Bobby William
MIRI: Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDS Baru) has called on the state government to deliver its promise to elevate the Sarawak Native Court to be on par with the Civil Court.
PBDS president Bobby William in a statement yesterday said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg should immediately fulfil the promise and show that it was not made just to win votes in the next state election.
He pointed out that Abang Johari had made the promise to upgrade the Native Court to enhance its efficiency in dealing with matters related to Native Customary Rights (NCR) land and other issues affecting the Bumiputera community several times, as published in the local media.
Bobby remembered one of the occasions when Abang Johari made the promise was during the chief minister’s visit to Nanga Mujung bridge in Kapit on Oct 5 last year.
“PBDS Baru hopes that such promises are not just political sweets as a bait to win Dayak votes for Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), in view of the state election being just around the corner.
“PBDS Baru emphasises that native laws should be strengthened to better serve the community. A syllabus on the Native Court could be introduced in the local university to enable the younger generation to learn and know more about local native laws,” Bobby said.
On another note, he pointed out that the party is now working on translating the Sarawak Land Code 1958 into Bahasa Melayu and local ethnic dialects, namely Iban, Kenyah Kayan and Bidayuh.