KOTA KINABALU: DAP Sabah has protested publicly when State Attorney Datuk Roderic Fernandez stated that NCR land does not exist after 1931.
“We have and will continue to act until Roderic retracts his statement or resigns from the post. We have also asked if his statement is the government’s stance, but unfortunately there is a deafening silence,” said DAP Sabah secretary Dr Edwin Bosi in a statement, yesterday.
“DAP Sabah is of the view that as long as the Sabah natives exist on this land, the NCR is valid and operational. This land has been settled by natives for years and that itself justifies their claim on the land to be NCR land. Due to the poor access and communication between the government offices and villagers, many who toil their NCR land will be jolted when suddenly companies come with their bulldozers and start to clear the land. In short, there are so many NCR land in Sabah that need to be given recognition and respect.
“We would like to remind the government that the Natives in the Interior have inscribed three ‘demands’ on a stone in order for them to respect and agree to the Federation of Malaysia. One of the demands is respect for ‘tanah adat’ or NCR land. The other two demands are freedom of religion and preservation of native culture and tradition. The stone oath (batu sumpah) is now placed in the compound of the Keningau District Office.
“DAP Sabah therefore once again registers its unhappiness over the statement by the director of Land and Survey Datuk Osman Jamal which is similar to that made by Roderic. The two gentlemen must tell us if they are speaking on behalf of the government. Is this an Umno-BN proclamation?
“The issuance of communal land to the Natives is irrelevant as far as NCR land is concerned. The natives should not be hoodwinked by this program. There is no transparency in the issuance of communal land because only the director of Land and Survey and the Chief Minister have the prerogative on this matter. This can be abused and favouritism will and can rear its ugly head,” he said.