By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, April 12: A Sarawak landowner who allegedly allowed the government to use part of her land for decades to build a school is now facing the prospect of losing her ancestral property after the Land and Survey Department rejected her application to renew the land title.
The landowner, Pila Bujang, visited Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman and Padungan assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen today to seek assistance in defending her land rights and extending the tenure of her land title.
Explaining the issues through a Facebook Live broadcast, Chong said Pila owns two adjacent plots of titled land in Kampung Sungai Lingkau, Siburan, which are set to expire at the end of this year.
Although she had applied to the Samarahan Land and Survey Department to renew the titles, her request was rejected without a clear avenue for appeal.
“The land originally belonged to my grandfather before it was transferred to me,” she told Chong during their meeting.
Chong explained that Pila’s land is not Native Customary Rights (NCR) land but fully titled private land.
He said the Land and Survey Department has marked the area under Section 47 of the Land Code — effectively placing a red line around the land — and cited the construction of SK Lingkau primary school on part of the land as justification for the rejection.
“For decades, Pila allowed the government to use her land out of goodwill, without raising objections or seeking compensation. Yet now, when she seeks to renew her land title, the government is using that same school development as a reason to reject her application. This is unreasonable and unfair,” he said.
He stressed that Pila, as the rightful owner, has been unable to fully use her land for many years and now faces the threat of losing her family’s ancestral land permanently.
“What’s more ironic is that the Sarawak government often boasts about its resource abundance and loudly proclaims slogans like ‘People First’, yet ordinary landowners continue to face unjust policies and obstacles in something as basic as renewing land titles,” he claimed.
Chong pledged to write to the Land and Survey Department to formally appeal on Pila’s behalf and fight for her rights. He also vowed to raise the issue during the upcoming Sarawak Legislative Assembly sitting in May, urging the Sarawak government to review and amend what he described as unreasonable and unfriendly land policies.
“There is still hope. It is not yet a hopeless situation. I will do my best to help you defend your rights to these two pieces of land,” Chong reassured Pila. — DayakDaily
