Much-awaited court ruling on ‘pemakai menoa’, ‘pulau galau’ today

KUCHING: The Federal Court will deliver its decision today on an appeal by the state government against the Court of Appeal’s decision on June 21, 2013 that recognised ‘pemakai menoa’ and ‘pulau galau’ as native customary rights ( NCR) land.

The respondents in the case are Tuai Rumah Sandah Tabau of Rumah Sandah in Ulu Machan, Kanowit and eight other NCR landowners.

Baru Bian, who is one of the lawyers representing Sandah and eight other NCR landowners, said the deputy registrar of the Federal Court would be delivering the decision at around 9am at the Kuching High Court Complex here.

The Federal Court’s decision comes about one year after state legal counsel Datuk JC Fong who represented the applicant (state government), as well as the lawyers representing Sandah and eight other NCR landowners Baru and Dr Yogeswaran Subramaniam, made their submissions on Sept 9 last year.

According to Baru, Sandah together with eight other NCR landowners were claiming NCR on 5,639 hectares.

“Their total cleared area before 1958 was 2,802 hectares. The High Court (and Court of Appeal) agreed with our argument that the whole area of 5,639 hectares is NCR including the 2,712 hectares of hunting grounds/ virgin forest which is called pemakai menoa.

“Pemakai menoa is the communal customary land or territorial domain of the claimants. This includes the hunting grounds, fishing grounds and could be virgin forest where they can collect jungle produce like fern, leaves, shoots.”

He said the government’s view of what comprised NCR was the cleared, fell and settled upon by the natives before Jan 1, 1958.