KOTA KINABALU – Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH) leader Mustapha Sakmud urged the state government to pay serious attention to issues relating to customary lands to ensure that the fate of Sabahans are protected following a protest by locals in Kota Belud fighting for their land.
The Sabah PH secretary cum state PKR deputy chairman said the government should not add to the suffering of the people who are now denied the rights to enjoy their own resources.
“What will be the fate of the people of Sabah if after this their customary lands are also transferred to private companies ?” he questioned in a statement today.
Mustapha was commenting over a protest last week involving 50 residents of Kg Labuan in Kota Belud. The residents demanded Sabah Governor Tun Juhar Mahiruddin and chief minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor to stop the project that they claim is on reserved land belonging to them.
The villagers, he said, wanted the state to review the conversion of the customary land grant under the “grazing reserve” to a “country-leased (CL)” grant 035317223 under non-Bumiputera owned company QL Aquamarine Sdn Bhd in Kuala Pintasan, Kota Belud.
“This is just one example of how fragile the management of customary lands is in the state.
In Kota Belud itself, there are still other cases that have become time bombs such as the Kg Taburan customary land that is also being taken over by a private company, the overlapping of customary land ownership with military areas around Kg Bangkahak and Kg Rosok and also villages in the Kadamaian constituency, which are included in the Sg Wariu forest reserve.”
Mustapha said the PH leadership is very concerned about the issue of customary lands and one of the chapters of the Sabah Reform Agenda proposal paper presented to the chief minister is the governance of Sabah’s indigenous people, including the ownership of customary land.
“PH proposed for the establishment of a land tribunal to be expedited to manage customary lands from falling into the hands of private companies without the consent of the villagers.
“This land tribunal is already in place in Australia and any decision to change ownership will have to go through the arbitration of this tribunal,” he said.
On the Kg Labuan case, Mustapha said its villagers have been defending their customary land since the early 1980s.
“Them saying the land was inherited by their ancestors before independence is the truth even though it is bound by the land ordinance, which is being manipulated by certain parties.
The historic document on the development of the Kota Belud grazing reserve land signed on February 2, 1956, is one of the important notes that formed the basis of the struggle to claim the right to the grazing reserves.”
Among the signatories recorded are Hasbullah, Malek from Kg Labuan, and Nuar from Kg Taun Gusi.
“Therefore, any effort to allow the change of status of this reserve land to CL land so that it can be owned by non-Bumiputeras is difficult to accept by the villagers involved,” he said.
Mustapha added that the said land has been a place for the villagers’ livestock for generations, and, logically, any development planned in the reserve must involve the village leadership and be agreed upon by a majority vote.
“Pintasan assemblyman Fairuz Renddan should be sensitive to the history of the grazing reserve land and hold a dialogue with the relevant parties, including QL Marine, which is the owner of the CL grant.
“As the political secretary to the chief minister, he needs to act wisely so as not to appear to represent the views of the chief minister in addressing this issue,” he said.
Mustapha said in a meeting with the chief minister, Hajiji assured that he has instructed the Land and Survey Department to make a detailed investigation on the case.
“As such, all parties need to remain calm and not take or make hasty actions and decisions without basis,” he added. – The Vibes, November 18, 2021
