KOTA KINABALU – Some 400 locals staged a peaceful demonstration at the Keningau Land and Survey Office demanding the status of the individual land titles they were promised by the state government five years ago.
Group spokesman Jerry Jaimeh said the plots of land were under a communal grant scheme but were revoked in 2018 by the then state government with the promise of individual titles.
“A letter from the Land and Survey Department director (Datuk Bernard Liew) revealed in the chronology that the state government had on August 8, 2018 abolished the communal grant status. It has been returned to the state to be converted into individual land titles.
“This was supposed to be good news. But after more than five years, no dialogue, no action or update on the matter,” said Jerry, who is from the non-governmental organisation Malaysian Humanitarian Organisation.
He added that the land was included as a communal grant scheme about 10 years ago, but more than 60% of the names listed in the title were not residents.
He said villagers had lodged a total of 131 police reports over the matter but were told to bring their grouses directly to the district land and survey office.
“So today, we are handing over our letter of demand to the department. It is our right to know what has happened to the promise,” he said to the demonstrators.
Sabah’s communal grant was an initiative introduced during the Barisan Nasional era to enable land ownership for the indigenous people of the state, but this was abolished in August 2018 by the Warisan-led state government, with plans to issue individual land titles.
Several ceremonies were also held by then chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal to hand over the individual titles. It is not clear whether the present Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-led state government has reversed the order.
The Vibes has reached out to Liew and Keningau police for comment. – The Vibes, May 17, 2023
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