Extracted from Malaysiakini

Suhakam to organise meeting on NCL rights

Tony Thien

Mar 19, 05 12:51pm

Concerned with the increasing complaints about infringements of native customary land (NCL) rights by companies in Sarawak, the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) is setting up a meeting between various state government agencies, non-governmental organisations and itself in a bid to address the issue.

This will be in the form of a two-day seminar that will take place from March 28 in Kuching.

Suhakam Commissioner Prof Hamdan Adnan told malaysiakini yesterday the main objective of the seminar is to create a better understanding of the various issues following the numerous complaints Suhakam received from NCL owners and to find ways on how best to resolve them.

The state government agencies invited are the Attorney-General's Chambers, the Land and Survey Department, the Forestry Department, the Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra), the Sarawak Land Custody and Development Authority (SLDA), the State Majlis Adat Istiadat and National Resources Environment Board, apart from law enforcement agencies.

Among the NGOs invited are Community Co-operation Institute Sarawak (Comcis), Borneo Research Institute (Brimas), Bong Iban Community Association, Milikin Bukar Sadong Community Organisation, Yayasan Budayu Melayu and Tabung Persekutuan Orang Kelabit as well as Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas).

To indicate its seriousness in tackling the problems of native customary land rights, at least four Suhakam commissioners will be present.

They are vice-chairperson Simon Sipaun, Hamdan, Siva Subramanian and the Sarawak-based Dr Mohd Hirman Ritom Abdullah.

Chance to interact

According to Kuching-based Suhakam administrative officer Suffian Osman, the seminar will be officiated by state assistant minister of land development Francis Harden. It will be attended by 50 participants.

Three state government departments - the AG's Chambers, Forestry Department and Land and Survey Department - feature most prominently in the problems raised by NCL owners following their complaints about alleged encroachment into NCL lands or tanah pusaka by plantation and timber companies.

Representatives of these three departments will present their respective papers on native land rights from the legal perspective on the first day of the seminar, Suffian said.

'The purpose (of the seminar) is to give a chance to the participants to interact with government agencies and expose them to case studies, that is actual cases on land matters,” he added.