SABAH Progressive Party (SAPP) on Tuesday reiterated its pledge to reinstate the '999-year' land lease to private landowners as stated in its Land Reform Policy if it forms the new State Government after the 13th General Election.
Its President, Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee, said this is achievable because he had accomplished this during his tenure as Chief Minister, where he granted it to more than 400 houseowners in Taman Seputeh, Luyang.
"There's no need to amend the laws. The Chief Minister has the power to do so," he said, adding that the State Government has nothing to lose by issuing the landowners with such title.
"In fact, it could generate more revenue through the collection of land revenue. Under the 99-year land lease, the property owners would always be at the losing end.
"Ninety nine years is too short for property owners to fully develop and utilise their property. The bank may not accept it for mortgage or refinancing," he said.
Insurance firms might not even want to insure it, especially when the land lease has only 20 years to go, which is a common dilemma facing many landowners in the State now.
He likened the present government's decision to reduce the land lease for private and commercial lands from 999 years to 99 years, last year, as another form of land grab.
He said the widespread land-grab incidents which affect the native people of Sabah are due to 'Budaya Buaya' (crocodile culture).
"What is the reason behind the many evictions of the villagers from their NCR (Native Customary Right) lands, especially when the said lands were not for public utilisation?
Speaking at a dinner organised by SAPP Kepayan, Yong claimed the land-grab problem has reached a crisis stage with more than 800 cases registered with the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) Sabah branch, where natives occupying their ancestral land for more than two generations have been evicted and their lands given to major peninsula-based plantation companies.
"Land grab incidents have been observed throughout Sabah in places like Sukau, Matunggong, Bangi, Sandakan, Tawau, Lahad Datu, Keningau, Tenom, Kota Belud and Papar and they are still happening now," he said.
Yong claimed that in one of the cases in Kg Sukau, Sandakan, a very senior State Umno leader has been implicated where the address of the company involved in the land-grab was traced to the latter's residence.
"If such a trend is not immediately stopped, in time to come the natives will become refugees in their own land," he said.
He also claimed other policies of the present BN State administration only benefited political cronies such as the river sand extraction business that generates RM150 million in turnover.
He claimed there were previous attempts to control the scrap iron and the bird's nest businesses.
The worst case was the controversial ceding of three million acres of oil-rich maritime territories off Sabah waters known as Block 'L' and Block 'M', to Brunei during the tenure of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
-Sabahkini
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Land-Grab Incidents Due To Budaya Buaya
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Diharapkan hak tanah rakyat akan diperlindungi, kerajaan perlulah mempertahankan hak rakyat terutamanya bumiputra.
ReplyDeleteJika kerajaan merasakan 999 tahun untuk pemilikan tanah adalah lebih baik, mereka akan meluluskan tempoh tahun ini untuk semua tanah di Sabah.
ReplyDeleteBagi tanah yang dirampas itu pastikan mereka yang terlibat diberi tempat tinggal lain.
ReplyDeleteRampasan hanya boleh dipertimbangkan jika penduduk tidak ada geran yang menunjukkan mereka ada hak ke atas tanah itu.
ReplyDeleteGovernment is aware and concerned and open to listen to problems faced by the people that involves the natives
ReplyDeletehope that government will find solutions for this land-grab problem.
ReplyDeletesemoga tiada pihak yang menjual hak rakyat Sabah kepada orang luar semata2 untuk keuntungan sendiri.
ReplyDeletealang2 kasi hak milik kekal saja ba..
ReplyDeletejika pemilikan selama 999 tahun dilaksankan tahun ini, bermakna kerajaan hanya berpeluang membangunkan negeri ini selepas tahun 3011..
ReplyDeletenative yang xada geran x smestinya x ada hak atas tanah mereka tinggal....sbb tu la ada tanah NCR...orng2 umno saja ni yang suka jual tanah orng kampung dngan company semenanjung....
ReplyDeleteThey have the rights to protect their lands from being grab, i heard many sold their lands quickly to avoid losses.
ReplyDeletehak-hak mereka kena dilindungi...
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the Govt will not let this get out of hands, we have to be patient.
ReplyDeleteHope there are changes for all the problems that occurred.
ReplyDeletetanah2 adat rakyat harus dilindungi.
ReplyDeleteKerajaan tidak akan membiarkan rakyat.
ReplyDeleteDi harapkan kerajaan dapat mencari jalan penyelesaian agar semua pihak berpuas hati.
ReplyDeleteSaya tahu kerajaan pasti tidak akan membiarkan rakyat.pasti nasib mereka akan di bela.
ReplyDeletetanah itu boleh di ambil jika penduduk tidak ada geran yang menunjukkan mereka ada hak ke atas tanah itu.
ReplyDeleteJika penduduk sudah lama menentap di tanah itu, harap di pertimbangkan agar di beri sahaja hak milik kekal.
ReplyDeleteChief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said he will invite Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) component leaders and experts to give their views on Sabah Native Customary Rights (NCR) land issues soon. He said the State Cabinet discussed the issue at length during its meeting at Wisma Innoprise. "We will also have a full briefing and discussion with the directors of Land and Survey Department and Forestry Department," said the Chief Minister.
ReplyDeleteHe said the meeting to obtain the views of the BN component leaders was a follow-up on his earlier promise. The NCR land issue became a hot topic among Sabah BN coalition partners after State Attorney-General Datuk Roderic Fernandez came out with a statement saying that no fresh NCR land can be created after 1931.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, his statement did not go down well with certain quarters that saw protem head of the Pusat Sumber Adat and Mediasi Kaum Anak Negeri (Pusaka, Sabah), Martin Idang, issue the first rebuttal.
ReplyDeleteIdang said the question of whether Native Customary Rights are recognised by Malaysian law is contained within the tenets of the law. "The Federal Court, in fact, has recognised that NCR pre-exists legislation."As a matter of law, NCR can only be extinguished through a specific provision contained within the legislation," he said.
ReplyDeleteFollowing this, Upko President, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok described Fernandez's statement as a "destructive statement". Unlike in Sarawak, he said there was no cut-off point with regard to NCR land in the context of Sabah.
ReplyDeleteIn the Sarawak Land Code, new NCR rights could not be established after 1958 (Section 5, Sarawak Land Code).
ReplyDeletePBS Deputy President, Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili said although it was for the courts to decide if it comes up, based on previous decisions, it was consistent that customary rights can be established within the land ordinance.
ReplyDelete"Otherwise all decisions of the court would have been wrong," he said.
President of Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS), Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, said the A-G must be made aware that rights over customary land tenure are the basic tenets of native life being the sons of the soil of this land.
ReplyDeleteHe said Fernandez as the State A-G should be more careful especially when his advice has the effect of taking away the basic rights of the natives.
ReplyDeleteMusa issued a statement that the State Government would look for the best solution that results in a win-win situation for all.
ReplyDelete