Awang Tengah (second right), flanked by Sagah (left) and Abdullah (third left) presents the Bumiputera Communal Reserve land title at the event.
KUCHING (Dec 22): Surveying works on native customary right (NCR) land in Sarawak are carried out based on approved applications, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.
He said the villages or landowners need to apply to the state Land and Survey Department for the perimeter or individual lot survey to be carried out.
He said based on the application, the Land and Survey Department will then verify the claim and call for a dialogue session with the villagers and the landowners before the survey activity begins.
“The dialogue is aimed to provide information and get feedback before actual field survey work is carried out.
“A survey will only be carried out after obtaining the consent and cooperation of the landowners involved.
“If they do not want their land to be surveyed or refuse to cooperate, a field survey will not be carried out,” said at the handing over of land titles at Kampung Sinjok in Serian today.
The Second Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources reasoned that the state government would not carry out a perimeter survey or individual lot survey on any NCR land without proper application as they did not want people to falsely accuse them of robbing them of their land.
He also reminded that survey works will not be carried out on disputed land and on trial in court unless the case has been resolved or withdrawn by those involved.
They would need to submit a new application for their land to be surveyed once the dispute was resolved.
The state government had introduced the NCR Land new initiative in 2010. It was implemented in two stages.
The first stage involved a perimeter survey and the gazettement under Section 6 of the State Land Code, as Bumiputera Communal Reserve (Agriculture), while the second stage involves individual lots survey and issuance of land titles under Section 18 of the State Land Code.
He said from 2010 until now, the state Land and Survey Department has successfully surveyed the perimeter of approximately 965,285 hectares (2.385 million acres).
He noted that that amount, 753,456 hectares or 1.8 million acres have been gazetted.
“Imagine how high is the output through the NCR Land new initiatives compared to the old programme (1960-2010), whereby only about 260,000 hectares (642,460 acres) of NCR land were successfully surveyed in 50 years,” he said.
At the event, Awang Tengah gave away the Bumiputera Communal Reserve land title, gazetted under Section 6 of the State Land Code, to Kampung Rayang, Serian, covering an area of 910 hectares and 526 individual traditional kampung titles under Section 18 to the landowners Kampung Mundai, Padawan, and Kampung Keromboi, Kampung Petung and Kampung Menjau, Siburan.
Assistant Minister for Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Datuk Roland Sagah Wee Inn and state Land and Survey Department director Abdullah Julaihi were also present.
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