KOTA MARUDU: Kota Marudu Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Dr Panglima Dr Maximus Ongkili has urged the State Government to review its decision to gazette the land involving 19 villages in Matunggong as Class One Forest Reserve (water catchment area).
Maximus, who is also Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, said the decision was done “behind the backs of the people” without consideration or care and it affected thousands of villagers who had always lived on and toiled the land for generations.
“The decision for the water catchment boundary, which covers people’s land and customary rights claim, is ridiculous and unfair.
“The people were not told about the gazetting, which was done in 2007. They were in for a rude shock when told their land applications could not be processed and the reason why,” Maximus said in a statement yesterday.
He said the aggrieved parties claimed the areas in question involved the Gunung Gomantong-Geluang-Gesusu forest reserve covering some 600 hectares.
He said it was also claimed that the gazetting had affected several villages, 528 land applications, 73 land titles and 54 registered survey plans, including Matunggong’s tourism icon — the Rungus longhouse in Kampung Bavanggazo.
“People are saying: How can you do this to the natives who have toiled the land since time memorial and who have customary rights? This is inconsistent with the People First promise,” Maximus said.
“Based on the gazetted boundary disclosed to the public, even land where the world-acclaimed icon of Bavanggazo is located is declared as untouchable because it is a Class One Forest Reserve. This is downright crazy,” he said.
While there was a need to designate water catchment areas to ensure sufficient water supply to villages, the way the boundary was drawn was “inconsiderate”, as it overlapped with villagers’ ancestral land and the area where they earned their daily living.
“It is done unreasonably and void of rationality and destructs people’s lives,” Maximus said.
In urging the government to review the matter with the people’s interest in mind, consistent with the national maxim of “People First”, he said that if the authorities insisted on the gazetting, then compensation should be awarded to the people.
“This can run to an enormous sum of hundreds of millions of ringgit. But we must be fair to the people,” he said.