Sibu: Native Customary Rights (NCR) land under dispute or involved in court proceedings will not be subject to surveying, said Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan. Awang Tengah, who is also the Minister for Natural Resources and Urban Development II and Minister for International Trade, Industry and Investment, stated that surveying will only proceed once related cases have been withdrawn from court.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Awang Tengah emphasized the importance of resolving matters amicably and respectfully. He urged that if parties wish to rejoin the NCR Land Survey Programme, a fresh application must be submitted to the Land and Survey Department. He stressed that surveying would only be conducted with the consent of all claimants and will not proceed if even one claimant disagrees.
Awang Tengah further elaborated that land claimants must provide evidence proving the NCR land belongs to them, which will be cross-checked against government records. In cases of overlapping claims, negotiations will be conducted until a consensus is reached.
As of February 28, the Sarawak Land and Survey Department has successfully carried out perimeter surveys covering approximately 1,192,269 hectares of NCR land across the state. Of this, 935,760 hectares have been registered and gazetted under Section 6 of the Land Code as Native Communal Reserves. Additionally, 98,340 individual lots covering 117,051 hectares have been surveyed under Section 18 of the Land Code, with land titles issued to 32,185 lots involving 45,000 hectares.
During a land compensation cheque and Section 18 land title presentation ceremony for the Sibu Division, Awang Tengah presented 38 land titles to 26 recipients from the Igu/Tamin area in Selangau and 119 titles to 107 recipients from Pasai Siong, Blocks 20 and 21, in Sibu.
Compensation amounting to RM2,254,749.87 was distributed to 103 recipients whose land was acquired for the Baleh-Mapai 500kV Transmission Line project (Sibu/Kapit). Another 53 landowners received RM1,101,472.50 in compensation for land acquisition under the road construction project connecting Rumah Jingga/David Multifarm/Rumah Seli/Rumah Guang to SK Singat in Sungai Lengan, Sibu. Additionally, 209 landowners were compensated RM3,435,358.20 for land acquisition involving the Salim Water Treatment Plant upgrading, which will increase its capacity from 50 to 300 million litres per day.