9 A section of the villagers with their lawyers at the entrance of the courthouse in Petra Jaya, Kuching. – Photo by Anasathia Jenis
KUCHING: The civil suit filed by 31 Bidayuh families of Kampung Bojong and Kampung Rejoi seeking declaration of their native customary rights over land in Upper Bengoh was this morning amicably settled.
The consent order was recorded by High Court Judge Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang in Kuching this morning bringing the case which was filed in October 2009, to a close.
In the consent order, it was expressly stated that the Superintendent of Lands and Surveys Kuching Division and the Sarawak State Government acknowledge and recognize that the Plaintiffs and other residents of Kampung Bojong, Kampung Rejoi together with the residents of Kampung Taba Sait and Kampung Semban (204 families) have acquired native customary rights (NCR) to the land comprising an area of approximately 2,592 hectares as shown in a map that was was prepared from aerial photographs taken in 1962.
Upon the application by the Plaintiffs and the residents, the Superintendent of Lands and Surveys Kuching Division and the Sarawak State Government shall carry the costs and expenses of carrying out the perimeter survey to identify the boundary of the said NCR land to declare it as Native Communal Reserves, for agricultural purposes, for the benefits of the said 204 families of the four kampungs.
The plaintiffs’ use of the said native communal reserves is subject to the Sungai Sarawak Kiri Water Catchment Declaration Order 2002 made under the Water Ordinance 1994.
Emanating from the same consent order, Kampung Taba Sait and Pain Bojong are to have privileges over the area described in the Bungo Range National Park as stated in paragraph 5 of the Bungo Range National Park Notification 2010 published in the Sarawak Government Gazette dated March 25, 2010.
Map of the land situated at Kampung Bojong and Kampung Rejoi, Padawan.
An amount of RM2.14 million was deposited in the court for payment of compensation to 54 named persons who are entitled to the sum.
State Legal Officer McWillyn Jiok represented the Superintendent of Lands and Surveys and Sarawak State government while Counsels See Chee How, Desmond Kho and Jamilah Baharuddin of Baru Bian Advocates and Solicitors represented the 31 native Bidayuh families of Kampung Rejoi and Kampung Bojong.
After the court proceeding, See expressed his appreciation to the State Legal Advisor Datuk Fong Joo Chung who had assisted in the negotiation to settle the long-standing case amicably.
“The trial of this case could take months as it involves at least 30 witnesses testifying in court, However the Lands and Surveys Department and the Sarawak State government have gracefully agreed to acknowledge and recognise that the plaintiffs and other residents of Kampung Bojong and Kampung Rejoi have acquired native customary rights to the land,” said See who is also Batu Lintang assemblyman.
“Most of all I salute Simo Sekam and his group of 31 families for their conviction to defend and safeguard their NCR land for 51 years. They have stood their grounds when faced with numerous interlocutory applications filed by the defendants and they had weathered and battled the attempts by relevant authorities to declare their NCR land areas as national parks,” he added.
“This consent order means a lot to the native Bidayuh villagers in Kampung Rejoi and Kampung Bojong, This is one of the earliest settlement of the Bidayuh-Tebiak (a group of indigenous Bidayuh tribe) which were already existed in the Upper Bengoh Ranges in the 1850s, recorded and published in an English journal writing on the folks and the bamboo bridge between May 1858 and December 1861,” said See explaining the undisputable proof of NCR over land.
Earlier on around 100 people including the plaintiffs and villagers turned up at the court premises to receive the good news. Some of them travelled in two chartered buses from Bengoh to Petra Jaya.
The Bengoh reservoir dam costing over RM310 million was 97.26 per cent completed when work had to stop on Dec 6, 2010. With resettlement issues resolved, the project is expected to be complete by Oct 31, 2015. Work yet to be completed include reservoir clearing, plugging of diversion culverts, installation of stop-log gates, valves and pipes in draw-off tower, installation of SCADA and other electronic control system, testing and commissioning.
The dam, with a projected capacity of 144 million cubic metres of water covering a surface area of approximately 10 square kilometres, is expected to solve water shortage in the Kuching area once impounded.