Dato Othman Abdillah
KUCHING: The ongoing protests against the Land Code (Amendment) Bill, 2018 has shown that there was a lack of consultation between the Sarawak Government and the people on issues that matters to them.
Parti Sedar Rakyat Sarawak (Sedar) pro-tem president Dato Othman Abdillah said his party believes and supports the people’s rights to gain legal ownership of all components of their ancestral lands.
“Any land laws and proposed amendments that do not address fully the claims of ownership of various ancestral grounds will be inadequate, worse still may be an effort of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (formerly Barisan Nasional (BN) Sarawak) to drag its feet in resolving the issue,” he said in a statement issued to The Borneo Post via WhatsApp today.
“Given the loud protests of various native groups, the Sarawak Land Code Amendment Bill being tabled in the current DUN (State Legislative Assembly) sitting falls way short of reaching a final, long overdue solution,” he added.
Othman claimed that this is typical of the practice of previous governing BN parties which are now perpetuated by GPS.
“No doubt, with their numbers, GPS will obtain the necessary votes to pass the Bill. Sedar does not see the possibility of native GPS ADUNs (state assemblymen) to cast a conscience vote against the Bill,” he said.
The disenfranchised claimants of NCR/PMPG can rest assured that Sedar will be at the forefront of any struggle to ensure the people’s rights are properly addressed and resolved, he concluded.