Sabah JTU targets 17,000 hectares NCR land to be surveyed

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KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Land and Survey Department (JTU) has set a target to conduct survey works on 17,000 hectares of Native Customary Rights (NCR) land through the Sabah Native Land Services (PANTAS) and Communal Grant programmes this year.

Its state director Datuk  Safar Untong said 80 survey teams are involved in carrying out the work on the NCR land or land that had been inhabited and occupied by the natives since time immemorial.

“The two programmes (PANTAS and Communal Grant) are initiatives of the state government in collaboration with the federal government aimed at expediting the application process of Sabah NCR land.

“Through the Budget 2018, the government has allocated RM20 million for  NCR land mapping and survey works in Sabah and the allocation will provide continuity and ensure these two programmes are carried out smoothly,” he told Bernama.

Safar said since PANTAS was introduced in 2011, some 21,378 land lots with a total acreage of 36,137.02 hectares involving 92 villages throughout Sabah had been surveyed since December 2017.

Under the Communal Grant programme, he said 73 communal grants were processed and ready to be issued involving  217 villages in 12 districts with a total acreage of 122,048.03 acres (49,405.64 hectares) up till December 2017 since it was introduced in 2011. — Bernama