Native land no issue in polls, says Sarawak minister

The ongoing perimeter survey of native customary land in Sarawak, despite the confusion over the definition of native customary rights (NCR) land, is an advantage for Barisan Nasional (BN) at the coming polls, says Sarawak Land Development Minister, Tan Sri James Masing. He said the survey was going well and had covered nearly 70% of the total land. "So this is very positive for BN," said the senior minister, dismissing NCR land as an election issue in coming polls. "The perimeter survey is to differentiate between state land and NCR land. After that, to differentiate among the individual longhouse and bilik, the faster they settle the dispute among themselves, the faster they will get the titles," the Balleh assemblyman added. But he said there was still confusion over the definition of NCR land, such as Pemakai Menoa (territorial domain) and Pulau Galau (communal forest), on whether they were part of NCR land. Currently, the state government's perimeter survey exercise of native customary rights (NCR) land was only carried out on temuda (farmed land). Masing also urged Majlis Adat Istiadat Sarawak (Mais) to take a proactive role in defining NCR land to advise the state government so as to avoid uncertainties. – March 3, 2016. MORE TO COME]]>