THE Sabah Government is taking a careful approach to define what ‘native’ title is.
Describing it as a sensitive issue, Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Hajiji Mohd Noor said wrong interpretation would only lead to implications in the future.
“We cannot rush this … it is a sensitive issue and cannot be solved fast,” he said when replying to a question from Kapayan assemblyman Dr Edwin Bosi over the native title issue.
He gave Sarawak as an example. He said its definition of native is that both parents must be 100 per cent natives, then their children can be accorded native status, and in any instance where one of the parents is not a native, then the native status cannot be applied.
“As for Sabah, if one of the parents is a native and the other is a non-native, the native status still applies. But the problem arises when their children is married to a non-native, the percentage of native on their offspring will be reduced to 25 per cent. So how do we define the status?
“This is why we must be very careful when defining the term native. We want to avoid implications for the future generation, especially on the division of properties. We do not want their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and their children to get angry for mistakenly according them a status.
“We will deal with the matter on a case-by-case basis, and I would like to give the State Government’s assurance that the natives’ interest in Sabah will be protected,” said Hajiji.
On another development, Hajiji told the House that the State Government’s decision on Kota Kinabalu member of parliament Jimmy Wong’s native certificate remains – he is not qualified.
“The decision has been forwarded to the Kota Kinabalu Native Court for declaration under Section 3(3), Interpretation (Definition of Native) Ordinance (Sabah Cap. 64),” he said.
To a question from Sekong assemblyman Datuk Samsuddin Yahya on what action would be taken against Wong for purchasing properties using his ‘native certificate’, Hajiji said the matter would be left to the relevant authorities to handle.