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Extracted from Malaysiakini
Land
dispute: Iban chiefs want proper survey
Tony Thien |
Feb 25,
A gathering
of about 200 Iban longhouse heads in and around Bintulu in central Sarawak have
passed a resolution urging authorities issuing land leases to carry out a
proper survey of the land to be leased out to individuals or companies.
v:shapes="_x0000_s1026">They also want land subject to
The gathering
Randau Pemansang held in
Bintulu during the weekend was organised by the Selangau branch of the Sarawak
Dayak Iban Association (Sadia).
It was officiated by Sadia president Sidi Munan who briefed the
longhouse heads on the historical background of why Dayak
This is the result of what the Sadia chief said is the encroachment into
There are now about 200 court cases involving disputes over encroachment of pemakai menoa, mainly by private
companies.
The meeting also called on the authorities to issue titles on excluded lands,
subject to
The
participants also urged Sadia headquarters to form an organisation for the
development of pemakai menoa.
'The
first step is the political will'
Sidi told Malaysiakini: “In our opinion, there
should not be many problems if the leases were issued after careful surveys of
the areas to be leased.
“Why the hurry to issue leases? Carry out the survey in respect of any existing
rights in the area under lease and all would be well before investors are
brought in.”
He said it would save the investors time and money if native owners were taken
on board in the first place.
“The investors prefer to deal with land with titles.”
Sidi added: “So if you want to help the natives, a better policy is to carry
out a title survey.”
He agreed that the survey exercise would take a long time to complete but
pointed out that “every journey of a thousand miles begins with the first
step”.
“That first step is the political will. It may take 50 years, but after that it
would be worth it in the interests of the natives,” the Dayak NGO head said.