Families affected by Bengoh dam moving to higher ground recognised by High Court as Native Customary Rights land after more than 5 years of dispute
The villagers with their lawyers gesture at the entrance of the courthouse in Petra Jaya, Kuching. — Photo by Anasathia Jenis
KUCHING: Some villagers from the Upper Bengoh affected by the construction of the dam there are now ready to start a new life at a new place.
The 31 Bidayuh families will move to land on higher ground, which the High Court yesterday declared that they had Native Customary Rights (NCR) to after a long dispute that ended yesterday.
Spokesperson of the group Simo Sekam, 53, yesterday said the three affected villages – Kampung Rejoi, Kampung Bojong and Kampung Taba Sait – would be renamed Kampung Nyegol, Kampung Sting and Kampung Muk Ayun, respectively.
“We are happy that after a long battle of more than five years, the matter has been settled amicably. This land is now recognised as our NCR land where we will start a fresh new life. Our mission is accomplished and we are happy with what we have fought for all this while.
“We are now focusing on future development of our villages including building a proper road to the nearest village.
“Currently, a road construction is in progress connecting the main road with the nearest village, Kampung Muk Ayun,” he explained when met at the High Court yesterday.
“This is indeed a Christmas gift for us the villagers. Despite that, we have to work hard to start a living here as we have left behind all the things that we possessed and owned in our original villages.”
Yesterday, High Court judge Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang delivered a consent statement after both the villagers and the government agreed to resolve the land dispute amicably.
Following the decision made by both parties, expressions of relief could be seen on the faces of the villagers who were present.
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.
Meanwhile, some other villagers have already moved to their new houses at Bengoh Resettlement Scheme (BRS).
In the consent order recorded by Judge Rhodzariah here yesterday morning, which brought the case to a close after it was filed in October 2009, it was expressly stated that the Superintendent of Lands and Survey Kuching Division and the state government acknowledged and recognised that the plaintiffs and other residents of Kampung Bojong, Kampung Rejoi together with the residents of Kampung Taba Sait and Kampung Semban (204 families) had acquired NCR to the land covering an area of approximately 2,592 hectares as shown in a map that 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.
By the consent order, the plaintiffs and all those whom they represent shall not occupy land within the Bengoh Dam Reservoir Dam.
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 settlements 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 the land.
The 63-metre high by 267-metre long dam will have a capacity of 144 million cubic metres and will produce a lake with a surface area of approximately 10 square km, according to the website of the dam building contractor (Naim Holdings).
Designed to secure Kuching’s water supply for the foreseeable future, the dam was only the second in Malaysia to be constructed using Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) technology, which offers a projected service life of 100 years.
The civil works have been completed and the dam is currently awaiting approval for impoundment.
Presently it is not known when impoundment can begin. It will take 17 months to fill the dam.
The dam when operative will be a long-term solution to water woes in Kuching, Samarahan and Sadong Jaya.