KUCHING, July 10: The yet-to-be-registered Parti Sedar Rakyat Sarawak (Sedar) supports the rakyat’s right to have legal ownership of all components of their ancestral land.
Its pro tem president, Dato Othman Abdillah, said the Land Code (Amendment) Bill, 2018 was inadequate as it failed to address the issue fully.
“Any land laws and proposed amendments that do not address fully the claims of ownership of various ancestral grounds will be inadequate.
“Worse still, (it) may be an effort of the GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) to drag its feet in resolving the issue,” he said in a press statement today.
Given the loud protests of various native groups, he believed the Bill, which will be tabled in the State Legislative Assembly sitting tomorrow, “falls way short of reaching a final, long overdue solution.
“The ongoing protests against the Bill have shown that there was a lack of consultation between the government and the people on issues that matter to them.
“This is typical of the practice of the previous governing BN (Barisan Nasional) parties, which are now perpetuated by GPS,” said Othman.
He believed the Bill would be passed due to the sheer number of GPS lawmakers. Othman doubted that any GPS assemblymen would dare cast a conscience vote against the Bill.
“The disenfranchised claimants of Native Customary Rights (NCR) land on ‘Pemakai Menoa’ and ‘Pulau Galau’ can rest be assured that Sedar will be at the forefront of any struggle to ensure the people’s rights are properly addressed and resolved,” pledged Othman. — DayakDaily
