Manyin (seated second left) at the press conference after the Bidayuh Land Forum. On his left are Ik Pahon and Sagah.
KUCHING: Only two Native Customary Right (NCR) lands out of the 120 documented (surveyed) belonging to Bidayuh villagers in the state have been issued with land title by the Land and Survey Department since 2008.
Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA) advisor Dato Sri Michael Manyin said he was very disappointed but he would follow up on the matter with the Land and Survey Department together with Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar DouglasUggah Embas.
“The deputy chief minister is the person in-charge of Native Customary Right matter on Pemakai Menoa (Territorial Domain) and Pulau Galau (Communal Forest Reserve) under the instruction of Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg,” he told a press conference after he closed the Bidayuh Land Forum held at DBNA headquarters here yesterday.
“I dont know why the Land and Survey Department has not issued the land title since 2008 and I have personally met up with the fourth chief minister Tun Pehin Sri Taib Mahmud on the matter and he had directed the Land and Survey Dept to act on it and to issue the title. And recently, with the fifth chief minister the late Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem who wanted the Land and Survey and to act on it,” he added.
Manyin, who is Minister of Youth and Sports and Solidarity, said only the Land and Survey Dept could verify and endorse the land title once the land had been documented.
“Probably, the Land and Survey Department does not have enough staff, I don’t know,” he lamented.
Manyin added that the authority to survey NCR land came under Land and Survey Department.
They could delegate the job to a qualified surveyor to survey the NCR on their behalf, he said.
On the forum , he said it was a follow-up to the court order on the issue of Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galau which the federal Court ruled has no force of law in Sarawak.
Manyin said the Bidayuh community together with the Iban, Orang Ulu and Malay community were pursuing the NCR land issue under the chairmanship of Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
“Hopefully through the Pemakai Menoa and Pulau Galau committee, the NCR issue can be resolved.”
Two papers were presented in the forum, the first on issues affecting the Dayak Bidayuh NCR lands by Anga Soret @ John Lawrence and DBNA land documentation project-challenges to the Bidayuh Community by Human Resources director Sarawak William Nyigor.
Also present at the forum were Assistant Minister for Public Utilities (Water Supply)Datuk Roland Sagah and permanent secretary to the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture Datu Ik Pahon Joyik.