ULU TERU, Baram: The issuance of ownership certificates to Native Customary Rights (NCR) land owners in Ulu Teru who entered into oil palm plantation joint-ventures proved allegations that the state government is grabbing NCR lands are not true.
Penghulu Engah of middle Tinjar in Ulu Teru said this at the launching a rural electrification project at Rumah Abok ak Jabu in Ulu Teru on Tuesday which was attended by 20 longhouse chiefs and nearly 200 people from the area.
The community chief said the participants of the NCR land development scheme had documentary proof of ownership of their NCR land in the scheme in UIu Teru.
“There is no truth is such allegations, and we reject them categorically,” he said.
The electrification project was launched by Second Minister of Public Utilities Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan who is also Minister of Resource Planning and Environment and Minister of Industrial Development.
The RM13.06 million project covering nine longhouses in Ulu Teru will benefit 260 households at Rumah Engkang Sirai, Rh Enggie Gerang, Rh Jana Rayong, Rh John Merican Lukok, Rh Abok Jabu, Rh Kalong Goh, Rh Empeleng,Rh Henry Gomes and Rh Mathew Sigat.
Awang Tengah said the project proved that the BN federal and state governments had worked hand-in-hand to ensure smooth project implementations of RM1.7 billion for rural electrification and RM1.7 billion for rural water supply.
Touching on Engah’s speech he said that the oil palm seedlings at the longhouse indicated that NCR land owners plant it on their own NCR land in Ulu Teru.
Their land had never been taken away as alleged by the opposition and some NGOs in CDs distributed in this election campaign period.
He said the opposition in Baram had been exploiting the NCR land issues as political capital in collaboration with the NGOs but the ownership certificates of the NCR land had proven that the issues they brought up were lies.
On the Baram dam the minister said the opposition was using the issue to scare the people but he assured that the government would give priority to interests of the people through consultations by experts with the locals.
He urged the people to regard the election as serious business of electing the federal government in the next five years.
He urged them to vote for the BN government as it had a proven track record of delivering the goods and bringing about transformation to Malaysia.
“The BN has delivered the goods and is sensitive to the multi-racial and religious sensitivities in the state.”
Awang Tengah cautioned that the insistence by PAS on implementing hudud laws if it came to power would be a bane to Sarawak’s way of life, especially for people living in longhouses and villagers where interaction is the norm compared to gender segregation in Kelantan.
Among those present at the launching ceremony were BN candidate for Baram, Anyie Ngau, of SPDP and Assistant Minister of Public Utilities (Water Supply) Datuk Sylvester Entri Muran. #myvote13 #ge13