KOTA KINABALU – A group of indigenous palm oil smallholders from Ulu Tingkayu in Lahad Datu claimed that they were extorted by a group of “thugs” since October last year, allegedly hired by a plantation firm, which had claimed ownership to the land.
The 29 smallholders alleged the harassment escalated to the point of weapons being brandished during a confrontation by the “thugs”, resulting in an individual being punched in the face and subsequently hospitalised.
Fatima Abdul, a spokeswoman for the smallholders, said not only has the group set up camp to assert control over the 143.25ha land for the company, their numbers are also growing over time.
Fatima said eight police reports, including the punching incident, have been lodged at the Lahad Datu police station to date.
However, she claimed that the police had barely taken any action over the matter.
Native customary rights claims reportedly rejected: smallholder
According to the Orang Sungai native, the company obtained the titles in April and was issued the titles last October.
However, she said the issuance of the title was unusual, as application for the land was initiated by her father and the other smallholders in 2005.
Fatima said she and the other applicants claimed native customary rights over the land.
“The land was a former logging site and forest reserve.
“When my father and others checked with the Land and Survey Department in 2002, the department said they could apply for the land.
“The first application came in 2005, followed by subsequent applications in 2007, 2015 and 2019. But all of them were rejected.
“It was not until October 2021 that we found out the land was approved and given to a company known as Mega Land Plantation Sdn Bhd,” Fatima told The Vibes.
She said Mega Land applied for the land in 2014 and registered 121.4ha of the land as a country lease in April 2021.
The smallholders, she said, came to know about the issuance of title to the firm from an estate operator adjacent to the land, who had asked whether they were selling off their land.
“We told the estate operator that we can’t sell the land, because there was no title being issued yet. The man told us that there was a group going around trying to sell the land.
“All of us were very, very surprised by this, and upon checking the status of the land on October 6 last year, the land title was indeed already issued to Mega Land Plantation,” she said.
Extortion group leader supposedly well-connected?
According to Fatimah, the extortion began soon after their discovery, where the group began to arrive at the landsite and ordered them to move out.
She said they came again on October 12 to repeat the eviction and showed evidence of the title, to which she said the smallholders responded with a rejection letter to the Land and Survey Department.
“A man, who was only identified only as Hassan, came. He appears to be the leader of the group and ordered us out again on October 16. This was when we lodged our first police report.
Hassan had claimed to be working with Mega Land Plantation and others say that he was well connected.
He alleged that he was the brother of Lahad Datu’s former police chief and therefore did not fear action from the authorities.
“On October 20 last year, the group returned and attempted to install a barricade to stop anyone from entering the land.
“Then on October 26 last year, the group successfully installed a barricade and proceeded to confront us with sharp weapons like machete and samurai swords.
“There were about 20 of them who came that evening,” said Fatima, adding that two of their plantation workers were detained by the police and were interrogated for trespassing.
Alleged harassment continues despite seeking police help
Fatima said matters have gone downhill since the incident.
She alleged that the group is also now boldly stealing fruit bunches from their farm and selling them to nearby processing plants, which, she said, were refused by the mills following their complaints.
Fatima said police also claimed that they were powerless to take action as the land was already assigned to the firm.
She said although police did advise the group not to harass the smallholders due to the ongoing court case filed by the company, the harassment remains unabated.
Fatima said the smallholders were improperly served with the summons in December last year and almost missed the third hearing before the court decided to issue an eviction order against them.
She said after that, a group of around 20 men came again and aggressively told them to move out of the land on February 18.
“This was when one of the plantation workers was punched after being extorted by the group.
“The victim, Asnawi Abu Bakar, then lodged a police report,” said Fatima.
Sabah has seen several instances of land grab cases allegedly involving companies hiring groups to extort indigenous communities out of their customary lands.
Native customary rights are recognised and enshrined under Section 15 of the Sabah Land Ordinance, yet violations of such rights appear to continue to occur. – The Vibes, February 21, 2022
