Clear policy on land conversion needed

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KOTA KINABALU: The Land and Survey Department will be proposing a policy mechanism for the conversion of Native Title (NT) land to Country Lease (CL) status, said its director Datuk Osman Jamal.

He said a clear policy that could provide a comprehensive guideline for developing NT land was crucial given the increasing number of commercial development projects involving these type of lands, as there are currently no clear cut policy governing the conversion of such lands.

“So far we only have the Food Security Policy which protects lands for padi cultivation from being converted. To ensure that the conversion of NT to CL title would benefit all parties, we need to take into consideration all the factors involved, and this is what we will do when setting this proposed conversion policy in place,” he said.

However, he did not elaborate when the proposed policy could be drafted and submitted to the State Government for consideration.

Touching on the number of NT land in Sabah, he said there 198,533 NT titles issued so far with 335 applications to convert to CL approved between 2007 and 2014.

He said Penampang was among the district with the highest number of NT to CL conversion at 97 approved applications.

He also informed that 69 NT conversion applications from across Sabah were being processed.

On current procedures for converting NT, he said the main concern at present was to assist the 1Family 1House agenda and that the conversion process takes about a year to be completed.

He stressed all aspects would be considered before the approval is given using available regulations and procedures, to ensure the interest of all parties involved are protected.

He added that appropriate action would be taken against any quarters found breaching the laws with regard to land conversion procedures.

Meanwhile on a separate issue, he said the Department was in the process of surveying the government reserved land in Kampung Unggun Menggatal to identify its borders, following a revelation that groups of people had trespassed and settled on the land.

He confirmed that the 152-hectare land earmarked for aquaculture development has been encroached since 2001, where 20 hectares had been ‘sold’ to individuals by bogus ‘agents’ while another 12 hectares have been illegally reclaimed.

“There are some 70 houses built on the reserve by people that were tricked into buying pieces of land by certain individuals or group, who issued them with unauthorized land certificates,” he said, noting some 600 lots of land, some of which situated in untouched mangrove swamp areas, have been sold to unsuspecting villagers.