition is lying.」
The people need not take what both sides of the political divide say on land issues, ventured Vernon. 「Just read the government gazette. It’s all there.」
Briefly, said Vernon, Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment Awang Tengah Ali Hassan has since revealed that 644,448 hectares of NCR (native customary rights) land in 433 areas have been perimeter surveyed by September last year under Section 6 of the Land Code. 「The majority, 425,999 hectares covering 295 areas, have been gazetted as communal native reserves under Section 6.」
Vernon, who practised law for many years in Kuala Lumpur, pointed out that the four tuai rumah had raised legitimate questions on the status of their NCR land which were turned into communal native reserves under Section 6 of the Land Code after perimeter surveying. 「The Dayaks fear that they are being robbed of their NCR land.」
「The truth about the perimeter surveying of NCR land has angered not only people in Betong but also in other parts of Sarawak.」
According to the Sarawak Government Gazette, all 19 longhouses in the Spak tributary, 18 longhouses in Padeh, and 10 longhouses in Upper Layar have been gazetted under Section 6 of the Land Code. All these longhouses apparently participated in the Getah IRAD Scheme under which the Sarawak Government offered free rubber seedlings, fertilizer, pesticide, access dirt roads to the farmlands, and training. Participants are also paid a salary to work in their farmlands.
The catch is that participants had to agree to have their lands perimeter surveyed. Those participating in the Getah IRAD Scheme fear, based on the content of their land certificates, that they will lose their land to the government. The certificates mention 「Perwartaan Rizak Gunasama」 (gazetting of communal reserve).