State govt committed to speed up NCR land perimeter survey

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(From left) Ripin, Asfia, Awg Tengah and Lukanisman entertain the longhouse folk with a popular Iban number ‘Berkikis Bulu Betis’.

MIRI: The state government is giving its total commitment to speed up the native customary right (NCR) land perimeter survey, and issue land titles to the deserving owners.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan gave this assurance in front of more than 200 longhouse folk who attended the ‘leaders with the people’ session at (longhouse) Rumah Ampik in Lambir on Sunday.

Awang Tengah, who is also Second Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources, said he is aware that many land near longhouses throughout the state have to be gazetted under the state land code.

Since the land perimeter survey has been conducted for the past few years, he said the state government has already issued land titles to the rightful owners.

The government even took the initiative to speed up the perimeter survey process.

“The initiative involves surveying the whole (perimeter) area before individual lots are surveyed upon request of the land owners under Section 18 of Land Code while the gazetting comes under Section 6 of the Land Code,” he said.

Todate, a total of 835,000ha of NCR land throughout Sarawak have been surveyed under the initiative.

“We will continue with this commitment but it will take sometime to complete because Sarawak is huge and the people, particularly those in rural areas, are scattered over a wide area.”

On water and electricity supplies, he said the state government has also set aside allocations for the purpose, particularly those in the rural areas.

“The federal government has allocated billions of ringgit to Sarawak to improve its basic facilities.”

He thus called on Sarawakians to remain firm behind Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg so that he could bring more development to the state.

Later at the same function, he announced Minor Rural Project (MRP) grants of RM10,000 each to the women bureaus of Rh Ampik and Rh Gindi in Lambir.

State Legislative Assembly Speaker Datuk Amar Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar, Lambir assemblyman Ripin Lamat and the BN candidate for Sibuti Lukanisman Awang Sauni were also present at the function.