KUCHING: Ba Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian is pleading for Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg to intervene in the case involving residents of Trusan in Limbang who have been served with notice to demolish the houses their families have been living in for many generations.
Baru, who is state PKR chairman, said the residents of Trusan are the fifth or sixth generation descendents after their ancestors settled in the area during the Brooke era, long before the formation of Malaysia.
“I understand the area will be developed into a township. They are not against the development of Trusan. They are just saying they were not compensated and they have been living there for many years,” he said yesterday.
Baru said the residents ended up in this difficult situation because of their ancestors’ ignorance about their rights under the law in the olden days.
“This, I feel is very unfortunate. I don’t think it is morally right for the government to force them to move without a single sen of compensation .
“This is where I feel the Chief Minister has a role to play. For them, that is the only land they have but then the development itself is a question of choice, whether the government wants to proceed with it or not. I understand this is part of the government’s projects and they have given it (land) to a statutory body to be developed.”
Baru believed the Chief Minister might not be aware of the facts of the case and called upon him to investigate and hear from the residents themselves.
“If he (Chief Minister) knows the facts that these are descendants of the first people who resided in Trusan during the Brooke era, I believe he will be sympathetic to their plea. The Chief Minister even has the power to issue land titles to the residents of Trusan on a different term.
“They (Trusan residents) are sitting on Temporary Occupation Licenses but they didn’t know about it. They thought the land title was for 99 years.
“Apparently, only two of the titles have 99-year lease. When they came to see me, I advised them that it is a very difficult matter. They have no choice but to challenge it in court hoping they can win and to at least have a breathing space to negotiate with the government on compensation.”
Even though the case is now pending appeal in the Court of Appeal, Baru believed the Chief Minister could still intervene because the residents were just trying to argue that they have rights over their lands.
“The matter was in the High Court and it was decided (based) on the legal question of law because the land already reverted to the government in the mid-1950s. Legally, they are living on the land illegally for many years.
Baru said it was also unfortunate that there is no law called Adverse Possession Law in Malaysia but it is available in the UK.
“If this (case) were to be in England, they would have been given the rights to live on the land because they were never chased off the land since the mid-1950s.”