KOTA KINABALU: Land owners have been warned to abide by the terms and conditions stated in their land titles or face the consequences.
Issuing the warning yesterday, Land and Survey Department director Datuk Osman Jamal said they have the right to cease the title if land owners were found to have breached the land use conditions.
Responding to the Sabah Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) complaint over the clearing of the mangrove area in Mengkabong, Tuaran, Osman said the department would be sending its personnel to check on the land in question, to determine whether the land owners abide by the land use terms and conditions.
He said the two pieces of land, one with a Native Title and the other a Commercial Lease, each measuring 1.974 hectares, were applied for in 1987.
“The land applications were approved in 1994, and the department issued a title for the CL land three years later while the NT title in 2002, meaning the approval (for the land applications) came way before the Shoreline Protection Plan was implemented,” explained Osman.
He said the approval was made following advice from the Natural Resources Department, and according to the terms and conditions, the land owners would develop the land for planting edible fruits.
“From what we are told, the owner has cleared, buried and backfilled the area, which is more suited to carry out physical development, and not to plant edible fruits as stipulated in the land use terms and conditions.
“However, we will be visiting the land in question soon, probably tomorrow (today),” he said.
Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun on Wednesday expressed disappointment over the approval by the relevant authorities to clear up mangrove areas in Mengkabong.
“I am disappointed at what had happened or allowed to happen. We do not seem to have learned any lesson from all the ecological and environmental disasters that have befallen on countries that have failed to listen and address environmental concern,” he said.
Masidi stressed that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requirement must not be the sole criteria to determine a right decision when considering land development on a land, more so when the land in question is located in an environmentally sensitive area.
“The compelling reason should always be to see and ensure long-term benefits and avoid possible negative impacts of that decision.
“What is even more perplexing is that the land alienated in 2002 was approved for fruits orchard. And it is on a mangrove swamp,” he stressed.
SEPA president Wong Tack, in a statement, said the Cabinet had approved the whole area to be put under the Shoreline Protection Plan in the 90s, meaning the area is off limit for development.
Describing the Land and Survey Department as the “biggest culprit”, Wong said that a lot of land in the area had been alienated for private ownership.
He also blamed the Tuaran District Council for failing to respect the Cabinet’s decision.