KUCHING, June 17: Sarawak Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chief Baru Bian should push for the setting up of a Land Rights Commission or Land Tribunal to resolve native customary rights (NCR) ‘land grab’ issues now that he is a federal minister.
Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB) Youth chief Rapelson Richard Hamit, who made the call, said Baru, who is now Works Minister, had called on the Sarawak government to form the commission/tribunal in October 2016, following a suggestion by the then Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum five months earlier.
Rapelson remarked that the time was ripe for the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led federal government to set up such a body to help NCR landowners.
“Time is very crucial for NCR landowners to end their sufferings over land grab issues that seem to go nowhere,” he said in a statement today.
In addition, Rapelson insisted that NCR land disputes should be resolved in the Native Court in Sarawak and not in the Federal Court in the peninsula.
He reminded that in August last year, he had also suggested that Majlis Adat Istiadat Bumiputera be replaced with Majlis Adat Istiadat Dayak or Dayak Native Customs Council and that the Bumiputera Court should be replaced with Dayak Court to enhance the institution.
He reiterated that the proposed Dayak Court should be on par with the Civil Court and Syariah Court.
“We want this thing to be the focus of the ‘Malaysia Baru’ government and not playing politics, especially with the ‘gay sex video’ (issue) that has really diverted attention from other important issues,” said Rapelson. – DayakDaily
