By Peter Sibon
KUCHING, Nov 13: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan told the State Legislative Assembly today that as of October this year, 870,265 ha (2.15 million acres) of native customary rights (NCR) land have been surveyed. Out of this, 687,256 ha (1.7 million acres) have been gazetted under Section 6 of the Land Code.
For the second phase of the programme, those areas that have been surveyed under Section 6 would be surveyed for individual lots and would be issued with individuals land titles under Section 18.
“As of now, 22,980 individuals lots have been surveyed, involving a total area of 28,807 ha (71,182 acres), and the individuals’ land titles would be issued,” he said in his winding-up speech.
On a related issue, Awang Tengah said that 46,798 housing lots had been made available, and out of this, 36,343 lots had been distributed to those eligible.
Meanwhile, Awang Tengah, who is also Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources, said the results of the initiative undertaken by the Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA) involving 63 areas had been received by the state government. From those applications, 46 areas covering 40,994 ha had been surveyed.
“Regarding the request of 100 villages that DBNA has documented, the Land and Survey Department has written to DBNA in a letter dated Oct 16, 2018 to seek information on the matter through written request. But as of today, the Land and Survey Department has not received any response from DBNA,” he said.
Awang Tengah hoped other NGOs would emulate DBNA to facilitate the surveying of their NCR land. — DayakDaily
