A massive crowd of about 250 indigenous people came for a talk on NCR, Communal Reserve and Traditional Village at the Land and Survey Miri office yesterday.The organisers had only anticipated about 150 community leaders to attend but it was obvious a lot more people are keen to listen to the talk because it has to do with the future of their land in the interiors.
The overwhelming response was an indication of how close the land issue is to the hearts of the indigenous people.
Organised by the Telang Usan PBB under the chairmanship of Charles Balan Seling, the talk was a bold initiative by Telang Usan assemblyman Lihan Jok to gather the community leaders in his constituency under one roof to hear detailed explanation of issues relating to landownership vis-a-vis the Sarawak Land Code.
For example, when the Miri Resident Ose Murang asked the participants how many understand what is NCR (Native Customary Rights), nearly 90 per cent have no idea what is NCR.
Then Ose began to explain that land cleared and cultivated before 1 January 1958 is considered NCR. He then asked how many understood what is NCR and almost all of the participants raised their hands to indicate they knew.
In his speech, Lihan said tackling the land issue in his constituency became a top priority in his political struggle.
While acknowledging that the land issue is a big problem in his constituency, Lihan, nevertheless, said he would do his utmost best to seek solutions to resolve the issue.
“Since 2006, I had started to find ways to resolve the complex land issue in my constituency by meeting the relevant government departments and ministries. The talk we have today is just one of my efforts to seek solutions to the land issue. I felt the community leaders must have the right and accurate information so that they can explain clearly to their respective communities they represent about government policies and projects regarding land,” said Lihan.
Also present were the Miri Resident Ose Murang, the Superintendent of the Land and Survey Miri Roslan Putit, the representative of the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Land Development Wilfred Jolly, the paramount chief of the Orang Ulu Baram Temenggong Pahang Ding.
According to Ose, a massive 400,000 hectare of land in the Baram district has been earmarked for big development involving oil palm plantation and tree planting. The problem is identifying the boundaries of the NCR landowners, he pointed out.
Ose had set up a Divisional Land and Development Committee in 2006 specifically to look into the land issue in the division.ENDS.
Caption:: MASSIVE TURN OUT: Seated from left: Charles, Pahang, Lihan, Ose, Roslan and Wilfred at the event.
